Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games series, John Scalzi’s Starter Villain, and Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower are all books that fall within the same genre (science fiction/dystopian). They can also be put in the same BISAC category—which means Book Industry Standards and Communications and is a way of classifying books based on subject(s) keywords to tell booksellers where they should be shelved in a store—and appear on multiple of the same lists on aggregating websites like Goodreads.
However, a tween who’s enjoyed the teenage heroics and romance of Collins’ dystopian future might not be the best audience for the foul-mouthed dolphins of Scalzi’s hilarious take on good guys and bad guys.
Similarly, a fan of Evie Dunmore’s historical romances like A Rogue of One’s Own might not be the audience for Fifty Shades of Grey, or Before I Let Go, despite all three books being classified as romance and being written for adults. While book recommendations and lists are often centered around the broad grouping of genres (or a genre mashup like romantasy), readers and recommenders know that these broad labels are not nearly enough to make the perfect book connections we all aim for in our reading lives. Luckily, a collection of classifications known as reading appeal factors is an easy and enjoyable way to help readers, booksellers, and librarians narrow in on personalized book picks.
When taken together, appeal factors form a more complete picture, beyond genre or plot events, of a book. Appeal factors are the characteristics that engage the reader and include the book’s pacing, the level of character development, the types and complexity of language used, the mood of the story, and the book’s overall tone. By looking at appeal factors during reader’s advisory, it is possible to, for example, differentiate between a cozy, hopeful mystery set in a small village and a fast-paced, dark mystery-thriller that features more violent themes.
Many readers are already using appeal factors to some extent when they choose and discuss books. For example, do you prefer books that are fast-paced or more leisurely? Are you okay with an unreliable narrator? Do you like your mystery books to be scary, suspenseful, haunting, or all of the above? Narrowing down these appeal factors and understanding how they show up in your favorite books can be a great tool to find books you enjoy, as well as a valuable skill for booksellers and librarians to use in reader’s advisory.
Often, when a library patron is looking for a book, they’ll be asked, “What was the last book you read and enjoyed?” This can give the librarian insight into not just what topics or genres the reader is interested in, but also allow them to make book recommendations that leave the reader feeling that they have been heard and understood and have a good book to look forward to reading!
For book seekers who might not have read anything (or anything they enjoyed) in a while, questions about favorite TV shows or other forms of entertainment can also help give insight into the pacing and tone that the patron would enjoy in a book. And while librarians may be more familiar with reading appeal factors than the average, casual reader, anyone can learn about reading appeal factors and apply them to past books they’ve loved in order to find their next great read.
Finding What Appeals to You
One of the most thorough resources on reading appeal factors is NoveList’s “The Secret Language of Books: A Guide to Appeal“. In the extensive, 33-page document, readers and reader advisors are walked through guiding questions to assess appeal factors and can then read different ones—from factors revolving around characters to preferences that specifically apply to audiobooks. The guide also highlights common themes and tropes within genres, helping readers to identify not just that they enjoy a certain genre, but what particular versions of it they are drawn toward.
After familiarizing yourself with appeal factors, I highly recommend heading to NoveList (that link will take you to a page where you can search to learn how to access it through your local library). The site allows you to look at books you’ve enjoyed and identify their appeal factors, search for books through a customized appeal factors system, and browse book lists centered around certain appeals.
Once you’ve done that, check out this piece from the Spokane County Library District that walks you through how appeal factors can be used in reader’s advisory and explore sites like Whichbook that allow you to sort by mood, emotion, and numerous other factors, as well as have an interactive world map that allows you to see where books are set. Parents and those doing reader’s advisory for kids should also be sure to see if their library has access to NoveList K-8, which is specifically designed for sorting and recommending elementary and middle grade books by appeal factors.
Knowing more about appeal factors and which ones appeal to you can help you be both a happier reader and a better recommender of books. Rather than casting around blindly in the sea of a widely defined genre or theme, using appeal factors to search for reading recommendations helps readers find more books they’ll enjoy.
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