Books that have a place in your library help you find readers. Readers might have heard about your book but are on a budget for buying, for the moment. Being on a shelf might earn you a sale in a little while, because readers use libraries to audition books and authors.
I enjoyed an afternoon at Austin’s Central library branch, finding copies of Sins of Liberty on the shelves. A surprise to me was a copy of my 2012 thriller Viral Times. That’s a paperback that’s very hard to find by now. The book got a single printing.
How do you get your books into your libraries? It’s as straightforward as getting your friends and readers to request it. Librarians do some vetting, so having good reviews can really help.
You also need to distribute your book through Ingram, for the paperbacks. Librarians tell me they don’t often order paperbacks through Amazon. Public libraries are on limited budgets, too. They also have buyer habits. Every librarian knows how to order a library copy through Ingram.
It’s true, your paperback in the library will only earn you one sale. Then it’s available to the public until the book wears out. One librarian says that after 50 borrows, they have to retire the book. Then there will be a second sale for you, if you’re been borrowed that much.
You can position an ebook for release into the library purchasing ecosystem. Draft2Digital is a good way to do this. Use the Overdrive option at D2D to take a step toward shelf-life.
Be patient with your library. My books were requested by the librarians and patrons in April, and the paperback (and a hardback of Stealing Home) only got onto the shelf in September. Hardbacks are an easier purchase for a library, because they last longer.
