What are some tips for creating fiction booklists?

Annotated book lists are an important tool for readers’ advisory work. They are an excellent way to promote and market your library’s collection and to provide reading suggestions to library customers. Here are some tips to get you started:

• Choose a topic for your list that reflects reader interests. Identify the intended audience.
• Choose a topic that is broad enough so that you have an adequate number of titles for the list.
• May sure that you have enough copies of any title that you are considering for inclusion on the list.
• Annotations should focus on the story line and on the book’s appeal to the reader.
• They should be written in the active rather than the passive voice.
• Annotations should be brief, concise, and descriptive. They should pique the reader’s interest in the title.
• Eighteen to twenty-four titles is a useful number of titles to include.
• Include no more than one book by an author.
• If you own a title in print as well as in other formats like CD, Playaway, or downloadable e-book or audio Mention the variety of formats that you have available in the annotation.
• For each annotation include the author, title, publication date, number of pages, and the call number or location in your collection. Arrange the annotations in alphabetical order by author.
• Choose a catchy title for your list that will arouse the reader’s interest in the books that you’ve chosen.
• Proofread your list carefully. Enlist the aid of a co-worker who hasn’t seen the list previously.
• Use your completed list as a basis for a book display. Include the list with the display.
• Make sure to include your list on your library’s Web site to increase the audience for the list.

You can find an extensive list of booklists, both fiction and non-fiction, on the Pratt Library website under Pratt Recommends Booklists.