4/24/2015 1 Falling in Love with Fiction Romance Readers’ Advisory Ilene N. Lefkowitz, Denville Public Library C.L. Quillen, Spotswood Public Library Authors of Read On…. Romance, 2014 Crash Course in Romance RA ● RA Refresher ● Language of Romance RA ● What makes a Romance a Romance ● Statistics ● Sub Genres ● Key Authors ● Best Bets ● Trends ● Resources
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4/24/2015
1
Falling in Love with
Fiction
Romance Readers’ Advisory
Ilene N. Lefkowitz, Denville Public Library
C.L. Quillen, Spotswood Public Library
Authors of Read On…. Romance, 2014
Crash Course in Romance RA● RA Refresher
● Language of Romance RA
● What makes a Romance a Romance
● Statistics
● Sub Genres
● Key Authors
● Best Bets
● Trends
● Resources
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Readers’ Advisory Refresher
Commonly asked questions:
● What is My Favorite Author’s new book?
● Who writes like My Favorite Author?
● What other books are like My Favorite Book?
● What do I read now that My Favorite Series ended?
Readers’ Advisory Refresher
Read-Alikes
A book that shares appeal factors not related to plot or setting such as style,
theme, mood or atmosphere
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Read-Alikes
The Perfect Hope Robin Carr’s Virgin River Series
Jude Deveraux’s Nantucket Brides
Trilogy
Susan Wigg’s Lakeshore Chronicles
Why use Appeal Factors?
● Appeal factors cross lines between genres, sub-genres and authors
● Appeal factors are reader focused
● Appeal factors allow librarians to recommend books they haven’t read
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What are Appeal Factors?
● Story
● Character
● Mood
● Language
● Setting
Story
How the hero and heroine get from the beginning to the Happily Ever After
How does the story develop?
Action packed full of twists and turns or is it more leisurely?
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Character
Readers often choose romances to read based on the
characters.
Navy SEALS
Shapeshifters
Firefighters
OR
They choose romances with characters they can relate to;
single moms, librarians or African Americans
Mood
Overarching feel of the book - the atmosphere
Dreamy
Scary
Suspenseful
Romantic
Sad
Steamy
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Language
Hard appeal factor to narrow down but readers may ask
for something witty versus something lush and romantic
Could also refer to format - written in diary or letter
format or in texts and tweets
Setting
The backdrop to the story.
The Where or When to the Why and How
Small town
Big city
Present day
Times long ago
Far far away
Just down the road
Time of year
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How Readers ask for Romances
Something about finding a lost love (story)
I’m looking for a romance with Pirates
(character)
I want a steamy read (mood)
Something funny (language)
Something set in London (setting)
What makes a Romance a Romance?
● Romance plotline is central to the story.
● Emotionally Satisfying and Optimistic Ending
● Not necessarily a Happy Ever After, could be a Happy for Now