Based on a few articles over the years, it has become clear that authors who have a book in their local library tend to see an increase in book sales, based on the quality of their work. Recently, we did a survey with Texas Libraries to see how much money was being spent toward book purchases of Texas Authors. It was very low, as we sadly expected.
Of the libraries that responded, the average annual allowance to purchase new books was $15,000 (this did not include the large cities with populations over 500,000). Of those funds, 10% of it went to purchasing Texas Authors books. With an estimated 8,400 published authors that’s tough competition.
Many authors donate a copy of their book to libraries, and most are grateful for that copy. However, there are a lot of libraries that refuse them, not because of quality, but because of the cost of turning it into a hard copy so it will last longer. That process averages about $15 per book and higher, an expense that librarians prefer not to spend on unknown authors.
The alternative for the author is to use a service that gets their Ebook into the library at no cost to them, and very low cost to the library. One such program is the Self-E program by the nationally respected Library Journal. This is a free service for self-published or hybrid authors. TxAuthors charges $10 per title to cover our time and to keep it super easy for the author.
Through our efforts, over 330 books are in the Texas system, with an estimated 50 books receiving reviews and moving up to the national database. Texas is the second largest database in the country and we are proud to help increase the opportunity for authors to find more readers. The Library Journal will be honoring us, by creating a special web page in their system just for Texas Authors. No other state is scheduled to have this done. While this may not seem like a big deal, the fact that they want to work with us and promote Texas Authors is a huge compliment for what we are doing.
In addition, because of this success, the Library Journal has been working with the San Antonio mass transit system VIA to allow for passengers to have access to those books. It is a free service to riders, who can read the books on their smartphone, ipad, etc., while on the bus.
On our bookstore web site, we have over 1,500 titles. At least half of those should be in the Library Journal program. Therefore, we encourage you to sign up and take advantage of this opportunity now, so when they begin adding Dallas, Houston and other Texas cities to the list, your book will be available to those readers as well.
The fact that this bus program results in no royalties for authors is a drawback. It does, however, allow for authors to find new readers and that can be more valuable than being paid a few cents in royalties. As always, there is never a guarantee of readership of one’s book, but increasing your chances to find new readers is the goal. For those authors who have multiple books, don’t put them all out on the system, but at least put one or two in the system, so people can discover you and will want to buy your other books.
If you had signed up for the Library Journal program and do not want your book available for free to readers, please email me so we can have your book removed from the system.
If you would like to get your book added into the system, you can either do it yourself, or pay us the $10 processing fee to get it up quick and easy.
This is a great opportunity to expand your options, I hope you will take advantage of it. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.