beyond the bestseller list: filling patron demand for great ebooks without the "big 6...

Beyond the Bestseller List

Filling patron demand for great ebooks without

the ‘Big 6’ publishers

1 2012 SELA/Georgia COMO Conference

Recognize these?

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2012 RITA Winner for Romance

Novella

I Love the Earl by

Caroline Linden

First time an ebook

only title won

All the other

nominees were

print

Avon Impulse is an

ebook only division

of Avon

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2012 RITA Winner for Contemporary

Single Title Romance

Boomerang Bride

by Fiona Lowe

First time an ebook

only title won

All the other

nominees were

print

Carina Press is the

ebook only division

of Harlequin

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Not those guys, these guys.

Hachette Book Group

Harper Collins

Macmillan

Penguin Group

Random House

Simon and Schuster

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Not that there isn’t a lot to say

about the “Big 6” problem… But that’s not all there is to ebook

collection development.

Formats do have slightly different

audiences.

In architecture (and engineering) the

principal is “form follows function”

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Print books, Large print,

audiobooks, ebooks Same content but different format

serves different purposes for different

people

The same title will have differing levels

of popularity depending on format.

Would we expect this to be any

different with a new format?

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Your patrons will tell you what

they want.

Statistics are your

friend!

Reports show that

patrons who read

ebooks read a lot.

Figure out what are

they reading!

Then buy more of

it!

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Books beyond the bestseller list

Ebooks are

different!

Sometimes that’s a

good thing.

You can collect the

set. You can collect

all the sets and

never worry about

shelf space.

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Two most popular ebook genres,

generally speaking

Mystery/Suspense/

Thriller

Romance

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At my LPOW (Last Place of

Work) 1.Romance (double-plus) the

circulation of the next largest category,

month in, month out, still true)

2.Fantasy (Game of Thrones probably

has a lot to answer for)

3.Non-fiction (the pundits are not

always right)

4.Thriller

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YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY

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Some rules of

thumb for selecting

ebooks

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What’s hot and what’s not

EBOOK HOTS

Genre fiction, not

just romance

Novellas and short

stories

Biography

Self-help

EBOOK NOTS

Literary fiction

Books with lots of

pictures

Including kids

books

Books with lots of

deep research

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Mysteries are series based

One complaint

libraries often get is

that we don’t have

the whole series.

Ebooks don’t take

shelf space, they

don’t wear out and

they can’t be

stolen. Go ahead

and collect the set.

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The “Teaser Novella” is Hot!

Odd Thomas looks

like triplets, doesn’t

he?

And did patrons

ask for the

prequel?

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And the book.5 series

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Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 Book 3.5

Book 4.5 Book 4

Book 4.6 Book 5

Romance, ereaders and privacy

When you read on an ereader, no one sees the cover.

No embarrassment on the train, at the sales counter in the store, in the lunchroom, or on your bookshelf at home.

Readers explore boundaries they might not otherwise.

And yes, there’s an irony here.

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Discoverability

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Ebook-only imprints on

OverDrive, etc. Supply met demand,

and there are tons of ebook-only romance publishers.

Many are available on OverDrive and from other library suppliers.

The books are usually less a paperback

Sometimes a LOT less

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Romance fiction and the problem

of reviews

Romance readers

have taken to the

internet like ducks

to water.

Romance readers

probably read more

books faster than

any other genre

readers.

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And the reviews are, where?

Library Journal

Xpress Reviews

Goodreads

Amazon

Romance Blogs

Ebook Review

Central

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How do people find good books

to read? 96% because they’ve read the author

before

79% because a friend recommended the book

58% saw it at a bookstore

54% saw it at a library

(Statistics from Goodreads May newsletter)

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About those book blogs..

Readers passionate about their genre

Ready, willing and able to write

reviews

Courted by publishers and authors to

be that “friend” that recommends an

author’s first title

Niche genres that get little to no

coverage in traditional reviewing

media get tons of blog reviews

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Book blogs worth looking at

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Book Lovers Inc

Smart Bitches,

Trashy Books

The Book

Pushers

Dear Author

Why ebooks matter

1. Ebook is the dominant sales format

for adult fiction in the U.S. Right

now.

2. Publishers make more money per

copy on ebooks than on mass

market paperbacks.

3. So do authors. This is true for

traditional publishing, not just self-

publishing.

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Following what’s happening

Dear Author (best summary of the

DOJ suit (www.dearauthor.com)

Passive Guy (terrific info aggregator

about the book business

(http://www.thepassivevoice.com/)

Mike Shatzkin (he’s been in the book

business forever. His dad was in the

book business

(http://www.idealog.com/)

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In case you’re wondering…

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I am a Librarian (MSLS, Univ. of Kentucky)

15+ years Collection Services experience at

Public Libraries, including digital collections

As Technical Services Division Director at the

Alachua County Library District (Gainesville, FL) I

fostered the growth of the digital collection from

circulation into the system’s 4th largest branch

At Reading Reality, I publish Ebook Review Central, a

service that collects reviews of titles from major ebook

publishers available on OverDrive and from other library

ebook providers.

THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE!

Marlene Harris

Reading Reality, LLC

marlene@readingreality.net

Twitter: @readingreality

www.readingreality.net

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