Unshelve Your Collection - Using Upcoming Books to Draw Attention to Your Backlist

 Book Riot sends out a newsletter devoted to horror called The Fright Stuff. The Friday, April 3 edition was titled "Scream-Worthy New Horror Books Coming Out in April 2026." Included were titles like: 

• Bodies of Work by Clay McLeod Chapman (Titan, April 7) You can see my starred review here.
• Morsel by Carter Keane (Tor Nightfire, April 14)
• The Take by Kelly Yang (Berkley, April 14) 
• Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker (Hanover Square, April 14) 
• May the Dead Keep You by Jill Baguchinsky (Little, Brown Books, April 21)
• The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer (Atria, April 21)
• Molka by Monika Kim (Erewhon, April 28) You can see my starred review here

Take a page from Concord, NH’s great indie bookstore, Gibson’s! Set up a display or bulletin board with covers from upcoming titles. Add a QR code with a link to your catalog where the patron can place a hold. Add read-alikes from your collection to the display. 

Never assume that all of your patrons know about even basic library services like placing a hold. You can mirror this display online and include a link to the catalog. 

Borrow ideas from newsletters and publisher’s marketing emails and use them to help market your backlist. 

Five For Friday - Reoccuring Book Display Idea: New Books You Might Have Missed.

 Usually when I talk about book displays I am referencing promoting backlist titles. As someone who works in acquisitions and technical services, I know that some new books do not come in with a bunch of hold requests or are from unknown debut authors or could use a little promotion. A social media display or small physical display in your library will shine some attention on those titles. 

Pick five of the books on your new release shelves that have not been checked out and add a picture with a link to your catalog on your social media. If you can, create a digital display on your website or blog with a list of the titles and links to place a hold on the books. You can make this a regular feature of your social media, giving it a name something like new book spotlight. 

Obviously, those books with holds or which are part of popular series do not need our help to get patron attention. Save this kind of promotion for those books which need a boost. Make certain that you include books by marginalized authors, books in translation, and books from small publishers. You could use narrative non-fiction and memoirs as well.