Using the Edgar Awards to Unshelve Your Collection

 The nominee list for the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award has been announced. The awards will be presented on May 1, 2025, at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square. Some of the nominees are by popular authors or are best sellers that you likely have many requests for (The God of the Woods by Liz Moore is an example). But dig down and you will find books that haven't circulated as much or have been overlooked by your patrons. 

Those books that haven't gotten the attention at your library should be the focus of your display. Post the entire list and include verbiage that explains your holds list. Use the buzz that the Edgar awards can give to help give a boost to titles that need it. The God of the Woods doesn't need our promotional assistance. 

Another option is to mine the lists of past nominees to find backlist titles that would benefit from the spotlight. While you might not have enough of the current nominees to keep a display filled for a few week, the database goes back to the 1940's so you will find titles in your collection that your readers have not discovered. 

The MWA does have a full color listing of the nominees in their newsletter, The 3rd Degree. One page just has the covers of the novel nominees if you want something smaller. 

Other awards given include the Grand Master award. This year Laura Lippman and John Sandford will be honored. Neither of these authors really needs our marketing assistance but you could dig into your stacks and find read-alikes for both of them while having signage that announces the awards. You can add a copy or so of Lippman and Sandford's books if you want to draw some more attention to the display. 

I hope this helps spur some book display ideas!

Ideas For Book Displays and Other Passive Readers Advisory - Crime Fiction Edition

 Crime fiction includes mysteries, thrillers, suspense, and spy novels. All of these have many subgenres and can easily be their own list or display. Remember that readers who enjoy one often will cross over to read another. If you check out the bibliographic record of some crime fiction titles, you will often see mystery, thriller, and suspense listed as genres. 

Again, as with the previous posts, I am going to try to not repeat resources. Keep in mind, many of these resources have information about multiple genres. If you have suggestions, let me know!

Crime Reads is run by Literary Hub and focuses on crime fiction and non-fiction. There are a lot of lists, read likes, interviews, and news about upcoming releases. Beyond fiction, they cover TV, movies, and true crime. 

One annoying thing is that those who eschew other genres will promote crime fiction, even those who believe themselves to read only "serious" literature. Setting aside the snobbery and incorrect attitude about the rest of fiction, The Booker Prize, a literary award based in England, does include crime fiction and has some articles and information about nominees. 

Sisters in Crime was founded to help promote women in mystery. There is information about chapters, an author search, and a page for librarians. There is also a podcast. 

Crime Writers of Color has information about upcoming and recent releases, subgenres, a podcast, YouTube channel, and information about speakers. If you are looking for example, a police procedural to add to a list or display, this is a great place to check. 

For information on crime fiction including awards, authors, series, diversity, genres, debuts, and more - visit Stop, You're Killing me. 

Mystery Scene Magazine is published four times a year. The website features reviews as well as some of the content from the magazine. Reviews can help you find read alike for your book displays and lists. 

The Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery and crime writers. Librarians are able to join. There is information about new books by members and more information available to members. The MWA gives out the Edgar Awards every year. There are a number of awards including for non fiction, first novel, and youth titles. 

Bouchercon presents the Anthony Awards every year. The convention, run by the World Mystery Convention, has programming for mystery writers. The Anthony Awards are a great way to curate a book display or list of the best of the genre. The nominees and winners going back to 1986 are available on the site. 

Hands down, the most popular site I ever talk about in a training is Cozy Mystery List. There is information about books, television, and movies that are cozy. There is a definition of what a cozy mystery is, information about new releases, authors, and a comprehensive guide to series by theme. 

Another organization for writers is the International Thriller Writers. They present the Thriller Awards which can be helpful for passive readers advisory. As with other writers groups, librarians can join as associate members. 

Edgar Award Nominees

These are Edgar award nominees from the Mystery Writers of America. I always post the list with any display about awards as well. It can be filed in with other books by the nominated authors as well as winners and nominees from previous years.