Sharon Souza - small Hello, fellow CANners. This is my second year as a member of CAN, but I admit I've kept a low profile up till now. This is my first post on We CAN promote our books! I hope you find it helpful.

Some months ago I attended a workshop by our own incredible Judy Gann about marketing to libraries. I'd heard Judy speak about this before, but the point was driven home last spring when I heard her share once again about what an untapped source our libraries are. I came home from that conference determined to complete my list and get a mailer sent to every library on it.

From April through August I worked diligently at night, consuming much of my free-reading time and sacrificing sleep, which I'm perfectly OK with — the sleep part, not the reading part — comprising a data base of libraries that would eventually number 2,365 and include all 50 states. I don't know how I found it, but when I first set out on my mission I discovered a very helpful site that I've used exclusively to develop my data base: http://tinyurl.com/njh7od). It lists libraries, state by state, with links to most of those libraries, and more importantly, their catalogues. There are more than 17,000 in all, so my list contains less than 15% of the libraries found on that site. I'm sure there are other, even more comprehensive sites to choose from, but this one worked well for me. It allowed me to follow the link to a library, enter my name in the "Search Catalogue" feature, and find out if the library carried any of my books. I prepared specific mailers for libraries that carried none of my books, and for those that carried one or the other of my novels.

It's fun to find that you're "checked out" in, say, Woodstock, NY, or that, by coincidence, the county in which you were born is the only one in the state that carries your book(s). It's encouraging to receive an email from a librarian who received your mailer, ordered your books and read them. And to hear from a reader who borrowed one of your novels from her library — and became a fan.

The site also tells the size of the population served. So in California, for example, I targeted libraries or library systems that served a population of at least 20,000; while in states with smaller population centers I might select libraries or systems serving a population of 5,000-6,000.

The benefit of targeting library systems over individual libraries, obviously, is the potential for selling more than one copy of your book(s). In checking back, I've already found libraries that have purchased up to 10 copies of my novels since receiving my mailer. And the beauty of libraries purchasing your books is that there are NO RETURNS, hurray!!

I sent out mailers as I was working on my list, not waiting for it to be complete. Now that I've finished — for now at least, for I plan to expand the list next year — I've gone back to some of the library sites I targeted to find out if the work and expense is paying off. I'm happy to say it is. I'll talk about that in December, when I post again about marketing to libraries.

Sharon K. Souza is the author of Lying on Sunday and Every Good & Perfect Gift, as well as the novella and play, A Heavenly Christmas in Hometown. www.sharonksouza.com 

7 thoughts on “Marketing to Libraries, by Sharon K. Souza

Myra

September 30, 2009 - 17 : 35 : 48

Very helpful information, Sharon! You’ve definitely given me something to think about concerning expanding my book promotion efforts.
A couple of questions: Did you contact these libraries by postal mail rather than e-mail? And what did you include in your mailers?

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Sharon K. Souza

September 30, 2009 - 19 : 04 : 58

Thanks, Myra. I did contact the libraries directly through postal mail. I prepared a one-sheet that included a brief note to the acquisitions librarian, then a back-cover copy-type blurb on each of my novels along with a picture of the cover. But if I found that a library carried one of my novels, then I also had a one-sheet that thanked the library for carrying that novel, then promoted the other two. I’ve had some positive feedback, and will blog more about that in December.

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Judy Gann

September 30, 2009 - 19 : 08 : 56

If Sharon doesn’t mind, I’ll answer the first part of your question, Myla.
I surveyed librarians before my workshop (the one Sharon’s talks about in her post). They prefer postal mail rather than e-mail. Librarians are inundated with e-mail from publishers & authors alike. An eye-catching flyer/one sheet sent through the mail will grab their attention. An e-mail is easily deleted from an overflowing inbox.

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Susanne Lakin

October 1, 2009 - 12 : 12 : 21

Thanks Sharon, would you be willing to share your mailer with me? I would love to do this too. sulakin@comcast.net It would help to see how you lay it out and what you say in it. Thanks!

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Myra

October 2, 2009 - 16 : 34 : 54

Good point about snail mail vs. e-mail. Marketing to libraries in this way is a promotional idea I definitely plan to look into!

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Janice Thompson

January 4, 2010 - 15 : 22 : 53

I have a TON of postcards on my books. Would those work? They have all of the info about the book on them.

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Janice Thompson

January 4, 2010 - 15 : 23 : 32

I don’t mean “on” my books, as in “attached to” my books. I just mean that my publisher sent me postcards to help promote each book.

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