Week 15 Prompt

There are many great and free ways to advertise and market a fiction collection. 

1.  Showcase the new releases.  At my branch, we have new fiction and non-fiction shelved right by the front door so that it is impossible to miss.  We typically keep new books out for a range of 4 to 6 months depending on space.  This is a one stop shop for patrons to browse new titles and authors.  All new books are marked as such using red dot labels on the spine making it easy for circulation staff to spot them and shelve them on the correct shelves.

2.  Book displays are a fantastic way to market fiction titles.  Every month we change our display to showcase different titles and authors.  One month we had a "from the bottom shelf" fiction display of books that are rarely checked out because they are shelved on the bottom row and are hard to read unless you bend down.  In February of last year we had a display titled "Blind Date with a Book".  Employees choose titles that they enjoyed, placed them in manilla envelopes, and typed a blurb on the front giving an abstract of the book but not a title or author.  This was extremely popular because so many people like to take risks.  Right now we have a display up showcasing books that have been made into movies.  We have the book and the movie shelved together on the display.  It really doesn't matter what the display is, people are drawn to them no matter what.

3.  Book clubs are also a great way to get fiction to circulate.  At my branch, we have a popular fiction book club for adults and book club for less none titles.  Both have a decent turnout and the books do circulate.

We always have read-a-like bookmarks available on a cart for patrons and these have proved helpful in patrons finding new authors and titles to read.