Your book is complete, bound, and returned from the printer. How do you get a self-published book onto library shelves?
Kimberly Knight, a selection librarian in a moderate-sized library system, has been approached by self-published authors to purchase or add free copies of their books to the library’s collection. In all honesty, she has accepted a few of these offers. With limited time, budget, and shelf space in the library, she needs self-published authors to convince her of the quality, currency, and appeal of her work before acquiring it for the collection. From her perspective, here’s what she can do to improve your chances of seeing her book on the library shelf.
(1) Find out about the library’s Selection Policy. What are the criteria for adding materials to the library collection? How does the library handle gifts? Do they have what some libraries call a “local author shelf”?
Most library systems have a selection policy. It is a guide to what you are looking to acquire for your library’s collections, how, and why. The policy generally talks about the scope and goals of the collection. Goals often include phrases such as “meeting a broad spectrum of demands from a diverse population, including the highest quality, accurate, vintage, and up-to-date materials.” It often includes statements about gifts and donations. Tell us how your work fits into the selection policy. Sometimes the policy is on the library’s website or is available upon request.
(2) Try to get your book reviewed by a professional review source. If you can’t get the attention of a traditional review magazine like Publisher’s Weekly or Library Journal, be prepared to tell the recruiter where they might read about your work. A website like BOOKS OF SOUL could help.
Selection librarians rely heavily on book reviews from professional journals to aid in our selection. (Books that have been popular in the media or by established authors may be an exception to this rule.) Last year my library system bought thousands of books. For every book we bought, there were at least 3 or 4 that we decided to reject. These were just the items that caught our eye! There simply isn’t time for every recruiter to fully read and personally critique every book. That’s where professional reviews come in. Reviewers are usually professional librarians, authors, and other literary experts who read the entire book, write a short synopsis, point out its strengths and weaknesses, and often compare it to other works in that genre or subject. While selection librarians know that the final decision is ours, we read reviews carefully to get an idea of the quality of the literature we purchase for the collections.
Unfortunately for the self-published author, the books most often distributed to reviewers are those from traditional publishers. When contacting a selection librarian directly, it may appear that we are being asked to act as agents, reviewers, and/or marketers, roles that are outside of our responsibility to the authors. If you track us down, you may be lucky to find a professional reviewer in that person who has time to read additional material. You will most likely find a librarian who will ask you where her work was reviewed or where you can read more about her book. Again, a review on a site like Books of Soul might help.
(3) Be prepared to give a copy without strings attached to the recruiter. If we can, we will try to return that material to you. However, it will most likely be placed behind all the other review copies we are reading and considering. If we choose not to select your book, it may find a home through the Friends of the Library book sale. If we add it to the collection, it will most likely be subject to our regular removal guidelines. This means that if it doesn’t circulate at a minimum rate within a set period of time, it will be removed from the collection as with all other items in the collection. If you put stipulations on how your book will be handled, the recruiter is less likely to accept it.
(4) Try to make your book available through traditional library providers. With shrinking budgets for materials, many libraries rely heavily on the deep discounts our vendors offer us. In addition, these vendors offer other services such as free shipping, covers, stickers, etc., that help libraries get books on the shelves in a timely and cost-effective manner.
(5) Never give up having a traditional editor pick up your work, if that is your goal. Books from established publishers usually go through initial selection by the publisher or agent. Then the books are edited, verified; mockups are made for review and marketed. These are the books that are most frequently reviewed in professional journals and attract the attention of libraries and booksellers. With persistence, this could be your job.
Until that day, be prepared before contacting a library selector. When you call me, please let me know that you are aware of the Recruitment Policy and how your job fits into it. Please be prepared to point me to a credible review of your work by an informed third party. Let me know how your work has been edited and marketed. Why would library patrons want to check it out? At the end of the day, we will have made our best selection if we buy interesting, informative books that lend themselves instead of sitting on the shelves, no matter how they were written or published!
Kimberly Knight received her MLIS degree at UCLA. She has worked as a children’s librarian in Los Angeles and the DC metropolitan area for 10 years. Currently, she is a collection development specialist for youth services in the DC metropolitan area.