31 Days of Horror-- Day 28: Flashback to 2009

Today I am going to expound on one of my favorite topics when it comes to providing RA in a public library setting...the backlist.

In fact, here is a direct quote from a recent post on RA for All on the topic:

Readers of RA for All and anyone who has ever attended one of my talks knows that I am a huge proponent of the backlist. In fact, here is a direct quote from my own lecture notes:

Promoting books, specifically the backlist those titles that are great reads, but out of the spotlight, and incidentally, filling most of your shelves just waiting for the perfect reader, meaning they are there right now for that reader who “has nothing to read,” is actually quite easy to do virtually.  The one thing the library has in stock that bookstores do not is the backlist.  We try to focus a large portion of our book promotion on the backlist.  That gem of the library; the thousands of great reads just waiting on the shelf to be matched with just the right reader.  In fact, backlist books are your best bet to target your virtual promotion of books, as I will show you.  The new books are all over the web on other sites, but your backlist is a great asset and it is unique to the library.  What do you do with your best asset?  You play it up people!

Publishers spend most of their time marketing the newest materials and trying to get you to buy the new (hardcover, so higher profit margin) titles.  Even to libraries their marketing is mostly about the newest books.  Once in a while there is some backlist marketing for book discussion purposes, but that is about it.

As I say above, there are thousands of options we can market to people at the library, options that are no longer easily available to browse at a bookstore, but we librarians have to create the buzz on our own.

To that end, as I am wrapping up the final week of this self imposed marathon of daily posts, I was day dreaming back to a time when I did not do a post a day during October because I did not have the horror blog. [Yes, back when I had time to do more than post, eat, and breathe during this month.]

Seriously though, back in 2009 I composed a three part series on the best horror of the year and posted it on RA for All.  I happened upon the post by mistake yesterday and was so excited.  There are a lot of good books here; books that I currently have sitting on my shelves at the BPL; books that I can put in the hands of readers RIGHT NOW, in time for Halloween. Because even I have a hard time finding enough books to meet demand each October.

So here is the link to the three part series.  Please note, I have not checked if all of the links still work, but the posts do include a short blurb about each book [with credit to where I got it if I did not write it myself], and the titles and authors did not change, so you could still look them up yourself.

But they are all excellent backlist options that will make your patrons happy.  And hey, that’s what I try to do on this blog...provide a timely resource that helps you help your horror readers.

You’re welcome.