Thought I’d post this before my guest membership runs out. In March a book that happens to have a story I wrote in it, will be published. I of course am VERY excited, as it’s my first real publication. (for those who are curious…it’s a nonfiction piece about being hard of hearing, published in an anthology of writing by hoh folks) However, I was wondering about how to publicize the fact that it is coming out without sounding like I’m selling something. On a related note, I was also wondering how I would get libraries to consider buying this (local library as well as my academic libraries) How do libraries decide what books to buy?
They buy them from Barnes and Noble like everyone else.
Of course, in the old days, they would read the trade mags and try to buy books that were culturally relevent to their populations.
It’s definitely worth the anual fee be become a member.
If a member of the library asks for it, the library will buy it usually.
So if people know about the book and want it, some libraries will end up buying it.
So to get the book more well known you could go on web forums, newsgroups, yahoo groups, ect that are related to the topic of the book to tell them about it and how to order it.
Also, you can try to approach specific libraries with similar titles in their collections and give them information about the book and how to order it. Perhaps give them a link to Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble. com.
You can do an online search of library collections. But I don’t have the url for this handy. Maybe someone else can give it.
It’s all very time consuming and not worth the time in terms of income from sales of the book. But if you are interested in putting in the time as a way of getting involved, go for it.
I don’t think that’s correct, at least not for large library systems. They buy books from wholesalers, including some who specialize in working with libraries, or even direct from the publisher, sometimes.
I suppose there are small library systems where it’s easier to buy thru a retail chain like Barnes and Noble. No doubt they get a sizable discount, too.
I can tell you something to not do: send copies scattershot to many different libraries. Most “gift” books that arrive at libraries in this way never see their way to the shelves. If you carefully select libraries that serve the hard-of-hearing population, you’ve got a better chance of a return on that method. Word-of-mouth and review in trade publications are your best bet to spread to other libraries.
Librarians still do read trade publications, like Booklist or Library Journal to aid in selection. Large academic libraries will have librarian specialists with assigned areas of review, who will read the reviews in their areas. I work at a relatively small academic library, and we buy mostly from wholesalers, mainly Baker and Taylor. We also have a corporate account with Amazon to deal with rush orders.
And, congratuations on being published!
Heh. I wanted to buy some classic hardbacks for our town library as they were woefully short on Jane Austen and some others of my favorites. The only affordable way to buy in person was from Borders, and they had a Borders imprint on the spine. I had to scrap that plan, as our librarian would have stroked out faced with the prospect of shelving books from The Enemy.
Even if a patron wants a particular book, that may lead to an inter-library loan rather than an actual purchase. For example, we have a college library nearby and would borrow more specialized books from there.
Congrats on being published, TwistyLamp!
You are selling something. The book won’t be very successful unless you admit that, and get out there and sell it. Press releases are effective. Offer to write newspaper articles. See if any magazines would be interested in an excerpt (I’ve written for NAD’s mag and a couple of other Deaf/HOH pubs–they’re always looking for good material. Contact some local radio stations about doing an interview, too. Take along an interpreter to help you with the questions if you need to.
One lesson I learned the hard way is that you have to focus on your publicity before the book comes out. Magazines like Publisher’s Weekly won’t accept review copies after the pub date. Many places that run announcements will only run them for brand-new titles. You want to get on this right away.
There are several publications specifically for librarians (you can learn a lot from the ALA Web site). Librarians decide what to buy based on what their patrons read and request. If something rots on the shelf for three years without being checked out, they’ll dump it at a library book sale. If a book is so popular that it’s never on the shelf, they’ll get an additional copy and possibly buy some other books by that author or on that subject. If a bunch of people request your book, the library will buy it. If they have a heavy Deaf/HOH constituency, they’ll buy it. If it’s similar to other books that do well for them, they’ll buy it. If they don’t think anyone will check it out, they won’t get it–even if it’s free.
First of all, TwistyLamp was asking how they decide what to buy, not where they buy it. Second of all, your answer is inaccurate. Larger libraries buy directly from publishers and distributors. Smaller libraries buy from a wide variety of sources. Small libraries often buy from small bookstores. My little store sells to our local public and school libraries because we offer great service and reasonable discounts. They’d rather support their local community than go to the nearest B&N, which is almost 50 miles away.
You sound bitter. Having a problem with your local library? Ours has a wonderful selection of relevant books about this area, books by local authors, and books that are “culturally relevant to our population.” Perhaps you should get involved with your library board, or with the Friends of the Library group for your library. You could have a great influence on the library’s selection and policies that way.
I’m sorry you live in a town where the library and bookstores are short-sighted enough to consider themselves enemies. We work closely together in our town. We co-host author events, publicize each other’s events, and support each other financially. Libraries and bookstores share the common goal of getting people to read. If people read more and get excited about books, it’s good for the libraries and the bookstores.
I called around various local bookstores, suggesting they buy copies , and asking if I could do a reading. Some stocked up (especially near colleges). Getting readings was much harder, but I managed a couple.
As for libraries, I walked in and talked to them. My own town library was very interested.
One thing I found to help – I made up a business card with the name of the book on it (and mine, of course) that I could easily hand out.
I also contacted magazines and reviewers that I thought would be interested. I got two reviews that way. And I contacted groups that might be interested, online and in person.
I used to work for the Tulsa City/County Library. (http://www.tulsalibrary.org/)
The way they stocked books was simple. In Tech Services / cataloguing department, there was a big conference room where the library would have books upon books. They were a mixture of books provided by publishers, plus books that the librarians thought they might like to add to their collection. In the bigger libraries, there were specific librarians for specific functions. The smaller libraries had a librarian handle the entire branch. Anyway these librarians would, as part of their job, go to the main library in down-town Tulsa and review books and order copies for their branch based upon their interest in that book, and of course their own individual budget.
