How do you get your books noticed?  In the beginning I would get requests all the time for my books and now it's been months and months.  Why?  I have very popular books (James Patterson, John Grishom, Michael Connelly, etc).  What is the trick to getting your books requested?

Thanks

Well, I looked at your bookshelf, and most of the books have at least 300 copies in the system.  With the FIFO system more popular authors like James Patterson and John Grishom can sit on shelves for months (or even years sometimes).  The only advice I can offer with your current shelf is to offer deals in the BB, hopefully that would get some movement.

Sheena is right, people have already requested any books you had that were in high demand, and what you have left are books that are not in high demand.

Posting in the forums can sometimes help. I've seen members say that they will only order books from people who they see are active on the site because they are regularily posting in the forums. This helps them to avoid having to wait for requests to time out on a heavily posted title. 

Otherwise I'd say either do a deal as Sheena suggested, or keep an eye out at garage sales for books that there is more demand for.

Yes, many times you can regenerate interest in a bookshelf by posting some additional books to it (especially adding currently WL'd books), and then when those books are requested, sometimes the Requesting members will use the Order More Books from Member option and add some old favorites to their original order.  But if you hadn't added the new books, they wouldn't have seen the old favorites there in the first place.  Adding new books to your shelf gets those new books displayed on the PBS homepage in the Recently Posted Books section for a while.

So do things to get members to look at your bookshelf.  Book Bazaar Deals, posting info in your signature.  Talk about/highlight a book in one of the applicable genre forums, and if worthy, add an addition to the Hidden Gems topic.  Add a written Book Review.

Once they are drawn to your bookshelf, they are much more apt to add one of the books that has been just sitting there currently.

Good suggestions, all!

Yeah unfortunately the downside of those super popular authors and books is that because they are so popular hundreds of other people own them already. Plus they're easy to find at thrift stores.  They do get ordered but it can take some time.  I find they frequently get requested when I post a WL book by someone using the Order More From Member button.  But other than that they can just sit and sit.  It's why I never buy Grishams, Pattersons, Roberts, Steeles, Cobens or Kings just to post.  Because while they all  have some WL books-many of their books already have several hundred copies in the system already. 

If you are tired of looking at them you can run a deal-those are the kind of books I only order if I'm getting them 3 for 1 or better.  Or you could try being a boxer and exchange them for other books you haven't read yet.

I also recommend hanging out in the forums.  I've gotten several orders just out of the blue from other forum members. Probably because they know I'm here everyday and the request won't time out.  Plus people tend to make friends (buddies) on here and it's nice to order from someone you "know". 

I agree with what others have said. If you like those popular authors, be sure to buy their books new and read them right away and post them, because they can go from having 500 people wishing for their new book to 500 copies available in the system in a VERY short time! If they're bestsellers, that means everyone's buying them. Your best bet if you need the credits and don't want to buy them is to find some local Friends of the Library sales where you can pick up mass market size paperbacks often for .50 and hardcovers for a dollar. (At least that's what my FOL charges.) Then you can post some of those to supplement your shelf til your turn comes up for those others.

Mary, I agree with you about hanging out in the forums, however, I could love you like a sister and you'd still not get me to order a Grisham or Patterson or Roberts from your shelf. LOL

Cheryl

Yeah Spuddie me neither. Not for a full credit anyway.  Those are usually the books I get from the library or the thrift store and then they go back to whence they came when I'm done.  (although I do have some Nora Roberts books posted).

I actually did have someone add a heavily posted Grisham book to an order, so it does happen!  I was super excited to move the Grisham!

Not only have many members already read those authors, but like the others have said, if someone is wanting to order these authors they want deals because they are heavily posted authors and are not likely to get a quick re-order. I don't read any of those authors really, maybe a title of interest here or there (see shelf: I do have a copy of "Sundays at Tiffanys" on my shelf because the premise intrigued me so much. I paid a full credit for it because I had to have it, like, NOW!). The UBS by us has TONS of those authors in stock. I think if I do want to read something by one of them, I'll more than likely just get it at the library so I don't have to fuss with posting it here or trading it in at The Book Shack.

I've had it happen only twice where someone has added an additional book to their WL order from me. I wish it happened more often. I used to be really fast about sending out orders, but now I'll take an extra day or two to let them "think" about it. It usually results in nothing, but at least I can tell myself they had every opportunity.

In my case, I have a super small shelf because I mostly am working on reading WL books right now as well as my keepers that I've been putting off because I've been reading WL books for others.

Hopefully your shelf picks up. Check out some neighborhood yard sales, FOL sales, thrift stores, the $1 store, etc., and try to find a few WL/frequently requested books to supplement what you already have.

"Hopefully your shelf picks up. Check out some neighborhood yard sales, FOL sales, thrift stores, the $1 store, etc., and try to find a few WL/frequently requested books to supplement what you already have."

If I wanted to pick up a couple books to add to my shelf, how would I know where to begin? Are non-fiction generally better movers?

I find it best to keep updated on the Top 50 WL and your favorite genres.  Non-fiction goes but it depends on what. It's like any other genre-some books will have 100's in the system already and others will be WL.  So I usually just check out my favorite genres.  Much easier to remember a few authors who are completely WL.  You also need to pay attention to ISBN#.  A book could be WL in large print but have 400 copies in mmp posted already. 

I've had good luck with erotica, paranormals, cozies and foreign authors.   Avoid: Nora Roberts, Danielle Steele, Janet Evanovich, Dan Brown, Stephen King, James Patterson, Harlan Coben, John Grisham and the other "mega-authors" unless you have some titles and ISBN #'s written down.  Most of their books are very heavily posted with some having over 2,000 copies in the system already.  So I only grab them if I find their absolute most recent release.  Like Dan Brown's Lost Symbol is still WL but there's several thousand copies of Angels & Demons and Davinci Code already. 

Also avoid those little series romances.  There are a few that are WL but it's only hard to find very early releases of a now big author.  But mostly they just sit and collect dust because few people want to pay a full credit for them.

Author's I've found that move quickly: Lora Leigh, Jim Butcher, Boris Akunin, Charlaine Harris, Diane Whiteside, Erin McCarthy (mostly her newer ones), anything by Ellorascave, Sahmain, Newconcepts Publisher's. 

Some of the quilting, craft, and cook books move fast.  Erotica always does.  Books that are from smaller presses often do, such as Subterranean or Samhain.  Books that show up in top books of the year lists but that are not best sellers.  Some teen books.   Award winning books such as Newberry Awards. 

Before the annual library sale, I'll watch the top 50s lists.

You can find the top 50s list under the Community menu. You can sort it various ways -- most requested, most wished for. And by different time periods.