Gentle Reader,
Did you know you can get your local library or school or university library to get my books? ANY of my books? Even the digital versions?
I love the library and I adore librarians, I know there are a handful of you lovelies out there reading this blog. *waves*
I pretty much grew up in my local tiny library and because it was so small I learned pretty quickly to request books. Well, you can do that with new books, print books AND these days electronic books too through a handy dandy thing called Overdrive Libby (also Bibliotheca).
I want anyone who needs the comfort food of my books to be able to get ahold of them.
You can help me spread the love.
You see an actual request from a library card-carrying patron has an immense impact on library stock. In fact, there is pretty much NOTHING I can do to get my books into libraries if you don’t ask for them, especially my independent stuff like the Parasolverse novellas and the San Andreas Shifter series.
Even if I donate books, if they haven’t been requested, the library usually just sells them, without even bothering to put them into their collection.*
How to request your library carry my books…
On your library’s website (or in person) there is usually a form where you can request a book be purchased.
The link could be called anything from “suggest a title” to “ask us to purchase.”
Request the digital version?
Hopefully your library is connected to Overdrive Libby…
- Log in to your library’s Overdrive Libby site. Use your library card number and pin.
- Search for the book by title.
- Add titles you can recommend.
- Hover over the cover, Recommend
- You can choose either to be notified or to be placed on hold & enter your email addy.
- Recommend this title.
It’s pretty self explanatory but a librarian can guide you through it.
You can do this for all of my books and for books from many other authors you love. Mine are also available for Bibliotheca, but I am not familiar with the step-by-step process.
I work hard to make certain everything I can make available to libraries, is made available. So please, spread the love!
In case you didn’t know or haven’t been able to read them. Here’s my independently produced books that are less likely to be readily available at your library. But you can request them!
- How To Marry A Werewolf (Channing’s novella) 9781944751142
- Poison or Protect (Preshea’s novella) 9781944751043
- Romancing the Werewolf (Biffy & Lyall’s novella) 9781944751104
- Romancing the Inventor (Genevieve Lefoux’s novella) 9781944751067
- The Sumage Solution 9781944751081
Also if you want to teach with the Finishing School books, there are FREE downloads to help on my website:
Want more on libraries?
- The Dos and Don’ts of Supporting Your Local Library
- What’s the best way to get a book into libraries? from Writer’s Digest
- Life Cycle of a Library Book
So there it is, I hope this post has been helpful. A remember it doesn’t have to just be my books.
Yours (in the library),
Miss Gail
Buy my books are on:
Amazon | Kobo | Apple | Bookshop.org | Barnes & Noble | Chapters | Foyles
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- Coop de Book for September 2018 is The Gate to Women’s Country by Sheri S. Tepper. (Discussion here.)
RANDOM GAIL BOOK!
All 10,000 books in the first print run of Soulless Illustrated are SIGNED.
This special edition of Soulless includes 10 stunning full page illustrations in Edward Gorey style by the talented Jensine Eckwall.
GAIL’S DAILY DOSE
Your Moment of Parasol . . .
Allen & Ginter (American, Richmond, Virginia)
Officer of the Day, from the Parasol Drills series (N18) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands, 1888
Your Infusion of Cute . . .
Your Tisane of Smart . . .
Your Writerly Tinctures . . .
The Weirdest Things Done In The Name Of Books
Book News:
booooOOOOOooooks
Quote of the Day:
“How did we go from tea to death so quickly?”
~ Gail Carriger, Prudence
Questions about Gail’s Parasolverse? Wiki that sheez!
“Without even bothering” is a harsh turn of phrase re. donations. Here’s why library patrons *requesting* books is much more effective:
Libraries in general receive their funding through some sort of governing organization (school, university, city government, county government…). We receive a teeny piece of the tax-payer pie that may include other services such as police or fire or maintenance of streets. A teeny part of that teeny piece goes to materials (print, digital, etc.) because of other expenditures (like having libraries open and staffed). Because we have to be good stewards of tax money, we are required to work through approved vendors. We work out contracts so that we can get the best bang for your buck.
SO when you request a book, we can order it through our vendors. We can order multiple copies that are fully processed (all the labels, security strips, protection for the cover, a record for the catalog so you can find it). If we put a donation into the collection, we would have to do all that in house. Essentially, the price of one donation is about three to five copies that we can purchase through the vendor. (Which is not to say that donations are not welcome. Sales of such donations went into a scholarship that helped me pay for library school.)
So, yes, take it from a materials selection librarian and fan of Gail–request her books. We do take it seriously, and we can get more out there more quickly this way.
It may seem harsh but the attitude I have encountered upon trying to donate new hard covers to my local library (that I know there is a waitlist for) could best be described as dismissive, and worst flat out rude. I once donated a stack of good condition HC’s because someone complained to me that they were having a hard time getting my Finishing School books. I logged on and SAW the waitlist. All of which I explained to the librarian. Then watched that librarian walk them to the “for sale bin” and dump them there. Literally toss them in. Image how that feels from an author’s perspective?
Having been on both sides of the coin, donating books to the library is the worst way of getting books on the shelves. Really. For many reasons (from local policy to legal requirements), libraries prefer to purchase copies of anything requested rather than have them donated. I know it may seem “cost effective” to the average joe, but from a librarian’s POV, purchasing is the better option, as donations incur other costs, such as man-hours, and more.