For some of you veterans.....I have quite a few books in my TBR pile that are not going to fly off my bookshelf when I post them.  For Example, James Patterson, First to Die.    Have you been surprised to see a book like this get requested within 6 months or a year? 

I am not in need of credits so, I am not looking at how to get my less popular books requested.  Just curious if people have been surprised to find that even with 500 copies in the system, your book eventually gets requested via FIFO.

Susan

Yes. I have 5 of them requested recently. The longest had been on my shelf for about 6months.  1 was requested right away because I mentioned it on the boards.  THere were over 300 copies in the system.  It was ordered from me by another active poster probably because they know I'm here everyday and they wouldn't have to wait for it to time out on several people before being accepted.  2 I think just moved up FIFO and 2 were add ons when I had posted a WL book. So they do get ordered. 

I sometimes will pull a couple books from my TBR that I know are heavily posted. I'll post them to my shelf to start their way up FIFO, knowing I can read them quickly if they get requested before I get to them. I wouldn't suggest doing this with more than 1 or 2 books at a time so you don't get yourself in trouble. I'll usually see if my library has them before I post them just incase. 

If people are need of credits or they don't have the space for them then I suggest they run a deal on those heavily posted books.  I've also found it easy to trade them in BOB deals. 

Definitely, it does happen! Books that are popular and have a lot available are also often books that are wanted by a lot of people to read beause they ARE well-known, even if they aren't wish listed. And sometimes those books get chosen "out of FIFO" also--a person will order a book that happens to come from your shelf, click on the "order more from member" button and see other books they want.Patience is a virtue around here, and if you don't need the credits or the book space, I would just wait it out.

Cheryl

Some more suggestions from the Help Center:

• The Book Bazaar Forum is a good place to advertise your books.

  • Start a topic decribing the contents of your bookshelf: 'Gothic Romances!' for example, or 'Mystery/Thrillers and How-To Books!' In the messsage area in your Post, you can 'spotlight' particular titles with descriptions and reviews. You can also start topics offering 2-for-1 deals or more creative 'specials,' if you like.

• Or try the Hidden Gems Forum, where members discuss favorite authors or titles.

  • Members whose tastes match yours will click on your post to browse your books. 

• You can get to the Discussion Forums by clicking "Discussion Forums" under Community in the toolbar at the top of any page on the site. 

• Post more books!

  • When book orders slow down, most members recommend posting more books.

  • Whenever someone clicks ,  there is the opportunity to order more books from the same member.

  • This means that if you post a title that catches someone's eye (in the Books Posted Today, for example), that person might add one of your earlier-posted books to their order.

• Join Box-O-Books

  • Boxers can swap multiple books directly with each other without using credits

Yeah, I echo the above- sometimes, if a book a person orders from you happens to be the first in the FIFO, you get that request, and the requestor looks at what ELSE is on your shelf. I know that's happened to me and is a very nice thing, you get additional requests to mail out books all at once. If this is EVERY SINGLE book on your shelf, I guess just be prepared to wait a bit before the first of your books hits the first of the line.

I mailed out a book a couple of weeks ago that had been on my shelf since the day I joined. It was a hard cover by Sarah Paretsky. There are currently 13 copies in the system. So even books that don't seem to have too many copies may move slowly, but will eventually be requested.

This is why I don't think it's actually that useful to know how many copies are currently available. I've posted books that had well over 100 copies available and they went way faster than this one that only has 13 copies. (Maybe that's just an unlucky 13?)

Well, it sounds like waiting it out is the best way to go.  Seems like everyone has had an "unlikely" book surprise them and leave their shelf.   

So, I will go with Cheryl's advise ; ..."if you don't need the credits or the book space, I would just wait it out."

I also had a book that appeared to have 100 or so copies in the system get requested from me the very same day I posted it.    I was in a mailing frenzy and didn't think much of it.

I haven't posted any books that are heavily posted yet so, I just wanted to see if they were worth posting.   Sounds like its worth a try. 

It just takes time...  when I was new here, I posted my Sue Grafton alphabet mysteries, figuring that since they were popular they would move fast.  Didn't realize the flip side of the coin that since they were popular there were already hundreds of copies in the system.  It took some time, but they eventually WERE ordered.  I've since added more Sue Graftons to my booklist, knowing this time that it will be a while before they move...