Indies & Libraries, Together In Midwinter

Hi everyone! I am YA, and now MG author Barbara Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for adolescents and teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them.  My newest book, Courage, is middle grade fiction that will be coming out next summer from Harper Collins.

I spent the weekend at the American Library Association Midwinter conference in Denver, Colorado. I attended the conference as a retired (and current volunteer) library worker. And because, as a writer, I consider librarians a major part of my audience. (I feel the same about RTG readers, so please read all the way to the end for a surprise. Pretty please with sugar on it, as I used to say when I was young.)

Beautiful Downtown Denver

First, let me say, being “Mile High” is a real thing, not to be trifled with. The convention leaders greeted us with instructions on staying hydrated and other survival tips. Literally thousands of librarians crowded the city from all across the country, occupying almost a dozen hotels.

Librarians and vendors.

The exhibit hall was filled with companies that make every type of library tool. And all kinds of publishers. Not just the big five. There were dozens of small presses. And, a surprising number of Indie publishing houses.

It has been two years since I last attended an ALA meeting. I was surprised to see how many booths were manned by either individual Indie authors/publishers, or by groups of indie authors joined together to manage the costs of participating at the conference. I am going to tell you some of the things I saw. This is not an endorsement of any group or service, just my observations about the possibilities for libraries and indie authors.

Images from four different Indie  booths 

A number of companies that provide self-publishing and on-demand services, companies like Ingram, iUniverse, Xlibris had their had booths. Many were collaboration efforts, with books from authors who published using their software. These firms are making a presence to get their users books in front of librarians. 

There was also booth from Indie consortiums, authors who could not afford an independent presence at the conference, but joined together to purchase a booth and get their work in front of the thousands of attendees.

The Indie Press Collective provides a number of services for Indie authors. In addition to showing books at associations like ALA, they have a review service for pre-pub bed Indie Books only, Foreword Reviews  Anyone can ask for a review, you can see more information on the process at - https://www.forewordreviews.com/about/ 

There is no cost for a review. But, since they get thousands of requests, only a small percentage of the authors who want a review actually get included in Foreword Reviews. There are costs associated with post publication reviews, as well as for being included in the books displayed at booths or for advertising in their magazines. 

Even more, the Indie books obtained a time slot on the Book Buzz stage - two to two-thirty on Saturday. The Book Buzz stage is located on the Exhibit floor of every ALA convention. This is the fourth ALA conference I have attended over the years. For the first time I know of, Indie groups had their own time slot on stage, where some of their up-and-coming books were individually highlighted for librarians in attendance.

I want to say again that I am not endorsing any of these groups or efforts. I was simply impressed by the shear number of Indie authors and small presses. Impressed by the fact that they were not only in small, less expensive booths in the back, but also in the larger, decorated booths manned with specialists ready to engage with librarians. I am happy to see the way some authors join consortiums to give themselves a chance to be noticed by librarians.

Only the future will tell how much success individual authors will have breaking into the library market. That includes public libraries, college and reference libraries, and school libraries. That represents thousands of potential sales. I spoke with one woman who was looking at possibilities for her areas "One community, One book" program, and she intends to purchase 3,000 copies of the selected book. Libraries can be a great market for Indies to break into.

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And now, your surprise. I would love to hear any of your comments, about libraries, Indies...or about my new book - http://www.babinns.com/books/courage/ . I have some Advance Reader Copies of Courage, my Middle Grade debut coming out at the end of July.  I have reserved two for readers of this post. On Feb 28 I will select two commenters to receive copies. Check back at the end of the month to see if you are a winner of a hard copy ARC that will be mailed to you.

While I want to hear comments from everyone, please note that only commenters from the continental US will be included in the raffle. 

Top Five Industry Changes All Writers Should Know...and Embrace!

INDIE BOOK COLLECTIVE

1. EBooks. In December 2010, Amazon reported that eBooks on their site outsold all other forms of books. 85% of the electronic book market is dominated by Amazon.com. While print and audio formats will never die out, the sooner authors embrace this new, viable format of eBooks as the forward trend, the better their careers will be for it.

2. The Power of Free. Whether it’s the buy one book in a year and get ten free option of book clubs or your weekly visit to the library, then and now, free reads can earn future dollars and new fans. Harnessing the power of creating a free reads, and giving free reads away in a strategic way, will expose authors to tons of new readers they can earn into fandom. 

3. Book Bloggers. The new grocery store line is online. Where readers used to look to magazines for book reviews, the blogosphere is evolving into a reader-centric place filled with bloggers who love to read and love to talk books. Readers are finding their additions to their To Be Read pile through blog hops, guest blogging and contests thrown by members of this tight community. Become a good neighbor by visiting a blog a day and commenting in a positive way.

4. Even traditional is going indie. Bob Mayer, JA Konrath. The list goes on. Having a New York contract doesn’t mean authors aren’t going indie. Because of massive innovations and a plethora of author friendly self-publishing platforms, being indie is no longer a dirty word. Authors of all sorts of backgrounds are dipping a toe in the indie waters and creating extras through self-publishing for fans during the down time between traditional releases.

5. Social Media. Twitter, Facebook, blogging or any other social media platform will not sell books. It will, however, forge relationships that authors can nurture into a tribe of readers who then create the word of mouth buzz that does sell books. Word of mouth buzz comes in many forms now thanks to tweets, status updates, blog posts and more. Reviews, hitting the ‘like’ button on an Amazon page and more all create popularity and stem from social media relationships. If authors keep this platform fan-centric, their readers will repay them in kind, and do so spontaneously. Because readers love to help authors that they love!

Co-founded by Carolyn McCray, Amber Scott and Rachel Thompson, the Indie Book Collective is made up of authors who love to help fellow authors succeed. Membership is as easy as following @IndieBookIBC on Twitter or hitting the 'Like' button on Facebook. We have monthly webinar classes on Social media, Facebook start-up, getting Goodreads, Blogging basics and much more!