Comments on: Straight Talk from a Librarian

By: fritz freiheit.com blog » Link dump

fritz freiheit.com blog » Link dump — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:23:29 +0000

[...] Straight Talk from a Librarian | romanceuniversity.org (Writing,Publishing,Promotion,Library,Info) [...]

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:58:47 +0000

I hope you WILL come knocking. When I’m going through review sources or publisher catalogs, I don’t have much time to read them in great detail (I’m trying to finish it so I can pass it along to others on the routing list), so I really appreciate information directly from the author. Make sure you always add librarians with whom you made contact to your mailing lists so they always are up-to-date with your latest publications.

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:56:12 +0000

Great idea. Just always make sure to ask FIRST. I’ve had a very bad experience where an author asked if they could [do something] and I politely gave them the reasons why I thought that was not appropriate to do, only to find out later that they went ahead and did it anyway. And, as you might guess, this is not an author I plan to invite back anytime soon…..

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:49:50 +0000

Your library, I know, is extraordinarily romance-friendly (for the rest of you, I know Sherry, so it’s not like I’m spying on her) and it’s great that they’re using your expertise to help the rest of their staff along. If they come up with booklists, let me know.

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:48:01 +0000

Congrats on your book contract. Now is a good time to start making those library connections (as long as you’ve got your ISBN, we can order it). Don’t forget to email ME on your info, too!

By: Morgan Mandel

Morgan Mandel — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:44:13 +0000

Great post, Susan.

The Arlington Heights Memorial Library has many book sales. I like to drop off my bookmarks at them for publicity and they don’t object.

That’s one way to get your brand out.

Morgan Mandel

By: KelseyBrowning

KelseyBrowning — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:24:59 +0000

Susan -

Wow – what a wonderful post! Thanks so much for joining us and don’t be surprised if we come knocking at your door again. It sounds like we have plenty of other library-related topics to explore.

Thanks again!
Kelsey

By: Sherry Weddle

Sherry Weddle — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:39:32 +0000

Susan,
Interesting and informative lecture. I’ve always been a book-a-holic, and very frequent library patron. I joke that I have a Platinum Library card
I like to compliment the library staff on things like the displays they put up, my library branch changes these monthly. I also have used the reference staff when I needed to verify information in my wip, or to get ideas on how to use something specific.
I’ve found so many of the library staff to be very happy to help me, especially when I describe the scene or plot point I’m trying to write. I am such a frequent visitor that I know many of the staff by name. I’m very fortunate to belong to a super library, Naperville, IL.
I was even asked to help with staff training session on Romance, when they were taking one genre a month to teach the staff how to help a patron interested in that genre. We had great fun discussing all sorts of romance books, and I hope I convinced some of the literary snobs that romance has come a long way from the ‘bodice rippers’ of the 70′s and 80′s!
We had such a good time that they asked me to come back the next month when the genre studied was Romantic Suspense.
Sherry

By: Cherie Skinner

Cherie Skinner — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:48:19 +0000

Thank you Susan for sharing your very helpful advice and expertise. I live in New Zealand but have a book contracted with a US publisher, due for release next year, so I am very interested in exploring marketing ideas. I will bookmark your post for future reference!

By: carrie

carrie — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:21:13 +0000

lol…..I’m sure they were quite happy to be “stuck” with you!

carrie