Barrie Public Library Seminar: Painswick Branch
Presenters: Chantale Boileau and Vivien Keiling
October 26, 2023
- Vivien Keiling, librarian, suggests authors should familiarize themselves with your library’s collections policy before submitting a request for purchase.
- Consult the Policies page of the library website, look for Collections / Materials page for specifics.
- Evaluation criteria for book purchase:
- Canadian content
- Local author (extra boost for locals)
- Equity/diversity/inclusion issues
- Indigenous voices
- Suitability for the community
- Create an author website
- Library will conduct a Google Search for your name
- Your website should explain who you are and what you do
- Your website should contain book info and reviews
- Websites add validity to your name and reputation and lend authority to your work
- Libraries search vendor catalogues and will buy directly from vendors (not Amazon or online)
- There is no longer a Simcoe County book buyer; now all books are purchased by individual libraries
- Prominent vendors: Whitehots / Tindlids / Firefly / Saunders
- A vendor will create a MARC record for your book which is searchable in the database. It contains:
- Publication date
- List price
- Subject headings
- Keywords
- Summary description
- Format
- Anything else to help distinguish your book
- Barrie Public Library has a staff member who can create a MARC record (a very valuable skill).
- A vendor is a distributor of books which they purchase from a publisher. Vendors keep stocks of books on hand to distribute to schools, libraries, and independent bookstores.
- When trying to select a vendor, authors are encouraged to conduct the following search:
- Search the library catalogue record
- Look for another book similar to your own
- Record the vendor’s name and conduct a deeper search on that vendor
- Vendors often select like-minded authors—some are niche vendors
- Some vendors will also carry self-published titles
- Book covers can make or break a book
- Does the cover address a specific genre or audience?
- Does the image look professional?
- Are the fonts accessible and easy to read?
- Have you spent extra time and effort on the cover design?
- Have your reviewers assessed the cover as well as the content?
- Best-selling book covers are often copied in terms of colour palette, font, and image types, lending a sense of familiarity linked to a successful genre
- Consider the spine design too, especially for library books which are displayed with the spine facing out
- Accessible info (title and author)
- Font size
- Colour
- Weight of paper
- Library uses stickers to flag local author books for easy identification
- Digital books are very different in terms of acquisitions and retention.
- Books must be in e-pub form rather PDF files (which are huge and unwieldy)
- There is an equal number of requests for e-books and print books
- E-books hold different licenses: all-access versus two-year/one-year or any variation
- Digital vendors: cloudLibrary, hoopla, OverDrive
Questions and Answers:
- What happens if I go to the library and my book is no longer on the shelf?
- Libraries only keep records for so long which means there may be no answer. Books may become damaged, or lost, or never returned, and simply never reappear on the shelf.
- Authors are encouraged to submit a new request for purchase.
- Libraries are restricted by finite spaces. Once on the shelf, your book must be able to survive on its own.
- Dormant books are continually “weeded out” to make room for more active books. Deactivated books are often sent to correctional centres in the North.
- How important are book reviews?
- Local authors do not need to show book reviews as evaluation criteria.
- Once on the shelf, authors are encouraged to build a brand, garner reviews, ask editor groups and author groups to help review their work. Yes, you can ask your family and friends to review, however, the reviews that come from outside sources carry more weight than (sadly) your mom’s praise.
- The most creditable reviewers are people in your field. Always include their full names for validation purposes.
- How important is speaking locally for library acquisitions?
- Not at all. Libraries will never ask how many book talks you’ve held.
- Book talks may help your book get read and thereby stay on the shelf, but they don’t help you get there.
- How do you submit a Suggestion for Purchase?
- You must be a library member.
- If you’re a local author, you can donate your own book to the library. This does not require a suggestion for purchase.
- Reach out to the library as a system rather than individual branches.
- One request is sufficient to warrant an acquisition. (Don’t be a serial requester.)
- How frequently do libraries update their collections policies?
- Every two years
- How important is social media to your success in the library as an author?
- The power of social media is intense. #BookTok is a community on TikTok. This platform has the ability to make authors famous. Many anecdotal stories of authors discovered on #BookTok whose reputation exploded as a result of social media.
- Build a presence, build a brand online to generate excitement for your work.