Did Libraries Buy Your Book?

Libraries account for a lot of book sales for authors, but especially for those published with Five Star, Avalon, Ulverscroft, and some of the other companies with a solid list of library clients. So how can you find out if a library or library system bought your book? World Cat is a website that can help you out.

If you've been sending promo materials to libraries, learning whether your promo resulted in a sale is especially valuable information, and you can find this information at WorldCat, the world's largest network of library content and services. They provide Web access to their resources. If you click the link, you'll be taken to their site.

The Method

1. In the Search box, enter your name or ISBN and click search.

2. Scroll through the results, and when you find your name, click on the link or links.

3. A page for your book will open. Below will be tabs, and the total number of editions in the libaries will be shown. The tabs are: Library, Detail, Subject, Edition, Reviews.

4. On the Library tab, fill in your zip code. The results will be a list all the libraries that have your book along with the mileage from your zip code to that library.

Wait, There's More

Register as a User on this site. You can add information to your listings and even post reviews for your works.

Additionally, you can find the details on foreign translations of your books.

If you're really into information gathering for your own statistical purposes, do a search at various times during the life of your book. You may find with your first search that 200 copies have been bought by libraries. Months later or even a year, that number may change.

Decreasing Numbers

We had a discussion on one of my author lists about how your numbers can go down at libraries.

Libraries rotate their inventory now, just like book stores though perhaps not as frequently. About every year or two, most library systems purge their stacks. Some may do it on a shorter time schedule now.

Libraries base this purge on the number of times a book has been checked out. If the numbers aren't high enough, they pull the book.

When books are purged, the library system adjusts their computer data to represent the fact that the books are no longer in their system so your numbers would decrease over time.

Recycled Books

The books removed from libraries are sold to jobbers who in turn sell the books in retail outlets. You may have been in a brick and mortar store and seen hardback books with library check out slips inside the covers or with library stamps on them somewhere. These are purged books.

The bookstore resells them for a buck to about half their original list price.
Unfortunately, the author doesn't get any more money even though the book has now been sold twice, actually three times if you count the jobber.

If you Google your books or check Amazon, B&N, etc. you'll see they have used copies for sale for varying prices. Read the description copy, and you may find notations that it's a library copy or may have library stamps. More purged books being resold.

I've actually bought some of my older hardcover editions by hunting for them online. So if you need copies of your older books, this is a good way to find them. That and possibly another reader discovering you are the only bit of silver lining those discouraging gray clouds of this scenario.

What You Can Do

If you want to make sure the library keeps you, you need to let your local library system know you are a local author or make sure your book is checked out often. Hard, if not impossible, huh? Don't be so sure about that.

Local authors who support their libraries and are known by the library can give speeches, workshops, or just drop by for a book chat once in a while. You can't do this for every library, but you should do it for your local one.

The Takeaway Truth

What? You don't think of libraries when you're making those promotion plans for meeting the book-reading public?

Well, maybe you should start, but first visit World Cat.

Key City Drive-In Theatre

Bill Crider said if I really wanted to show some love that I'd have posted that handbill for the drive-in movie theater mentioned in my blog about ideas.

Well, Bill, here it is. I erred on the date. My memory said 1962, but it's actually 1967. In case you can't read the small print, here's what it says.

KEY CITY DRIVE-IN THEATRE, 1750 N. Treadaway -- Abilene, Texas. AUGUST 1967.

Open Nitely 8:30. Feature starts at 8:55. Admission: $1.20 per Carload. All Features Will Be Shown Only Once Nitely -- Come Early and See the Complete Show.

The movies were all double or triple features. I'll list them and their stars. From July 30 through Sept. 2 they were:

Namu, The Killer Whale -- Robert Lansing
The Russians Are Coming -- Carl Reiner and Eva Marie Saint

The Racers -- Kirk Douglas
The Hunters -- Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner

Honeymoon Hotel -- Robert Goulet and Nancy Kwan
North To Alaska -- John Wayne

Boy, Did I Get A Wrong Number -- Bob Hope and Elke Summer
The Fortune Cookie -- Jack Lemmon

The Trouble With Angels -- Rosalind Russell and Hayley Mills
Alvarez Kelly -- William Holden and Richard Widmark

The Invisible Horror -- Lex Barker and Karin Dor
Terror Of The Mad Doctor -- Gert Frobe and Senta Berger

Way...Way Out -- Jerry Lewis
The Flight Of The Phoenix -- James Stewart

The Young Racers -- Mark Damon
Road Racers -- Sally Fraser and Alan ??
The Green Helmet -- Bill Travers and Ed Begley (that's senior, not the reality show guy who is saving the planet by powering his toaster with a stationary bike)

None But The Brave -- Frank Sinatra and Tatsuya Mihashi
Two On A Guillotine -- Connie Stevens and Dean Jones

Claudelle Inglish -- Diane McBain and Will Hutchins (He was Sugarfoot on TV.)
Susan Slade -- Troy Donahue and Connie Stevens

Ever see any of these? I think only the John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart flicks are still shown. I see them on TV from time to time. Stewart's Flight of the Phoenix was so much better than the remake with Dennis Quaid. Why it was grouped with a dumb Jerry Lewis (apologies to the French) I don't know.

