1-2. I read the articles on book trailers (bideos?) and watched a number of those referred to in the articles. The Chicago Tribune article was very negative on book trailers, to the point that I felt the writer lost her way in fairly reviewing them. Clearly a book trailer neither has the budget nor the clips available that a film does, and it is trying to make a video from a static subject, i.e. words on a page. The NYT reviewer of book trailers was more equitable, and acknowledged that her expectations for what a book trailer could accomplish were more measured. I believe a book trailer can be useful for readers' advisory, if they are seen in the right venue. Randomly encountering them on YouTube is not going to be good return on investment. The trailers need to be marketed to the right type of user based on their reading habits, tabulating their posts on Goodreads for example. Libraries and bookstores could use trailers as well to promote upcoming titles. The trailers can succeed in promoting and marketing the titles only when they are effectively produced and reach the right audience.
3. I believe Be More Bookish was a very useful endeavor. I had my doubts because I do not interact with the public on a daily basis, but I was pleasantly surprised about how much I learned over the nine weeks of assignments. It forced me to go outside of my reading comfort zones and to further examine areas of the collection that I rarely use or do not purchase materials for. I learned a lot about the various features of Goodreads, the many subgenres of mysteries, and the countless ways that narrative nonfiction can be used in a readers' advisory setting. I even learned that teen book marketing has almost entirely left the publishers' own websites and moved over to social media. All in all this was a really worthwhile program that I look forward to using in my day-to-day purchasing and librarianship.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Week Eight - Assignments
1-2. I read the narrative nonfiction articles and listened to the SLRC podcast on doing readers' advisory with narrative nonfiction.
3. I chose four of the narrative nonfiction subjects listed: Science, Sports, Food, and Faith. I found Science narratives in the 500s and 600s; Sports in the 700s and Bios; Food in the 600s; and Faith in the 200s and Bios.
For Science, I would choose The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean;
For Sports, Throwback by Jason Kendall;
For Food, Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain; and
For Faith, When We Were on Fire, by Addie Zierman.
4. I decided to select Throwback by Jason Kendall to readers who enjoy mysteries that focus on a particular subject. What baseball fan hasn't wondered what really goes on behind the plate among the catcher, batter, and umpire? In Throwback, Jason Kendall, who spent more than a decade in the major leagues, discusses the signs he shared with hundreds of pitchers; the talks at the mound when things got serious; the trash talking between catcher and batter, and the relationship a catcher must maintain with the umpire who stands behind, making decisions on balls and strikes. Readers who watched baseball during the steroid era will recognize a number of the names that Kendall drops, though the easy, comfortable writing style without a lot of complicated jargon makes for a quick but informative read.
I also chose When We Were on Fire by Addie Zierman to recommend to readers who enjoy contemporary fiction that is very character-driven. This book also would appeal to older teens and younger adults who enjoy coming-of-age stories. The religious aspects of the book could appeal to someone who has had trials with coming to terms with their faith, though perhaps not for the very devout. A palpable sense of place in the Upper Midwest is also drawn, along with strong female friendships and two romances - one that turns sour and the other remains uplifting. This book has a strong potential audience among memoir readers as well.
3. I chose four of the narrative nonfiction subjects listed: Science, Sports, Food, and Faith. I found Science narratives in the 500s and 600s; Sports in the 700s and Bios; Food in the 600s; and Faith in the 200s and Bios.
For Science, I would choose The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean;
For Sports, Throwback by Jason Kendall;
For Food, Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain; and
For Faith, When We Were on Fire, by Addie Zierman.
4. I decided to select Throwback by Jason Kendall to readers who enjoy mysteries that focus on a particular subject. What baseball fan hasn't wondered what really goes on behind the plate among the catcher, batter, and umpire? In Throwback, Jason Kendall, who spent more than a decade in the major leagues, discusses the signs he shared with hundreds of pitchers; the talks at the mound when things got serious; the trash talking between catcher and batter, and the relationship a catcher must maintain with the umpire who stands behind, making decisions on balls and strikes. Readers who watched baseball during the steroid era will recognize a number of the names that Kendall drops, though the easy, comfortable writing style without a lot of complicated jargon makes for a quick but informative read.
I also chose When We Were on Fire by Addie Zierman to recommend to readers who enjoy contemporary fiction that is very character-driven. This book also would appeal to older teens and younger adults who enjoy coming-of-age stories. The religious aspects of the book could appeal to someone who has had trials with coming to terms with their faith, though perhaps not for the very devout. A palpable sense of place in the Upper Midwest is also drawn, along with strong female friendships and two romances - one that turns sour and the other remains uplifting. This book has a strong potential audience among memoir readers as well.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Week Seven - Assignments
1. The Lawrence KS teen dystopia flowchart is amazing. I hope our librarians have been using that for customers who are looking for something else to read after The Hunger Games and Divergent series.
