Marketing tip: Reach out to your local library

August 29, 2016

Shruthi Lapp

Marketing Coordinator

No matter who publishes your book, there’s no guarantee that libraries will carry it. However, if you walk into your local library with a smile and a copy of your book and say, “Hi there! I wrote this book. Will you please carry it?” there’s a good chance the answer will be “Sure.” It can’t hurt to ask, right? The worst the librarian can do is say no, and as I explained in a previous post, if you let a few NOs drag you down, you’re not going to get very far in your book marketing efforts.

I live in New York, but I recently received an invitation to an event at the library in my hometown in California. And get this–it’s a reception for local authors to meet local readers! How cool is that? For all I know, my novels have never even been checked out there, but their mere presence on the shelves resulted in an invitation. Maybe your local library is planning a similar event. You never know! Again, it can’t hurt to ask. (And if your library isn’t planning a similar event, why not suggest one?)

Another idea is to ask your friends or family members who live in different towns to walk into their local libraries and make a request for your book. If a card-carrying member of a library requests a specific book, the librarian will most likely order it. It’s true! When I was writing my first novel, I remember telling my mom that if just one person I wasn’t related to read it, I would be thrilled. I got confirmation that this had happened when my uncle, who lives in Indiana, requested that his local library carry the book. When he went back a few weeks later to check it out, someone had beat him to it! I have no idea who that first reader was, but I will never forget the wonderful moment when I found out he/she existed

-Maria


Source: Maria Murnane

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