The hot young stars of that era like Diane McBain, Will Hutchins, Troy Donahue, and Connie Stevens were shoved into one movie after another. None of the movies held up over time. Neither did the hot stars for the most part with the possible exception of Connie Stevens.

Ah, fame is so fleeting. Can you say "flash in the pan?"

From Where Do Ideas Come?

Everyone asks writers, especially novelists, "Where do you get your ideas?" I've been asked this. I'd bet money that everyone who has ever published a book has had that question tossed at them.

Sometimes I've felt like saying, "Why, over at the local Wally World. But only when they're on clearance."

The Answer
Instead, I always say, "Writers get ideas from everything they've experienced. People they meet. Things they read. Stories they hear. Television, movies, eavesdropped conversations. Everything is idea fodder."

Idea File
I also keep an Idea File. That sounds pretty organized, but it's actually one of those expanding files with slots filled with items I've torn from newspapers or other print publications as well as things I've found by happenstance. For instance, in one of the slots is a scrap of paper I found in a used book I bought. The cryptic note talks about a woman who is a slut and lists some Bible verses. I looked them up in the Bible. Freaky stuff.

Also in there is a bulletin from a 1962 drive-in movie theater that lists what's showing that month. I think I found that in an antique cabinet I bought.

Another intriguing tidbit is an ad torn from a newspaper. It reads: "J.E.P. ALBUQUERQUE, CHA-CHA-CHA Lessons Needed. Hurry, he is dying. Call Julia @ (555)123-4567."

Oh, man! Doesn't your imagination just go wild with plot scenarios for that ad? I found it in a used book too, and I've had it for years. One of these days, don't be surprised if you see that in a book I've written.

Organized Ideas
Once I just tossed all this stuff in a storage box, but it's useless that way. During a January organization orgy a couple of years ago, I got the expanding file, went through everything, and categorized. Then I pulled some and placed them in a binder. These are the ideas that sparked manuscripts I've either written or am writing. The rest went into the labeled divisions of the expanding file.

Now if you ask me from where do I get my ideas, I can show you. Literally. Cool, huh?

Branding: Why Do It

Everyone talks about branding. As a writer, we're all supposed to brand ourselves if we want to get ahead. What is branding? Why should we slap a brand on our respective hides? And what happens if you don't brand yourself?

Bob visited Sling Words recently so I followed his link back to his Writing-Journey blog. I found myself leaving a comment about this issue and thought it would be an excellent topic for us to sling around. So I've taken part of my comment and slung it into a blog.

What is Branding?

If you've been in this biz a while, then you already know that branding could be considered the current buzz word for what we've always called name recognition. It's a promotion tool.

A marketing principle is that it takes 9 instances of hearing a name before someone remembers it. Branding is a way to make sure the person who remembers your name also remembers something linked to the name i.e. Stephen King = horror novels; Nora Roberts = romance novels, etc.

Admittedly, King and Roberts branded themselves the old-fashioned way: by publishing well-received books at a fast pace in a time when the entertainment industry (books, movies, video games) wasn't over-saturated with names, all competing for your entertainment dollar. Their name became their brand so all you have to hear is the name, and your brain supplies the link.

There are so many people out there now, all competing for the public's attention and bucks, that branding is a good tool to have in your writer's tool kit. Most authors know that publishers normally give very little publicity money to anyone below their big A list authors thus the self-promotion industry was born. This home-grown industry is our amateur way of achieving the same thing that an ad agency might.

These promotion efforts vary widely from the very professional to the amateurish, sometimes embarrassingly so. If you're into self-promotion, you should start with branding. For what do you want to be known? Unfortunately, most people don't know this very basic fact. They struggle to brand themselves. They have difficulty with the concept.

Three reasons why people can't figure out a brand:

1. They don't yet know who they are as a writer.

2. They cannot be objective enough to see the common denominator of the underlying theme in their work.

3. They just don't have the marketing skills necessary to know how to present themselves and their work.

Identity

You need to write a lot before you'll know who you are as a writer. Literary author Larry Brown and popular fiction author Dean Koontz both have said something to the effect: "You need to write X number of words before you'll be able to write anything that is publishable. What X is varies from person to person."

Write a lot. Let it flow. Become one with the word. Develop an affinity for telling stories then ask yourself what stories come to you? How do they come? In languid, descriptive prose? In taut, staccato bursts? What do you find yourself saying over and over in many different ways? All writers have a universality of story and of technique that is unique to each. Find that in your writing.

Theme

Look at your writing and figure out what you're trying to say. Theme. Yes, every story has one whether you realize it or not. You may think you're writing a story about a woman who's been hurt so she resists the hero because she doesn't want to be hurt again. In actuality, that story may be about redemption.

