UK Bookstores Set Tables for ‘Cli-Fi’ Books

******During the sweltering British summer of 2013, several bookstores in the UK did something that was a long time coming: They set up a dedicated ”cli-fi” tables with a simple yet eye-catching signs promoting fiction and non-fiction books with climate themes.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We spoke with the marketing director at the one of the London bookshops about why she set up the cli fi tables and signs. When asked what the motivation was, she explained that after she read the Rodge Glass piece in the Guardian in May, she became very concerned about finding ways to promote climate fiction (and non fiction books) in her store. So she asked her design team to come up with some posters and signs, and tables were set up. Customer reaction was positive, she said.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Yes, our customers warmed to the idea, you might say, and there were no complaints," she said. "While climate novels and non fiction books about climate cover a lot of ground, from pro-AGW rants to skeptics books and even denialists rants, it is important that we shine the spotlight on climate books now and in the future. So our summer 2013 events were positive and we plan to repeat them over the course of the coming year, too. And sure, we do hope our example where in the UK will be reflected in the USA and Australia too, for bookstores there."-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Among the books displayed were Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” and James Lovelock’s “The Revenge of Gaia” as well as Stephen Emmott’s bestseller “10 Billion” sitting alongside such dystopic scenarios as J.G. Ballard’s “The Drowned World,” John Christopher’s “The Death of Grass,” Joe Dunthorne’s “Wild Abandon” and Liz Jensen’s “The Rapture.”----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Most of the books on the table are also available as e-books as well.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These ‘cli-fi’ signs in-store may be the first of their kind anywhere in the now-warming world, and they follow extensive media coverage of the emerging cli-fi genre in TeleRead, The Guardian, the Financial Times, and The New Yorker.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other cli-fi novels on the tables included Barbara Kingsolver’s”Flight Behavior” and and Ian McEwan’s “Solar.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Will other bookstores and book-selling websites around the world follow these sterling British bookstore examples and set up similar cli-fi sites at bookstores in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Sydney, Melbourne, Wellington and Paris? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is this a trend or just one-off events and photo opps in the UK?------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------