One of the best places to sell your book is libraries…but we don’t mean you sitting out front, selling to library patrons…no, we mean selling to the libraries themselves. Many sales events are held at locations including book stores, schools, convention centers, museums, galleries, or community meeting spots…but don’t try a book sale at a library. As we mentioned back in More Steps to Marketing, most folks heading to the library are expecting to find free books, so they are less than willing to put out money to buy your book…no matter how good it is.
BUT, if you instead offer to sell your book to the library, then those same folks can come in and check out your book…and if they enjoyed it, they can follow the list you included (you did list your other books as we explained in Hook Your Reader with a 99¢ Book, didn’t you?). It’s almost as if you’re giving away a free copy to a bunch of folks all at once, but you get paid for it!
Distribution
Libraries, as with many bookstores, will only buy books from a wholesale distributor, so your first step is to get listed through as many distributors as you can. KDP’s Extended Distribution Program takes care of a few, but you can do more. Depending on the format of your book, there are different distributors that you need to sign up with.
- ebook
To get your ebook into libraries, you need Overdrive. You can either go directly to them or use a consolidation service such as Draft2Digital, Publish Drive, or Smash Words* to cover more bases. Of course, adding a middle man will cut into your royalties, but subbing out all that extra work really pays off, and any other sales you make are sales you might not have made at all.
- Print book (paperback and hard cover)
For all your printed books, you’ll need to go through Ingram Spark. It’s a rather involved process, and they do have an initial set-up fee (as opposed to other sites). If you’re serious about having your book available in more places, you should just consider it an investment.
- Audio books
For your audio books, use FindAWay Voices. If you already have the audio files, you can upload and use FindAWay just for distribution. If you still need to create the files, they have options similar to other audio book services: pay the full price for the conversion or pay a partial and share the royalties with the narrator.
Get in the Library Listings
Once you’ve gotten into the distributions channels, the second step is to make your book visible to the librarians. The processes to get into these listings is long and laborious, though we may have a future posting that covers all the steps involved. (Let us know if this information would be helpful to you.) The lists you’ll need to access are maintained by Baker & Taylor, Brodart, Midwest Library Service, and Bookazine.
Convince Librarians
Now comes the real work. You need librarians to actually seek out your book in the listings. When you are trying to persuade them, you need to remember that their business is not sales, rather they provide a service. They have different goals than bookstores do. Librarians want to:
- shelve books their patrons will want to read
- increase traffic to their site (physical or Internet)
- serve the folks in their communities
- most importantly, stay within budget
(often set by governments or parent organisations)
You should visit your local libraries and give a short pitch (Elevator speech)…offer to give readings or a talk on your subject. It will be good for you—exposure—and good for them—more customers. They are often agreeable to hosting local celebrities (and that’s what you are!), especially if there is an educational aspect to your lecture. See what they need. Then branch out to larger, more distant libraries…citing your local libraries as already having your book…create a snowball effect.
Tools
You‘ll need two tools to make your case.
- Sales Sheet
A Sales Sheet gives important information about your book. Using a single 8.5×11 sheet, put the title right at the top, then a short paragraph expounding the good points, a picture of the cover, and a short About the Author section. In addition, you need to include the vital details: price, format, trim size, ISBN, publisher, and publication date. Don’t forget your contact info.
- Author Sheet
Although you have some author info on the Sales Sheet, having a separate Author Sheet gives you more room to brag. Now you’re the focus, so, again on a full 8.5×11 sheet, start with your name and a paragraph all about you and what you can do for them. List topics you are willing to speak on. Include a sample cover of one or two of your best books, and make your contact info plain and clear.
On both sheets, the contact info should include a link to where they can read part of your book…such as on your Author Site. It’s a good idea to include the first few chapters there, so visitors can get a feel for how you write…as well as getting hooked—they’ll just have to buy your book to see how it all comes out.
*We’ve used Smash Words for quite some time, so we’ll be sticking with them. A comment often heard is that their formatting requirements are excessive. Following their free Style Guide is actually a good idea to keep your book organised, for ebook and for print…especially if it’s a long one. Our second choice would be Draft 2 Digital, where they have a disadvantage in that they don’t play well with Amazon…you’ll have to do that for yourself. What they will do for you is all the formatting. Unfortunately, you don’t get your personal touch as you do with Smash Words, so you may not end up with exactly what you want. There are always trade-offs.