If you’re only experiencing this show through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or Stitcher, and you’ve not visited the host page on Substack, you’re missing as much as 50% of the content that makes this show a valuable asset. If you visit Substack and subscribe to my show there, you’ll receive two podcast emails per week chock full of useful information and resources for authors. Click any of the instances of the word Substack to visit my homepage.
My commitment to you is to deliver the highest quality content, and to only pitch the best resources for your consideration. I’m not afraid to talk about my novels, but aside from my own published work the only things I’ll ever promote are resources I’ve personally used and thrived by.
The top resource I stand by is Steve Pieper’s AMMO (Author Marketing Mastery through Optimization). If you want to sell novels to strangers at a profit and earn a living as a novelist, AMMO is the only assured choice. I’ve been a member of Steve’s AMMO Foundations since February, and this is a graphic of my store’s performance to date.
Click or tap on any instance of the word AMMO to learn more about Steve’s one-of-a-kind program for authors.
Library Overview
There are over 117,000 libraries in the United States alone. I’d love to hear from listeners like Juliette Willows how robust Canada’s library system is.
For the purpose of fiction and creative nonfiction authors (this includes everything from graphic novels to business books) about 90,000 of these libraries are suitable for carrying our books.
I doubt any academic authors are lurking around TRBM, but their work would make up the balance of libraries.
We’re embarking on a deep-dive into how authors both traditional and self-published can get their books in libraries. It’s such a big topic, I can’t guess on how many episodes we’ll need to cover the vast nooks and crannies of the subject.
Today, we’ll mostly define some terms and objectives as well as determine why libraries may be the best customer for any author, especially traditionally-published authors1.
Why are libraries ideal for traditionally published authors?
There are a handful of reasons. Libraries love to work with trade publishers, and their entire cataloguing system is based on the traditional pipeline. That means that traditionally published authors will have an easier time selling their books into libraries from a logistical standpoint.
Don’t fret if you’re self-published. You’ll need to do a good deal more backend work to get your books ready for selling to libraries, but you’ll still gain a lifelong partnership with a loyal reader—in a manner of speaking.
Today we’re going to stay out of the weeds, and focus on the emotional payoff so I’m going to ask you to do a little visualizing with me.
What would it mean to your career as an author if you had an audience of 45,000 eager readers whose sole purpose was to share your book by word of mouth? How would it feel if ten thousand of those readers bought not just your paperback but you ebook and your audiobook too? And what would you feel if every time you launched a new novel you could send out a single email to this network of readers and expect, even bank on, 20,000 sales?
If your jaw is on the ground, you’ve just had your first taste of what a robust library campaign could mean to your publishing career. You’re going to love this journey. And if you want to begin preparing to sell to libraries, this week take some time to familiarize yourself with the library systems.
Next Monday, we’ll dive into content standards. Libraries are going to have the highest standards, and your books need to meet those standards if you mean to build sales.
Research and Understand Library Systems: Begin by researching and understanding the library systems in the United States. Libraries can vary at the local, regional, and state levels, so it's essential to gain insights into their operations, acquisition processes, and preferred formats.
Traditionally published authors tend to have fewer options to market their books because their profit margins are so stingy, but libraries are a free marketing opportunity that still pay authors for sales. Think captive audience.
Leveraging Libraries to Live Your Writerly Dream