Librarian Jon Allinder wrote in to MobyLives about one of the reports in our Anatomy of a Marketing Campaign series, and mentioned in his letter that he’d used Melville House‘s Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada in a campaign he was conducting himself called “Books for Non-Readers.” We asked him to explain, which he was kind enough to do in this guest column ….

Sustained pleasure reading is a vitally important and wholesome activity. As a pleasure reader it isn’t necessary for studies to demonstrate the profoundly positive impact reading has on your mind and body – you feel this impact daily. Reading is an interesting phenomenon, when taken on its own, because it is at the same time intensely personal and enjoyably communal. We bury ourselves within a book, and then we run out and share what we’ve read with others. It is the act of sharing that binds us to a community of books and readers, and we grow intensely in our tastes and understanding as a participant in this community.

So what about the non-readers? Do we talk about books with non-readers? They don’t read, and you’re only going to come off pretentious or simply boring. This is dangerous thinking. I’ll argue that these individuals need to hear about books more than anyone else, and if you’re a fervent reader I’ll guarantee you’ve got a stock of wonderful books to talk about with them, books that the non-reader can connect with in meaningful ways. Welcome to my Books for Non-Readers program.

Books for Non-Readers is all about sharing your love of reading with those individuals who would classify themselves as non-readers. This isn’t a “here’s an easy book” program, this is about putting quality books into the hands of people who would otherwise not think to reach for them. I’m talking about turning non-readers into readers.

The question of what books will you recommend is an important one – you’ve got to choose carefully, otherwise you run the risk of further cementing a non-reading attitude. Below is my brief list of “musts,” that I’ve slowly developed over the past year or so of thinking about how to connect with non-readers.

The “Musts”:

• The book must be accessible: the language and style of the book cannot be overly difficult. I’m not saying the book has to be simple, just written in a plain style, employing straightforward language.
• The book has to grab you: some wonderful books only become wonderful after you drag yourself through the first twenty to fifty pages, and a non-reader isn’t going to suffer that kind of commitment. The non-reader needs something that comes out and grabs them right way, because if the book doesn’t start strong it’s not going to last.
• Pacing is important: once the book grabs you it has to keep hold and move at a nice pace, otherwise it runs the risk of becoming stale in the eyes of a non-reader.
• Shorter books are good: again, I’m not saying simple books, but if a book’s pagination runs well above 500 the non-reader may be inherently turned off by the shear heft of the book. This stipulation cuts both ways, because if the book works in the other respects the fact that it’s a bit longer could actually increase the satisfaction of a new reader. Think how good it feels to finish a huge book.
• One book must lead to another book: there isn’t any sense in starting a fire if you can’t feed it, right? Being able to say “if you liked that youll want to check out this,” or “there are tons of other books written on this topic, such as” will help ensure that your new reader can find additional titles either on their own or at someones recommendation.
• Have a list of books: be ready with several recommendations, depending on the non-readers perceived tastes or interests. There isn’t one go-to book for every recommendation (thought there are some that come close, in my opinion), so be ready to throw a few titles out there, and be able to talk about them to explain why the non-reader might enjoy this or that book.

I firmly believe that it is our responsibility as readers to share this love (nay, life) with others, and if you stop and think about it I’m sure you know a person and a book that would be perfect for each other. Make that match happen.

Having been at the book recommendation game for only a short time, Id love to hear about any recommendations that others can think of for non-readers, as well as any thoughts on the considerations behind what kinds of books to recommend.

Some of the top titles from my list are:

• Every Man Dies Alone, by Hans Fallada
• O, Pioneers, by Willa Cather
• Stones from the River, by Ursula Hegi
• No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy
• Post Office, Charles Bukowski
• The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka
• You Can’t Win, by Jack Black

What books would you include, and why? Comments welcome.