Dismantle My Bed

What is not to love about librarians? I mean, they have those sexy glasses! So, who would not want to attract a librarian?

Well, if you are publishing a book and hoping to attract some librarians with your new perfect bound assets you need to have a plan.  Librarians have notoriously high standards. And attracting the attention of a librarian will take more than a pretty dust jacket.

As you may already know, most libraries place their book orders through Baker & Taylor.  Of course it is possible to sell directly to libraries. All you have to do is attract a librarian. But how do you attract librarians?

Well, I am not going to lie. If you only have one book or just a couple of books you will most likely get turned down by the librarians. However, if you publish titles regularly or have a series that you publish then you possess just the bait to help you to reel in those saucy librarians.

What you should do is try to get a standing order in place with the library. Say you publish a Disney travel guide each year. See if you can get them to sign up for a new copy each year. If so, score for you! What will likely happen is that they will order one copy for one library, and if it does well and they like it they will also place orders for other libraries.  The bonus for you is that you do not have to deal with Baker & Taylor as your middle man. Not only are they notorious for their late payments (it took a lot of work to get them to pay for orders they placed through my publishing company), but they also take a cut. So, if you sell directly to the library you end up making more money!