Finding books patrons will love, outside the big 6 - it's not just possible, but patrons will love what you find! Presented by Marlene Harris at the 24th annual COMO 2012 Conference in Macon, GA.

1. Beyond the Bestseller List
Filling patron demand for great ebooks without
the ‘Big 6’ publishers
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2. Recognize these?
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3. 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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4. 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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6. Not those guys, these guys.
 Hachette Book Group
 Harper Collins
 Macmillan
 Penguin Group
 Random House
 Simon and Schuster
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7. 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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8. 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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9. 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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10. 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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11. Two most popular ebook genres,
generally speaking
 Romance  Mystery/Suspense/
Thriller
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12. 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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13. YOUR MILEAGE MAY
VARY
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14. Some rules of
thumb for selecting
ebooks
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15. What’s hot and what’s not
EBOOK HOTS EBOOK NOTS
 Genre fiction, not  Literary fiction
just romance  Books with lots of
 Novellas and short pictures
stories  Including kids
 Biography books
 Self-help  Books with lots of
deep research
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16. 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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17. The “Teaser Novella” is Hot!
 Odd Thomas looks  And did patrons
like triplets, doesn’t ask for the
he? prequel?
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18. And the book.5 series
Book 3.5
Book 1 Book 2 Book 3
Book 4.5 Book 4.6
Book 4 Book 5
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19. 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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20. Discoverability
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21. 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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22. 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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23. And the reviews are, where?
 Library Journal  Romance Blogs
Xpress Reviews
 Goodreads  Ebook Review
 Amazon Central
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24. 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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25. 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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26. Book blogs worth looking at
Book Lovers Inc The Book
Pushers
Dear Author
Smart Bitches,
Trashy Books
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27. 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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28. 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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29. In case you’re wondering…
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.
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30. THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE!
Marlene Harris
Reading Reality, LLC
marlene@readingreality.net
Twitter: @readingreality
www.readingreality.net
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