Look at everything you've written and see if there is a theme you come back to again and again. When I began reading Dean Koontz many years ago, it took only three books for me to see that he was writing about child abuse survivors in each book. Later, when I learned that he'd been physically battered by his father, it came as no surprise.

Whether we like it or not, we all write what we know. So your theme is based on something that is a hot button for you.

Do you write romance "where love conquers all?" Then that is your brand. My brand for romance? "Live fully...laugh often...love deeply." I write sassy, heart-warming romantic comedy.

Think like an ad agency

You know, there is a wealth of information available at your fingertips. Learn the basics of marketing if only to know what is effective and what isn't. Writers have lists devoted to promotion tips. The Net has thousands if not millions of articles about marketing. You have to know what to do with your brand once you've identified it so research, read. Find out what works in print and what works on the Net. If you want to promote but don't want to do it yourself, then find a pro who'll do what you want. But know what works so you won't pay for something that doesn't. As in everything, buyer beware.

How some of my friends branded themselves.

Colleen Thompson: "exciting, compelling, suspense."

T. J. Bennett: "Dark and daring romance."

Gerry Bartlett: "Because vampires are everywhere."

Kerrelyn Sparks: "Where romance sparkles with humor."

Nina Bangs: "Hot, funny, and deliciously different."

The Takeaway Truth

A writer must always look inward and explore in order to create, establish, or discover one's writing identity and in what way you want to share that identity with the world i.e. what genre of type of writing. It's not rocket science. It can be learned.

The Net is filled with authors who have successfully branded themselves. Study what they did. If necessary, enlist the help of friends. Develop your own brand that will make the reading and buying publish recognize you.

Hurray for RWA

RWA is, dollar for dollar, the best investment a writer can make. What? You don't know what RWA is? Why it's the Romance Writers of America, a nonprofit organization founded back in the 1980's in my town, that's Houston, Texas, to the uninitiated.

I was just reading the most recent issue of Romance Writers Report, the official magazine of RWA, and was overcome with admiration. I've been a member for a long-time and have always received my money's worth for my annual dues, a measly $75 bucks. The magazine alone with its market and agent update, the articles on the craft and business of writing, and the interviews with publishing professionals as well as successful writers is worth the dues.

I've heard other published writers say they never would have been published if it hadn't been for RWA.

Good writing is good writing regardless of the genre in which you work so RWA has something to offer all writers. So, if you're struggling in the barren wasteland of the unpublished, do yourself a favor and check out the dynamic RWA.

Sling Words, climbing off her soapbox to prepare an early dinner. This is the night for the premiere of Battlestar Galactica. Enough said?

So say we all.

(Oh, embarrassing moment. I said a dinner blessing at Thanksgiving and closed with SO SAY WE ALL. The family laughed. They know I'm cracked. Then we all said a hearty Amen.)

Hurray for Ulverscroft

Since I made the announcement on my website update for April 1, I'll tell the blog world too about my deal with Ulverscroft, a division of F. A. Thorpe Publishing in the UK. The British publisher has purchased large print rights to six of my backlist titles.

The lovely company made me a lovely deal so we are all happy with the win-win deal.

If you live in the UK or a Commonwealth, you'll be seeing my name on some books.

Dale Furutani Writes Again

I'm a big Dale Furutani fan. His Samurai Mystery set in feudal Japan and featuring Kaze are among my favorite books. I had a very nice email from him a couple of days ago and wanted to pass on the good news about a new book from him.

Novelist Interruptus
A few years ago, Dale and his wife actually moved to Japan. Subsequently, they worked there for three years. Unfortunately, he did no writing during that period. Then, when they came home to the States, Dale became ill for an extended period of time.

Bad News/Good News
The bad news is that he wrote no books during that time of sickness. Understandably so. The good news is that's he's finally healthy and back to normal.

Fortunately, Dale's fan base continued to grow, especially in Europe. In fact, he's so popular in France that a publisher is growing his fan base by publishing a manga edition from his first book. That'll reach an entirely new demographic group.

In case you don't know, the French respect and treat those in the arts the way our country treats pro athletes. They treat famous chefs of the culinary arts as if they're gastronomic gods. I wouldn't be surprised if Dale's not recognized and mobbed everywhere he goes.

Better News
The even better news is that Dale says he's now completing a book set in 1894 Japan. During the latter weeks of last year, he and his wife returned to Japan to do more research for his work in progress. Now, he's almost finished with that manuscript.

After that, he says he'll be writing another Kaze book. The new book will pick up the Kaze trilogy.

I don't know when these books will be published, but I can hardly wait. As some of you know, I lived in Japan for several years so the culture holds a special fascination for me.

I stand with all his other eager fans, just waiting for a release date. For now, I'll have to content myself by reading again one of his books from my library. Think I'll start with Death At The Crossroads.

Sling Words out to lose herself in feudal Japan.