My co-worker Yaika recently returned from StokerCon with an amazing library marketing story.
Yaika was on a panel. The organizers of the panel brought about 700 Advanced Reader copies, or ARCs, to the session. An ARC is a version of a book that is made available before the official publication date.
The ARCs were set on tables before the presentation. The panelists then talked about the various ARCs during the session, naming them by title and author and discussing the most intriguing things about each book.
Of course, they gave a quick summary of the plot. But, every time they talked about a book, they mentioned the appealing factors that make people want to read a book: the characters, the tone, the setting, the pacing, and the themes.
And once the audience heard the appealing factors, a bunch of people would jump out of their seats and run to the ARC table to see if the book was available.
Why did attendees, who seemed hesitant to pick up a book before the session, feel compelled to grab books during the session?
Itās because the panelists were book-talking.
A book talk is a short presentation about a book to convince other people to read it. Book talking is not a formal book report or review. Itās more of a mini-commercial.
And book talking is one of the most effective ways to promote your collection, especially when you describe the book using those intriguing story elements.
Whether you are a degreed librarian who works on library promotions or a communications professional who works in a library, everyoneā¦ and I mean everyoneā¦ can talk about books in this way.
Your passion for the collection, not your degree or expertise, is what makes this type of marketing so special. And promoting your collection is incredibly important to the success of your library.
Your collection is the reason most people get a library card. Books are your brand. You should promote your collection all year long.
If you are a front desk worker, you can book talk with patrons during every interaction! But how do you book talk if you arenāt working at the front desk?
Here are 5 promotional tactics that you can use to book talk with readers when you arenāt working directly with the public.
Every month, I get an email from the Jacksonville Public Library that drives me to the catalog EVERY SINGLE TIME I get it. Do you know why? The email is a book talk in digital form!
I donāt even live in Jacksonville. I donāt live in Florida! But this email makes me want to read books.
The email contains a list of books, usually fewer than 10. Next to each book is a summary of the plot, plus a little extra something: a review, or a hint at something appealing about the theme, genre, or characters. Itās intriguing! And it makes me add to my TBR (to-be-read) pile.
I also love this example from Jefferson Public Library. Scroll to the bottom of the email to find a promotion that includes those appealing elements which can be more helpful in describing a book than the plot.
The folks at LibraryReads offer a downloadable PDF flyer each month that is a book talk in print. Each of their selected titles is listed, along with a description of the book that includes not only the plot, but words that describe the bookās genre, intriguing factors, and the authorās style.
On your website
I must confess that every time I visit my libraryās website, I am on the hunt for books. Your readers are too. Your job is to make those books sound enticing enough to compel them to place a hold.
Create a page on your website, like Naperville Public Library. They have their book recommendations divided by genre and age group.
And they describe more than the plot. The annotations next to each title help readers decide which of the titles to check out.
Bookmarks
Your library can āupsellā books using bookmarks. Upselling is a sales term in which customers are encouraged to buy a more expensive version of a product than they originally intended.
For libraries, upselling is any action that compels your cardholders to check out more items than they originally intended. And bookmarks are the easiest way to do this.
Start small and manageable. Pick 3 categories to focus on, like cookbooks, horror, and Westerns. You can also choose age-based categories like adults, teens, and early readers.
Once you’ve decided on your categories, make one bookmark for each of your categories. Each bookmark should feature 3-6 books (3 if your bookmarks are one-sided, 6 books if your bookmark is two-sided).
For each book on your bookmark, add a photo of the cover (because book covers can also be enticing!) and the title. Then, write one line about the plot. Write a second line about the characters. Write a third line that describes the book using intriguing language like āquirky,ā āthought-provoking,ā and āfunny.ā
Challenge yourself and your staff to hand out a bookmark during every patron interaction. Make it a game to match the bookmark with the patronās interest using context clues.
For example, if you saw the person browsing your new arrivals display and theyāre an adult, you can hand them your adult fiction bookmark.
If someone comes to the drive-through to pick up their holds and you notice theyāre checking out a whole stack of picture books, give them one of the early readers’ bookmarks. Heck, give them an adult bookmark too!
If someone checks out a cake pan from your Library of Things, give them a cookbook bookmark. And so on.
Videos
Ask a fellow staff member or patron to talk on camera about a book they read and loved. Challenge them to do it in under 60 seconds, like Thayer Public Library does!
Then, post the video natively to all the social media platforms your library uses with a direct link to the book in the catalog. You know how social media platforms LOVE videos!
Bonus idea
I have to share this infographic created by Lester Public Library. They gathered stats on book talks they provided to local students. Itās such a great way to prove the value of the library to the community, parents, and stakeholders like local legislators and funders!
More Advice
The Library Marketing Lesson You Can Learn From the Greatest Out-of-Office Message Ever!
Upcoming Appearances
Subscribe to this blog and youāll receive an email whenever I post. To do that, enter your email address and click on the āFollowā button in the lower left-hand corner of the page. You can also follow me on the following social media platforms:
Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 
Leave a comment