Penguin Hotline to offer gift book recommendations

Wednesday, 3 December 2014 Books+Publishing

In the UK, Penguin has created a Penguin Hotline to offer gift book recommendations, reports Shelf Awareness. The hotline, staffed by more than 300 Penguin employees, was inspired by the Butterball Turkey Talk-line, which advises consumers on cooking turkeys. On the hotline website, customers can fill out a form, including the age, reading habits and general interests of the person they are buying a gift for. The request is then processed by a Penguin employee, who will recommend titles from Penguin as well as from other publishers. Madeline McIntosh, president of the Penguin Publishing Group, said, ‘For us, this is very much about recommending books, not selling.’ The Penguin staff will also advise customers of local bookstores where they can buy the recommended titles and use ‘best-of-the-year’ lists from booksellers and reviewers. The hotline has been advertised in the New York Times Book Review and Penguin will promote it broadly through social media. McIntosh said the company may continue to run the hotline throughout the year if it’s successful.

Category: International news