Recently Corrine Jackson, awesome author and fellow Bookanista, shared this video by YA author/vlogger Daniel Marks. In it, he speaks about “book propping,” which, simply put, is giving tons of support to a particular book or books. Often the books that are “propped” are ones that were bought with large advances and have considerable budgets for promotion. These are books that don’t necessarily need a lot of word-of-mouth hype, but seem to get it anyway.
I’ll give you a few minutes to head over to You Tube to check out the video because Daniel explains it all far better (and more entertainingly) than I do…
Basically, Daniel is saying: Let’s prop up the fantastic books, the ones we truly love, but may not have tons of money or marketing behind them. Let’s prop up the quiet books, the hidden gems, the beautifully written stories that are full of wonderful characters, but, for whatever reason, lack big buzz.
While I read and review plenty of well-hyped books, I do my best to spread the love for my favorite not-so-buzzed about novels as well. In fact, some of my very favorite young adult books are ones that don’t get talked about nearly enough (in my opinion): Saving June, Lovely, Dark and Deep, Chime, Moonglass, Impossible, Stolen, Something Like Normal, Wanderlove, How to Save a Life, and The Summer I Turned Pretty, to name just a few.
So… check them out!
And won’t you join me in propping up books that are excellent, but are missing out on big-budget promotion? Let’s show publishers that we like literary diversity, and that we like to have lots of choices when we enter a bookstore. Let’s help the authors who write the stories we adore. Let’s recommend their books. Let’s talk about why we love them, and help them find their way into the hands of new readers. Let’s create that whirlwind of excitement Daniel spoke about!
What book will you “prop up” today?
katyupperman.com 
I love this! I will prop up MONSTROUS BEAUTY, THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE, and LIKE MANDARIN.
I love both MONSTROUS BEAUTY and THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE! Obviously I need to read LIKE MANDARIN soon, because I adore WANDERLOVE. Great choices, Rebecca!
I’ll prop up AUDREY, WAIT!, INTO THE WILD NERD YONDER, and the CAT ROYAL series (by Julia Golding). 😀
I’ve not read any of those! I’ve heard great things about AUDREY, WAIT! and INTO THE WILD NERD YONDER and the CAT ROYAL both have fantastic titles. Adding to my list now…
WOW Katy– love it. Love the message, love his style, and LOVE the reminder to share good books we adore. I will be propping a book tomorrow during What’s Up Wednesday. Woot.
Daniel is fantastic, right? I’m going to start following his You Tube channel. 🙂 I can’t wait to see what book you prop tomorrow, Kat!
What a great video! You know, not to bash TWILIGHT, but I still maintain it only became so popular because of a really smart marketing campaign. I think when people started to take notice of that black and white cover with the apple, the publisher used that to build the hype. A smart move on their part, but I wish other better books would receive the same kind of attention.
I’m never sure how much promotion certain books get, because I tend to read what’s recommended to me these days, so maybe the ones I’m choosing to prop are already getting the attention they deserve. I’ll go with a couple Canadian authors, because goodness knows they could use a boost: STARLING by Lesley Livingston and THIS DARK ENDEAVOR by Kenneth Oppel. I’ll add GRAVE MERCY, UNSPOKEN, and MY FAIR GODMOTHER to that as well. 🙂
I read mostly recommended books too, Erin. It’s very rare that I walk into a bookstore and choose a book based solely on marketing strategy/cover/blurbs. Thanks for the book props. I’ve not read GRAVE MERCY yet, but I’ve heard great things. Adding to my list now… 🙂
I book prop WHAT HAPPENS NEXT by Colleen Clayton to almost everybody. I think you’d LOVE it. Similar to SAVING JUNE, with a cute boy who bakes, and a mom and little brother who are totally in the picture, Katy, you would love Sid and her friends. 🙂 It is also a readalike for SPEAK.
I also do a ton of word-of-mouth marketing for books I love but don’t get hype ALL THE TIME. I spend waaay too much time in B&N or the local indies and I watch a lot of customers walk out with my suggestions. It’s a damn shame that no one is hiring right now… I’m helping their sales, LOL!
Ooh, I didn’t know much about WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. Thanks for the recommendation, Rachel! I know your taste is to be trusted. 🙂
Thanks for the props, Katy!
Of course! I feel it’s my duty to spread the word about amazing books. 🙂