Week 5: Assignment 1
What useful information have you learned from the resource that you have been monitoring  since week one?  Blog about it.

I have been sporadically following both Early Word and StreetFiction sites. The StreetFiction site doesn't get updated much, and when I do see a new title, it's more like an advertisement than a review. As a result, I haven't been following that site much. I also have been looking at Early Word. I like the interviews, the trailers for movies from books, etc. I also like the lists they have, like the Amazon Best of the Month, Indie Next Lists, and other book lists. The new books are often overlapped in other resources I look at; however, the movie trailers based on books are the most useful new information I get on Early Word.

Week 5: Assignment 2What’s popular in your branch?  If it’s “popular” or “commercial” fiction then you want be sure to look at The New York Times Best Seller List or People Magazine.  For forthcoming titles check the Publisher’s Weekly On Sale calendar. If literary fiction and narrative nonfiction is popular, you can monitor the Indie Next Best Seller List (formerly BookSense) and NPR.  Do your customers want to read the book before themovie comes out?  More than likely, you have a diverse mix of customers who have equally diverse reading preferences, but all of these resources are available via Early Word.  Take a look at the site and click around; there are lots of links in both sidebars.  Post to your blog: What resources are new discoveries for you?  What do you think that you will continue to use?

Unfortunately, our branch community is not a community of readers. They love to consume DVDs! Movies, TV series, documentaries...you name it! [They are] NON-STOP! However, we do have a few stalwart and faithful readers, and most commonly, they like (of course) James Patterson! I even have one lady who knows what is coming out when and puts them on hold as soon as they show up on order in the catalog so she can be at the top of the wait list. Other popular books include series/books by authors like Michael Connelly, CJ Box, John Sandford, and Clive Cussler. We also have a handful who enjoy the erotica, like Sylvia Day, as well as a small group that likes the Urban fiction. The kids that do read tend to pick up the usual popular things, like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dork Diaries, etc. They also enjoy graphic novels.
I think the most useful sidebar section of Early Word, due to our DVD-loving constituency, is:  Moves & TV Based on Books -- Trailers, Offical Web Sites.

Week 5: Assignment 3 Pick a title from Amazon’s Best of the Month, found under the righthand “Coming Soon” sidebar on Early Word.  Write a blog post using appeal factors or read alikes to describe the title.  Why is this title expected to be popular and to whom would it appeal?

The title I picked from Amazon's Best of the Month is from the children's category (middle grade): The Trials of Apollo, Book 1: The Hidden Oracle.
The appeal factors of this title include an action-packed, fast-paced story which mixes Greek and Roman mythology in modern times. Since the main characters are teenagers, middle school kids and older would enjoy reading novels with heroes they can identify with. If they have read the two other series by Rick Riordan that are about Greek and Roman mythology, the kids will enjoy the continuation of those series.
Read alikes include:any of the books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and any book in the Heroes of Olympus series.
This title will be popular because Rick Riordan has written multiple mythology-related series that are popular with kids. The primary audience will be upper elementary, middle school, and even adults and young adults.