Every author’s primary aim should be to get their books noticed. And one of the ways to do this is to get the book into a collection of books. It has a big potential to get your book across to your audience.
This post explains what a collection of books is, including other crucial information about the topic, so keep reading.
So, let’s go back to the question.
What Is A Collection Of Books Called?
A collection of books is called a library. It stores books in all forms, such as physical books, e-books, and audio books. It also contains different genres of books. However, it doesn’t contain only books, but also other sources of information.
Lots of Americans use library cards. So, they’re a potential audience for your book if it gets in a library. You may say that people borrow books from libraries and wonder how they can profit you as an author.
Are you still wondering why your book should be in a library? Just read on.
Table of Contents
Collection Of Books: Different Types Available
You can access and use several collections of books with ease. Here are the popular types of libraries out there.
Academic libraries: They’re libraries that serve academic institutions. Also, they provide materials to their users that are aimed to educate and increase their learning. They’re also useful for research purposes. And their clients are mostly students, teachers, academic scholars, and so on.
This library type is grouped into school, college, and university libraries.
- School library: Students from kindergarten use it to grade 12. It supports the purpose of the school for such students through improving their self-discovery process. Also, it increases the reach for information among children.
It’s also a means for self-study, thereby increasing their ability to think critically. It’s usually smaller than college and university libraries.
- College library: It serves as an instructional material of its own. So, it’s an important part of the learning process. It plays a big role in the success of students in the institution. So they’re an avenue to access all kinds of information related to their field. They support the educational mission of the institution.
- University library: No university can do without a library, as it’s a storehouse for information. It’s not only of benefit to the students but also the faculty members and anyone that does research work.
Some universities may have several libraries such as law libraries, medical libraries, etc. It’s also important for the success of students.
Public libraries: There’s likely to be a public library wherever you live. They serve towns and communities. They’re not reserved for a certain kind of person or group. But, they’re open for everyone (children, teenagers, or adults). They contain different types of books and various departments.
Some public libraries offer after-school programs for children, literacy programs, and serve as job information centers. Some children and adults resort to them to get internet access.
Special libraries: They’re found in specialized environments like museums, hospitals, military grounds, and government establishments. They usually serve employees that work there. So, they contain information useful for such establishments.
Some special libraries are specifically for blind or physically disabled people.
National library: It serves the whole nation. It collects and preserves information and literature of the nation. People are rarely allowed to borrow books from there. That’s because most of the works in it are rare and valuable.
How To Get Your Book Into Book Collections
Sometimes, getting your book into these book collections can be a hassle. That’s because libraries are very selective of books and want to be sure of the credibility. Here is how you can get your book into libraries.
Ensure it is high quality: The quality of your book matters a lot. It should have a high quality to get to a library. If your book is self-published, make sure it has a professional design and editing. It will help you clear any doubts about quality.
You need to know the library’s preferred binding. As a rule of thumb, use library binding (as libraries generally use it) or ask the library directly to be sure.
Get reviews: If you want your book to get to the library, get reviews. Because of their budget, they look out for books with high reviews. Many librarians spend time finding out the latest about books. They check online for reviews and look for expert recommendations.
Get journals to publish a review of your book. You’ll have to pay for it, but it’s worth it as it prompts libraries to buy books. Some of them are Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and so on. Also, you can pay for programs that can send flyers to libraries about your book.
Make requests: Using word of mouth can be effective in getting your book to libraries. Most times, libraries get a book that they notice has lots of requests for it. So you can ask your friends to request your book from libraries close to them. It can make such libraries request for your book.
However, be careful not to make the requests appear unusual by flooding them with requests. You can also ask some book clubs to make requests.
Contact the right librarian: Most libraries have a librarian in charge of buying books for the library (such as an acquisitions librarian). So it’s best to send an email to the person or call him directly. You can also schedule a meeting to get information on getting your book to the library.
Don’t give your book to just any librarian you see in the library. So it doesn’t end up in a book sale. Hand the copies of your book directly to the acquisitions librarian, even if you want to donate them.
Furthermore, they may want to know more about your book. So your sell-sheet should be ready. It should contain your book title, book cover, publisher, ISBN, awards won, and book description. Also, it should contain why they will want to read it and how they can order it.
Please give them a hard copy during your meeting with them, or email it. If you do it well, it’ll likely be convincing to buy your book.
Market your book: Even when libraries accept your book, you’ll need to keep marketing it. It’s so because they usually remove books that don’t circulate to create space to shelf books that are likely to do so.
Utilize available channels to promote your book, especially around your locality. You can also organize a local library event. And invite your family and friends, as well as other people around your locality.
Go through wholesalers: Wholesalers supplies books to most bookstores and libraries. So, they can help you get your book to libraries. Sometimes, you may have to offer them a huge discount with the option of returning it after a specified number of days.
Some of them include Ingram, Baker& Taylor (B&T), and so on.
Consider e-book: E-books are a great way to get your work into libraries. You can earn royalties from libraries through this means. All you have to do is get a distributor (like Ingram spark or Publish drive) to send your book to a library provider (like OverDrive). The royalty rate depends on the library provider.
Your marketing efforts will still play a role in the demand for your e-book by libraries. The library providers sell your e-book to libraries that request them. But such libraries need to be convinced that your e-book is in demand.
Also, readers who usually read e-books at libraries end up buying more books. So, you may not earn much from royalties, but your book can reach lots of new readers. You must get this reach because it’s likely to increase the sales of your book and other books within the series.
Donate your book: You may have to donate a few copies of your book. Most libraries are non-profit organizations, and so they’ll prefer free books. Also, inquire about their procedures for donations of books. As they usually have sections for self-published books.
They usually require more than one copy because they’ll have to pay to catalog it.
Why Your Book Should Be Part Of Book Collections
Why should you even bother getting your book into libraries? Here’s why.
Builds trust: When your book is in libraries, readers are more likely to trust it. It also makes your work credible. Since it gets to lots of people, you’re more likely to get known. And so it paves the way for your upcoming books.
Ability to reach more libraries: When some libraries accept your book, more libraries will also accept it. It even gets easier when your book gets lots of requests. The sweet part is that you might not know when and how it happens. You’ll notice growth in book sales.
Another means to earn: Once more libraries start buying your book from your distributor or publisher; you will start getting more royalties. The boost in the reach and credibility of your book will also increase your sales.
Conclusion
If you want to build success as an author, use every means possible to create awareness of your book. Libraries may not look like much, but they’re a hidden source of book sales. You’ll be able to give your knowledge to your community as a means of service and still make sales while doing it.
Finally, it’s best to utilize this means of making your work credible. That’ll make it easier for you to publish and market your upcoming books.
