Art of the Shelf-talker take 3...

In the continuing Art of the Shelf-talker series I wanted to share some shelf-talkers that just sell a lot of copies for books left off the best-seller lists but which have a good home at Green Apple. As we all know some books get overlooked, some do OK, & others, well, they take off. Among the best selling books over the last year there were a few that sold despite being written by someone other than Chabon or Obama or a book not in the Twilight series, in large part due to the shelf-talker.

1. A long time staff favorite: If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland


2. The Tenant by Roland Topor, another staff favorite that we didn't even stock & the inspiration for the Roman Polanski film.

3. This is one of my favorites, Apathy & Other Small Victories by Paul Neilan, now one of our local Richmond District authors. We have sold 491 copies of the paperback alone since it came out 2 years ago.
4. One of our new book buyers allegedly said that he would eat his shoe if we sold more than 7 copies of The Gangsta Rap Coloring Book. After this shelf-talker helped to sell 50 more than that this year, he said it was just a rumor.


5. Weather of the San Francisco Bay Region by Harold Gilliam: This is just a classic case of taking an everyday field guide but wording why you should read the book. "...few regions in the U.S. even require," "...why the weather here is so zany," "(it's also fun)".


What are some of your favorite shelf-talkers? Which one's have helped you find that book you loved. (Two of mine that shelf-talkers in this store helped me findare now two of my favorite books, The History of Love & The End of Vandalism, I will recommend those books for the rest of my life.)