Welcome to Five Faves on Friday!
 
Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich, author of EIGHTH GRADE SUPERZERO (Arthur A. Levine Books), points out her favorites things about books, authorship, and all things reading, the first Friday of each month.  (Don’t check your calendars for this month though, folks. The website wasn’t ready last week, but you’ll see her column again the first Friday in January.) Anyway, Olugbemisola begins her column at AuthorsNow! with …

Five Ways to Find a Find

Glossy promotional campaigns, bestseller lists everywhere, that indefinable buzz that skyrockets a book to the forefront of our collective imagination — we’re inundated with hard sells these days, often for the same few titles. How do you offer readers books beyond the bestsellers? How do you find the ones that will resonate with you and the people in your community?

1. Become an Insider. The free Publisher’s Weekly Children’s Bookshelf newsletter and local SCBWI chapters are great resources, and I’m partial to perusing the PEN Children’s/Young Adult Book Authors Committee site for thought-provoking discussion and information about authors and books. Tap into a mega children’s book resource like Jacketflap, or enjoy more intimate dialogue with generous readers like Hip Writer Mama, Mother Reader, and Miss Erin who provide thoughtful reviews and musings on the world of children’s books.

2. Become A Community Activist. There are tons of online communities heavily populated by authors, like Verla Kay’s Blue Boards, which include Book Talk, Book Review, and Good News sections that alert you to some of the latest publishing talk, and personal favourites that may be flying under the media radar. Grab a tea or coffee and get happily lost among the virtual shelves on cataloguing and networking sites like Goodreads and Shelfari. Debut authors’ communities, such as the Class of 2k8, The 2009 Debutantes, and the Tenners provide an entry to the world of new books , often providing ARCs, contests, interviews, and opportunities to connect with industry up-and-comers. Join the friendly fray at literary collectives like The Longstockings, Fangs, Fur Fey, Readergirlz, Guys Read, the Blue Rose Girls, and Yahoo! Groups such as Teen Lit Authors and Middle School Lit.

3. Go to the Pros. The New York Times and Oprah are great, but some of my go-to reviewers and book-talkers include Mitali’s Fire Escape, Seven Impossible Things, Black Threads in Kids Lit, Bookshelves of Doom, A Fuse #8 Production, Interesting Nonfiction for Kids (I.N.K.). Visit the African American Children’s Book Writers, the Caribbean-themed Geoffrey Philp, the Guardian books’ section, Cynsations, Big A, little a, and the the Brown Bookshelf. Go to non-traditional sources, perhaps targeting niche communities known to be big on books; I’ve found the online craft community to be a goldmine for literary dialogue.

4. Listen Up. Children’s book-related podcasts are another way to get beyond the headlines. Just One More Book is a lot of fun, and Cynopsis Kids “concentrates on the business of entertaining children via television, books, games, movies, videos, merchandising and the internet”.

5. Be Old School. Good old face-to face conversation with readers never goes out of style. Chat up your local counterparts, other ‘gatekeepers’, and other readers Chances are that sincerity, enthusiasm and that personal touch will go a long way.

This is just a tiny sample of the many wonderful sources of the latest and best information in the world of children’s books. What are your favourite ways to find a Find?

Related posts:

1. EIGHTH GRADE SUPERZERO by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
2. Connect with C. Lee McKenzie: Another Friday the Thirteenth!
3. Faves on a Friday: Music To Book By
4. Faves on a Friday: Lessons Learned
5. Faves on a Friday: From Page To Screen, Part II