Alder's Grove

Micah posts about leaving Smashwords here.

Although I have about 1/100th of the stuff on Smashwords that Micah did, I have to admit I've had similar feelings.

This is the fifth in a series of posts by Eseme. The Intro; Part One, Part Two, Part Three

Getting Your Self Published Book in a Library Part Four
Author Events at Libraries

Welcome back. The past three posts have focused on getting your book into a library, be it a physical copy or an electronic one. It's not easy. The response will vary widely from library to library. This is really unfortunate, as it means that one indie author may get her book into three libraries and another with a book that is just as cool gets her book into zero libraries. Library policies can and do change, but they do so slowly. They may seem draconian from the outside, which is why I'm writing this series of guest posts. Knowledge is power, and understanding how things work can help you as an author.
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This is the third in a series of posts by Eseme. The Intro; Part One

Getting Your Self Published Book in a Library Part Two
Donating Your Book to a Library

Thanks for reading Part One, and thanks for coming back. I will warn you now, this is REALLY long. Sorry, but there is a lot of stuff here.

When we left of, I was saying that it is hard to get a library to buy your book. But there is another way to get your book into a library: donate your book to the library.

This is in some ways easier. The library doesn't have to buy your book. They don't have to justify it on their budget. This makes it much easier for the library, which makes it more likely to succeed. However, I will admit that this is clearly not easier for you, the author. You have to get a physical copy of your book, which means that you need to pay for it. And then give it away. So this is not for everyone. However, I would consider it marketing expense, the same way that getting review copies to reviewers (either at a local paper or a book blog) is a marketing expense. Your intent is to find new readers. So plan this the way you would any other advertising. Start local, with your local library. Maybe visit a library in a larger town nearby. Find out if your state library has a fiction collection of in-state authors. I know that the state library in Maine tries to get copies of books written by state residents (though I do not know if they consider
self-published books).
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This is a guest post from Eseme

Intro

Aldersprig has invited me to do a guest post on libraries, and how the acquire books, because this is something that some self-published indie authors don't know much about. And they are curious. Great. Getting your book into a library is a super cool thing!

Why do I think this? I'm a librarian. I got my Library Science degree in May of 2007. I had worked in two libraries, one prior to starting the degree, and one while I was getting it (though that one was a university library which did not buy fiction). After getting the degree I job hunted for a while, the worked at a small rural public library (a town of 5,000) and I now work in what my state, Maine, would consider a medium-sized to large library (town of 20,000) but which most of the country considers a small library.

So I know a bit about how libraries buy books, how they add them to their collections (cataloging books and other items is among my job duties), author events at libraries (I have arranged more than one), and ebooks in libraries. I am also going to end with a few links I have found about bookstores and self-published books (I lurk on Publishers Weekly's website, and read a blog written by bookstore owners).
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