Fans know that NextReads newsletters provide patrons with plenty of suggestions for their next favorite book, but your community has to know that NextReads exists in order to sign up for these reading-recommendation-heavy newsletters. For those who don't, or who prefer to browse in person, online, or get reading recs on social media (see our new favorite: #BookTok), NextReads can also serve as a jumping-off point for book displays and other content too – whether you only use the titles we select or supplement with others from your collection.
Though the NextReads themes really run the gamut (and you can see them early via the Advance List), quite often they tie to current or seasonal events or trends, which means you can use them to create relevant book displays, reading lists, or other content for your website and social media. Mix and match as you like, if you like, across genres and age levels.
As an example, in the next few months, we’ve got:
- Back to School: It’s not just for kids. Grab the October Fiction A to Z list for some general adult fiction set in and around schools, and supplement with a NoveList search for TH Academies of magic to add adult genre titles, like Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education (the sequel, The Last Graduate, comes out in September).
- Fall is a great time to travel – even if it’s only of the armchair variety. Grab our September Romance books (Romantic Getaways) to get started. Add any of our Armchair Travel titles as a supplement (our theme in October is on writers...).
- Which leads me to bookish books and books about books. In addition to the novelist-turned-traveler theme on October’s Armchair Travel newsletter, we’ve got Bookish Reads on both the September Mystery and Christian fiction newsletters.
In preparation for Halloween, check out our October themes:
- Dark, creepy, or ghostly reads (Fiction A to Z)
- Witches (Fantasy and Science Fiction)
- “Grave” mysteries (Mysteries)
In November, we’re:
- promoting Indigenous Voices on both the History and Biography newsletters
- featuring foodie memoirs that focus on family for the Home, Garden, and DIY newsletter
- spotlighting Christmas stories on Christian Fiction
Not to mention there’s a September readalike theme for the popular Netflix show The Home Edit, on our Home, Garden, and DIY newsletter.
As great as our recommendations in your inbox are, that’s only scraping the surface of how you can use NextReads to reach your patrons. Find out more about creating flyers, widgets, and social media posts with LibraryAware.
Shauna Griffin is a Senior Collection Development Librarian at NoveList. She is currently reading The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik.
