How to Get Your Self-Published Book Into Libraries

To get your book into libraries, publish through a distributor that libraries already buy from: Draft2Digital for ebooks and IngramSpark for print. Then ask your local library to stock it. Neither service puts your book on a shelf by itself.

How do libraries find books to buy?

Libraries order through distributors and library platforms, not from authors one at a time. That is why a book that is only on Amazon is hard for a library to get. The practical job for you is to make the book available where library buyers look.

How do you get an ebook into library apps?

Draft2Digital says it publishes to OverDrive, cloudLibrary, Hoopla and BorrowBox, along with Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and other stores (Draft2Digital FAQ). You choose which of them to use, and you set your ebook price and it suggests a library price (Draft2Digital knowledge base).

Some things to know:

• File check. D2D says the library stores require a valid epub. A file with an “Invalid Epub” warning can still be published, but not to OverDrive, Hoopla, cloudLibrary or BorrowBox.
• Waiting time. D2D says library retailers often take the longest to list a book.
• Free pricing. A free ebook is allowed except at certain stores and libraries, so check the special considerations when you pick a vendor.
• Adult content. D2D cannot distribute erotica to those library services.

How do you get a print book into libraries?

IngramSpark says that enabling wholesale distribution makes your book available through a network of bookstores, libraries and online retailers. Library buyers then order your book through Ingram’s book ordering system. IngramSpark says listings can take between 2 and 6 weeks to appear in ordering systems (IngramSpark FAQs). You also choose whether your books can be returned.

I don’t have a figure for a library discount, because the pages I read do not give one. Look at the discount setting when you set up the title and read it against your print cost. My comparison of IngramSpark and KDP, and whether you can use both, covers the pricing side.

What should you know before choosing library pricing and promotions?

Library sales are priced separately from your retail price. Draft2Digital says library pricing and print pricing are not included in its scheduled promotions, so a sale price you set for readers will not apply to libraries (Draft2Digital FAQ). Free ebook pricing is also not accepted everywhere. For vendors that do not take a free price, D2D says the book goes in at $0.99.

If you plan to run a free promotion, check which services you chose, so that you know what each library platform will show.

Will libraries buy it automatically?

No. Draft2Digital says your books are not automatically ordered and placed on shelves in physical locations, and that you may want to contact individual bookstores or libraries to ask them to include your book, at the discretion of management. The same is true of a digital catalogue: being listed is not the same as being chosen.

So make the ask yourself:

1. Check that your book is live on the library services you chose.
2. Ask your local library how readers can request a purchase. Many have a suggestion form.
3. Give them the title, ISBN, price, and where they can order it.
4. Ask friends and readers in the area to request it too.

The American Library Association keeps lists of recommended and notable books on ala.org, but I could not find a page there that explains how a library picks self-published titles.

What should you set up first?

Get the book published well before chasing libraries. A clean file, a good cover and the right categories make every channel easier. How to publish on an online bookstore walks through the store side.

Bookstores buy through Ingram in the same way, and I cover that in how to get your book into bookstores.

My free 12-step checklist covers the whole route: get the self-publishing checklist.

Start with the free checklist

The checklist is the 12 steps I follow for every book I publish, from choosing a profitable niche with keyword research to setting up the marketing machine. It is free, and you get it straight away.

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