Fiction

And in publishing in the 90s.

Which is why I know not to trust the featured table or section (different stores do it differently). It's usually whatever publishers are pushing the hardest to recoup sunk costs on a book, or because they want to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Maybe 10% of the books on that table are worth the effort of picking up, never mind reading. A lot of the best books come in almost unnoticed, unless the author is famous or a major prize winner.

Speaking of prize season, that's usually a good time to check the featured table in some stores. We did a separate table for the finalists in the major awards, near the front for the literary novels, or a big display in or near the genre section. Those are always worth checking out.

All of the major prizes now list their finalists online, and when the awards will be announced. The genre categories like mystery, sci-fi/fantasy and horror announce their prize winners at conventions open to the public, and that can be a ton of fun for fans of those books. I've been to some of them, and didn't get much sleep!