2. As the Teen book selector and considerably involved in YALSA, I have read a number of the articles that show that adults are buying more teen books than teens are - and of course many of those adults are not simply buying them for the teens in their life but reading and enjoying the books themselves. I reread the Christian Science Monitor article "Who is Buying Teen Books?" and it seems that in the past two years since it was published the trend has only continued to grow. This is certainly the case with The Fault in Our Stars and other books that have been published under the Teen banner but are just as enjoyed by adults. The Publishers Weekly article on New Adult is another wrinkle in the question of who is buying the books and for whom, as New Adult bridges teen and adult. Not only do we in Collection Development struggle with which of the New Adult books belong in Teen and which in Adult (most fall in Adult), the buyers of these books are largely older teens and twentysomethings that want to see their lives in a mirror. So far New Adult has been focused mostly on romance, but urban fiction and realistic fiction titles have also been published.
3. I chose two of the blogs that are near and dear to me. Forever Young Adult definitely appeals to me as a forty-something who mostly reads Teen books. Their recent posts about their activity at BookExpo (which I also attended were amusing and occasionally I felt like I was looking at myself in a mirror. Many of the scenes were reminiscent of what I experienced at BookExpo, but quite a few others were new to me. It was nice to see a blogger's perspective of the show. I also looked at Someday My Printz Will Come, which is of note because I served on the 2012 Printz Committee. Therefore, I have participated on that blog in the years before and since (though I didn't type a word during my Printz year due to secrecy). That blog, along with Heavy Metal (Newbery) and Calling Caldecott are amazing in the intricate analysis of potential award-winning books. That said, I find it funny how far off the picks are from those of the committee's, particularly on the Someday blog. Nonetheless, I often see things in books that I would have never realized if it weren't for the highly skilled bloggers and commenters on Someday.
4. I selected HarperTeen and Little, Brown for my teen publishers. HarperTeen's site was interesting in that much of the current content has clearly moved to social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Titles that are being pushed on the site seem to be an afterthought. Little, Brown's site, on the other hand, looks vibrant and curated. It also looks like it has been updated consistently. That said, it is also clear that much of the most current content has moved over to social media. The continued interest in realistic fiction is the biggest trend that I see from both publishers, with some remaining focus on paranormal aspects of otherwise straightforward fiction and finishing up dystopian series.
2. As the Teen book selector and considerably involved in YALSA, I have read a number of the articles that show that adults are buying more teen books than teens are - and of course many of those adults are not simply buying them for the teens in their life but reading and enjoying the books themselves. I reread the Christian Science Monitor article "Who is Buying Teen Books?" and it seems that in the past two years since it was published the trend has only continued to grow. This is certainly the case with The Fault in Our Stars and other books that have been published under the Teen banner but are just as enjoyed by adults. The Publishers Weekly article on New Adult is another wrinkle in the question of who is buying the books and for whom, as New Adult bridges teen and adult. Not only do we in Collection Development struggle with which of the New Adult books belong in Teen and which in Adult (most fall in Adult), the buyers of these books are largely older teens and twentysomethings that want to see their lives in a mirror. So far New Adult has been focused mostly on romance, but urban fiction and realistic fiction titles have also been published.
3. I chose two of the blogs that are near and dear to me. Forever Young Adult definitely appeals to me as a forty-something who mostly reads Teen books. Their recent posts about their activity at BookExpo (which I also attended were amusing and occasionally I felt like I was looking at myself in a mirror. Many of the scenes were reminiscent of what I experienced at BookExpo, but quite a few others were new to me. It was nice to see a blogger's perspective of the show. I also looked at Someday My Printz Will Come, which is of note because I served on the 2012 Printz Committee. Therefore, I have participated on that blog in the years before and since (though I didn't type a word during my Printz year due to secrecy). That blog, along with Heavy Metal (Newbery) and Calling Caldecott are amazing in the intricate analysis of potential award-winning books. That said, I find it funny how far off the picks are from those of the committee's, particularly on the Someday blog. Nonetheless, I often see things in books that I would have never realized if it weren't for the highly skilled bloggers and commenters on Someday.
4. I selected HarperTeen and Little, Brown for my teen publishers. HarperTeen's site was interesting in that much of the current content has clearly moved to social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Titles that are being pushed on the site seem to be an afterthought. Little, Brown's site, on the other hand, looks vibrant and curated. It also looks like it has been updated consistently. That said, it is also clear that much of the most current content has moved over to social media. The continued interest in realistic fiction is the biggest trend that I see from both publishers, with some remaining focus on paranormal aspects of otherwise straightforward fiction and finishing up dystopian series.
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