As an author, it’s important for me to reach every potential reader I can. One area I didn’t know how to approach was libraries. I can’t say I’ve always had pleasant experiences when visiting local libraries. Most have been great, but there is that occasional moment when you wonder why some people are working with the public. It’s those times that have made me hesitant to approach libraries about carrying my book.
I subscribe to a great blog, which is run by Books & Such Literary Agency. They launched this exciting new product today that I signed up for. It’s called Library Insider. I’m not going to give you all the details, as I feel their website at http://libraryinsider.com/ will explain it much better and more accurately than I can, but why I decided to subscribe is because I felt my fears of dealing with libraries were leading me to miss out on a great opportunity for Little Shepherd.
As they explained today at their blog, there are two parts to Library Insider:
“1) Library Locator, which enables you to connect with 2,500 acquisitions librarians in public libraries and library systems around the country;
2) Behind the Stacks, which is individual training offered by librarian and library market expert Judy Gann.”
I subscribed to the former. What this did was provide me with a database of contact information for the states I selected. I chose my home state and one other I felt would be a good fit for the book. I’ve already downloaded the information into an Excel spreadsheet, which will allow me to make quick work of mailings.
I’m excited about Library Insider and I wanted to share it with you so that you can decide if you’re interested. I hope you’ll check out their website and let me know what you think.
Many of you know that I graduated from the Long Ridge Writers Group Breaking into Print program in 2005. One of the nice things they offer is regular support to their students and former students. They have a newsletter and also a forum.
