Placing Your Books in Your Local Library System
While attending a community meeting last night I was surprised when a neighbor who volunteers at the local branch of our country library system told me she checked out one of my short-story anthologies to a reader that morning. I didn’t know the country library system even had a copy of the book!
Feeling generous, I drove over to the branch this morning armed with a box of my books, including my Antarctic Murders Trilogy, the Young Adult (YA) novel I wrote under a pen name (The Hypnotist), and copies of all of my illustrated children’s storybooks, including the foreign editions.
Alas, the branch’s resource manager would not accept them, though she spent a lot of time reading the anti-bullying storybook (Pepe Builds a Nest) and talking about the county’s anti-bullying program. (Alas, the children’s reading specialist, who she called over, could not have cared less, took one look, and walked away.)
While not yet in the “no good deed goes unpunished” category, the resource manager did hand me a pro forma “congratulatory” printed statement from the county library system, indicating their interest in county author’s books, an e-mail address to where information on such books can be sent, and the type of information they sought. Here’s what they were looking for:
Reviews: Was your title reviewed in Booklist? The New York Times? Local county newspapers? If so, they wanted to know details.
Media Coverage: Was your book on a “Best Book” list? Were you doing any author events, nationally or locally?
Publisher: Legacy or self-published? They were open to both.
They were specific about NOT wanting to see copies of your books. But they did say that they were happy to support local authors and that if they decided your book was right for their collection, they would gladly purchase a copy.
The bottom line (literally) is this: contact your local library system regarding their procedure for submitting information on your books for their consideration.
Feeling generous, I drove over to the branch this morning armed with a box of my books, including my Antarctic Murders Trilogy, the Young Adult (YA) novel I wrote under a pen name (The Hypnotist), and copies of all of my illustrated children’s storybooks, including the foreign editions.
Alas, the branch’s resource manager would not accept them, though she spent a lot of time reading the anti-bullying storybook (Pepe Builds a Nest) and talking about the county’s anti-bullying program. (Alas, the children’s reading specialist, who she called over, could not have cared less, took one look, and walked away.)
While not yet in the “no good deed goes unpunished” category, the resource manager did hand me a pro forma “congratulatory” printed statement from the county library system, indicating their interest in county author’s books, an e-mail address to where information on such books can be sent, and the type of information they sought. Here’s what they were looking for:
Reviews: Was your title reviewed in Booklist? The New York Times? Local county newspapers? If so, they wanted to know details.
Media Coverage: Was your book on a “Best Book” list? Were you doing any author events, nationally or locally?
Publisher: Legacy or self-published? They were open to both.
They were specific about NOT wanting to see copies of your books. But they did say that they were happy to support local authors and that if they decided your book was right for their collection, they would gladly purchase a copy.
The bottom line (literally) is this: contact your local library system regarding their procedure for submitting information on your books for their consideration.
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