This week I received a note from Patrick Battle, a bookseller at The Book Table in Oak Park, IL. (And not just a bookseller, he’s The Book Table’s longest serving employee.) Patrick wrote about a display idea he had for the store featuring Tom Perrotta’s Mrs. Fletcher.

“I enjoy coming up with alternative ideas to enhance the visual quality of our shelf talkers,” Patrick wrote. “Since a large part of the plot of Mrs. Fletcher revolves around text messaging, I decided to experiment a bit with the style of this particular recommendation with something I hadn’t tried before.

Patrick found an image of an iPhone online, removed the ‘screen’ images, and, with some fonts and a bit of digital magic, replaced it with this recommendation:

“This novel is a fine and fitting reflection of the ever morphing landscape of human relationships, and the difficulty of navigating its nuances as well as transcending the stigmas of its taboos. Perrotta ascribes a convincing amount of naiveté to each of his subjects, allowing their journeys to blossom (for better or worse) with an allure that borders pure magnetism. Their every victory and failure are in some way enlightening, particularly when their supposed principles are in direct conflict with their behavior. Perrotta also gives the impression that he shares some of the curiosity and vulnerability he so eloquently infuses into his characters, which invites us to grow and learn, triumph and fail right alongside them as we contrast their development against our own presumptions. This is a story rich in discovery, and a exemplary tale of people exploring the best and worst parts of themselves, enigmatic though their actual selves may be.”

He then printed the image on card stock and laminated it for use in the store display. The images–the display, the shelf talker, and Patrick doing a bit of cover reenactment–were collaged and posted on The Book Table’s Instagram account, which I’ve embedded below.

I love the coordinated campaign between the shelf talker, the display, and social media. It reinforces a message across multiple platforms while allowing the work to perform double-duty.

Good job, Patrick. Your reign as The Book Table’s longest serving employee should continue another day.

 

It’s #NewBookTuesday and Patrick recommends “Mrs. Fletcher” by Tom Perrotta! We have a limited number of signed copies, so grab yours today and beat the heat with a good read in bed! “This novel is a fine and fitting reflection of the ever morphing landscape of human relationships, and the difficulty of navigating its nuances as well as transcending the stigmas of its taboos. Perrotta ascribes a convincing amount of naiveté to each of his subjects, allowing their journeys to blossom (for better or worse) with an allure that borders pure magnetism. Their every victory and failure are in some way enlightening, particularly when their supposed principles are in direct conflict with their behavior. Perrotta also gives the impression that he shares some of the curiosity and vulnerability he so eloquently infuses into his characters, which invites us to grow and learn, triumph and fail right alongside them as we contrast their development against our own presumptions. This is a story rich in discovery, and a exemplary tale of people exploring the best and worst parts of themselves, enigmatic though their actual selves may be.” – Patrick #TomPerrotta #MrsFletcher #Scribner #SimonandSchuster #Fiction #summerreads #indiebookstores #bookrecommendation #booksellers #TheBookTable #bookstagram #newrelease

A post shared by The Book Table (@thebooktable) on Aug 1, 2017 at 10:05am PDT