I haven’t read this entire thread, but I’m sure a librarian (MLS) will be along anytime to weigh in on the subject.
E3
(Aspiring) librarian here (I have my master’s but not yet a full-time job): Libraries do buy materials mostly from a small number of wholesalers. They select new additions to the collection in various ways: They read the catalogs the wholesalers provide; they read book reviews in specialized publications such as School Library Journal, as well as in more mass-market publications like the New York Review of Books or various magazines; and they consider patrons’ purchase requests, which now, in most systems, can be submitted online.
Best way for you to publicize this book, TwistyLamp, would be by word of mouth. (Assuming you’re not personally acquainted with any editors or book reviewers.) See if you can get a few friends to submit purchase requests to their local or university libraries.
Well, our attendance and borrowing numbers have been on a steady decline in recent years, presumably because people prefer to buy and the Borders which recently moved in makes that easier. We use what limited funds we have to pay our staff and keep the collection going; I can’t imagine supporting a bookstore financially?!?
I mean, I guess I can see Borders encouraging people to go to the library in the hopes that they will want to then own the books, but just for love of reading? If people only have so much time to read, wouldn’t Borders prefer that they buy rather than borrow?
I suppose I should have explained this one. My bookstore supports the library directly through donations (both cash and books) and indirectly through publicizing library events and sharing resources to get authors into town.
The library, in turn, supports my bookstore by purchasing stock through my store (I do this at a low profit margin, but it boosts my total purchase quantities and helps me qualify for free shipping or extra discounts from publishers), publicizing bookstore events, and by donating leftover books that they couldn’t sell (I have a used book section, too).
At the big “Friends of the Library” dinner each year, the library makes money through ticket sales, and the bookstore sells books at a table by the door. Again, we all profit.
Borders being a huge chain, the corporate management likely has little interest in your particular town, and store management probably doesn’t have much leeway to consider philanthropic or ambiguous goals. I speak as the owner of an independent bookstore with a strong connection to the community it serves.
Let’s look at your question completely selfishly, though. Somebody comes into my bookstore looking for a copy of an old Nevada Barr book I don’t stock. One of her friends told her she’d love it, and this is the book she should start with. I tell her the library has that book, and I can get her all of Nevada Barr’s recent stuff if she likes it. If she checks out that book from the library, I may end up selling her a half-dozen more books. Even if she doesn’t buy any from me, she may request them from the library, who just might buy them from me.
I had a grad student in the store this week. She couldn’t afford all of the books she needed to read for school. I went over the list with her, ordered all of the relatively inexpensive paperbacks, and recommended getting the rest from the library. She’d prefer to own them all, but this solution at least made sure she could read them all. She’s happy, the library got used, and I sold a couple of hundred bucks worth of books.
Keeping your customers as happy as possible is the best way for libraries and bookstores to survive.
Thank you for your thoughts on this; it gives me a fresh perspective on the possibilities. I had Borders in my head and while they do have author readings and perhaps discounts for library purchases, I hadn’t heard much about their relationship with libraries. There is an independent bookstore in a neighboring town which we do buy some books from, and coincidentally I noticed last night that one of their folks was speaking about book groups at another town’s library. (That’s part of our issue; there are quite a few small libraries, and one not-so-small library, in the towns surrounding ours so people have a lot of choices. Of course that’s wonderful from the perspective of getting folks to go to libraries in general, but they are also “competitors”. We are still trying to figure out if there is a specialty role we could fill.)
Thanks again for your considerate answer and further info; I sometimes wonder how much of our librarian’s strong opinion against corporate bookstores is valid.
I imagine small libraries and small bookstores face a lot of the same challenges! The thing that attracts people to indy bookstores is that they have personalities. I was comparing notes with another bookseller with a store about the size of mine, in a similar town. We estimated we have about 1/3 of our stock in common. That means over half of what’s in my store isn’t in his, and vice-versa. Some of this represents differences in the towns, but the vast majority of the difference is that I buy what I want to and he buys what he wants to.
On the other hand, when I was doing a book signing in a big chain (I’m an author as well as a bookseller), the manager there was explaining that he has very little flexibility. He got chewed out by the corporate folks because he experimented with shelving books in different places to spark interest!
Anyway, Gigi, where I was going with that is that many indy bookstores have chosen to specialize, and have done so very successfully. People are unlikely to drive to the next town to visit a general bookstore if they have one in their own town, but people will travel hundreds of miles to visit an incredible store specializing in their area of interest, whether it be mystery or fantasy or technology or children’s books or nature or erotica.
My store may be a small fraction of the size of a Barnes and Noble superstore, but there are certain types of books I stock better than they do. Perhaps your library could do the same. Pick one subject that a lot of people in your area are interested in and do it to the hilt: books, periodical archives, microfiche, lecture series, classes, out-of-print and hard-to-find items (as your specialty becomes better known, people will start donating this stuff), exhibits, contests, classes, discussion groups, and so forth.
Good luck!
Here, the libraries are part of the public school system. When the schools cut extraneous teaching personal, it invariably means librarians, so, librarians do double duty. They buy books from book wholesalers who specialize in selling to some educational institutes. Often, rather poorly. Our libraries got a series of inapropriate books like “How to Shear Sheep”, “Furnance Maintence Tips”, “101 Child Safe Activities in Snow”. You might as well buy from Barnes and Noble.
Those sound like great books for our school library. In this town, sheep outnumber humans five to one, the school has two big coal-fired furnaces and, well, it’s Montana. 
There is little snow in Hawaii, no one farms sheep and furnaces and basements are as rare as hen’s teeth.