Do you remember your first library card?

I do. I was seven years old and I might have been there on a school trip. I can still see my scratchy first grade handwriting protected by a simple laminated pocket. My mom might still have the card somewhere. I definitely don’t.

I remember going a lot, though I couldn’t tell you what books I read. I remember graduating from R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series to Fear Street and the YA section being at the opposite end of the building.

In high school I’d poke around the astrology and witchcraft section, grabbing books I didn’t have the attention span to read in full, but skimmed for little bits of knowledge that’s been long forgotten.

I have three cards now. Two are nonresident cards. One was free and the other continues to be the best $25 fee I pay each year.

I don’t borrow as many books as I used to, but working from the library is pretty on brand for me. Roots in Ink, Bound by Ink, Chasing Ember, and now Healed with Iron have all been written or revised in libraries. I’m in a library writing this post right now.

But while it’s easy to write a book in a library, it’s much harder for me as an indie author to get my books on physical or virtual library shelves.

But why?

All library systems have different policies and procedures for book acquisitions. It doesn’t help that book-banning extremist groups like Moms4Liberty are intent on complicating the acquisitions process for queer books.

(If my opinion of M4L offends you, none of my content is for you.)

Traditional publishers have people whose job responsibilities include getting books in libraries. Those publishing professionals have the means and contacts to get copies distributed to systems across the country.

I can reach out to my local libraries, but doing that for every system in the country is an impossible task. And if a library is going to use their limited funds on books, they’re going to spend it on books that readers want.

Which is why for indie authors, getting our books into libraries remains largely a reader-led endeavor.

The best we can do is make our books available on the databases that libraries use and hope readers request a copy. When a reader taps the Notify Me bell on their Libby app, it tells the library that someone is interested in that book.

The library uses those reports to make purchasing decisions. Whether they do or not is completely out of the author’s hands, but enough interest from readers could sway the powers that be in our favor. 

How it works

Overdrive/Libby

• Charges libraries a flat fee for an ebook license.
• Those licenses usually cost more than retail to account for multiple checkouts.
• Authors get royalties for these sales, but the royalty rate is less and the fees are more than the retail market.
• Readers can request a book by hitting the Notify Me tag in the Libby app

Hoopla

• Charges libraries per-checkout
• The collection is often larger, but still varies system-to-system
• Authors get royalties from checkouts. Mine are typically 27 to 39 cents.
• Use the request tab to ask that a book be added to the collection

Authors include their books in Overdrive and Hoopla using 3rd party distributers like Draft2Digital. We can’t upload to these platforms directly which is aggravating and the topic for another post.

Hoopla has an extremely long upload time where a book will live in limbo until it’s added to the system.

Physical copies

This varies system-to-system and a question better suited for your local librarian.

Yes! My books are in libraries!

All of my books are on Overdrive for library purchase. My monthly reports from Draft2Digital include the name of the purchasing library.

All of my books are on Hoopla, unless they’re still stuck in the upload queue, which can take months. Draft2Digital doesn’t include the checkout library in my reports so while I can see that my books have been checked out, I have no idea from what library. 

Not gonna lie, this NY girl seeing the New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library on this list makes me all squishy inside.

I really want to grow this list and I hope you’ll help me do that.

To recap

1. Libraries are awesome
2. Authors get paid when libraries buy their books
3. Reader requests are the best way to get an indie author’s book in your library’s collection
4. People who ban books are bad people

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