The latest Panorama Picks have been released by the Panorama Project, spotlighting recent fiction, nonfiction, and young adult books library patrons were waiting to read in 9 different regions across the United States. The new lists measure unmet demand from July – September 2019 and reflect updated methodology designed to identify titles that are more likely to still be in booksellers’ inventory but may have fallen off the radar as their publishers’ promotional efforts faded. Some were brief national bestsellers, while others are notable midlist gems with strong regional interest.
New Panorama Picks Announced, Surfacing Under-the-Radar Backlist Titles in Nine U.S. Regions
Panorama Project Meeting at ALA Annual Draws Another Large Crowd
We drew another large crowd at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Washington, DC on June 23 for our one-hour session “Update from The Panorama Project: Addressing the Challenges for Library Digital Book Lending.”
Steve Potash, founder and CEO of Rakuten OverDrive, welcomed the 65-plus attendees and provided some background on the ideas and concerns that led to the creation of the Panorama Project over a year ago.
Sari Feldman (Executive Director, Cuyahoga County Library and former ALA President) delivered an update on critical issues regarding digital library lending, including recent changes in terms for digital use from two publishers. Sari called for all librarians to join the effort to gather and share data to show that “libraries build readership.”
Alexis Petric-Black (Senior Manager, Publisher Relations, Rakuten OverDrive) introduced Panorama Picks—our recently launched program that uses library demand data to reveal opportunities for booksellers, publishers, authors and libraries.
Sharon Bruni (Associate Director of Public Services, Mt. Lebanon Public Library) then presented the initial findings from the Project’s recent survey of Readers’ Advisory activities (see the session slides for details). The survey findings demonstrate the variety, volume and impact of library Readers’ Advisory activities on book/author discovery, brand development and sales.
Becky Spratford (librarian and founder of RA for All) closed the session with tips on how libraries can address the online and social media promotion opportunities surfaced in the initial survey results. Click here to read Becky’s blog post summarizing her talk. The post also includes lots of helpful links.
Click here to view and download the session slides.
Our Book Expo 2019 Session on Readers’ Advisory and Panorama Picks Drew a Crowd
Over 175 people joined us at Book Expo 2019 in New York for our session, Learn How Public Libraries Impact Title/Author Discovery and Book Sales: Data-Driven Insights from the Panorama Project. It was an engaged audience of booksellers, vendors, publishers and librarians and we received positive reviews afterward.
Bill Kelly (Adult Programming Manager, Cuyahoga County Public Library) provided an update on the breadth of U.S. public libraries and how CCPL drives sales at its author events. In 2018 over 11,000 books were sold at 93 events—by the library and its independent bookselling partner, Mac’s Backs.
Alexis Petric-Black (Senior Publisher Relations Manager, Rakuten OverDrive) introduced Panorama Picks, our new program that reveals unmet demand for books and sales opportunities for booksellers. The program provides a series of regional lists of titles compiled from the wait lists for ebooks at local libraries. The initial lists are available now. Updated lists will be published on a quarterly basis. Click here to learn more and sign-up to be notified when new lists are published.
Book Expo panel members Cliff Guren, Bill Kelly, Alexis Petric-Black and Skip Dye
Skip Dye (VP of Library Marketing and Digital Sales and VP of Sales Operations, Penguin Random House) closed the session with insights on how PRH works with libraries to launch new authors and titles. With the longhand belief that library patrons are key influencers, PRH actively markets to library readers, in the library, in the library’s online platforms, and on a variety of social media sites. Skip is also a big believer in the power of print promotion in libraries: he noted that he’s often surprised how long the posters they distribute to libraries stay on the walls!
Click here to view and download the session slides.
Panorama Picks is Live!
Today we are introducing a new program called Panorama Picks that reveals unmet demand for books and sales opportunities for booksellers. Panorama Picks is based on demand for books that readers are waiting to borrow from the nation’s public libraries. The program provides a series of regional lists of titles compiled from the wait lists for ebooks at local libraries. The lists will be updated on a quarterly basis.
The Panorama Picks lists also provide valuable insights to publishers and authors. We expect that the data will be used to uncover trends—demand data from the library can be a leading indicator of the next hot genre or subcategory that booksellers, publishers and authors can leverage. The lists can tell a story and we’re excited to make them available.
Visit the Panorama Picks webpage to learn more, sign-up to be notified when new lists are available, take our short survey on the program and share your feedback. We look forward to hearing your thoughts on Panorama Picks!