Librarians Will Reject Your Book, But Not Because It's Indie

We don't carry self-published books in our library. That's what a librarian told me when I was speaking at the American Library Association. And there were several librarians in that room that said the same thing. Then I proceeded to list a dozen popular self-published books at the time, including David Goggins, Seth Godin, and so many more. And suddenly they realized they do carry self-published books, but there were criteria. So if you want to get your book into libraries and you're wondering about the criteria, this video is for you. For you. Hi, I'm Julie the Book Broad, founder of Book Launchers and your host here at BookLaunchers.tv, where our mission is to help 100,000 books get discovered by 2030. And libraries are one of the most overlooked discovery channels you have. Let me start with that opening story. It still kind of makes me laugh. The 2 librarians were in my session with crossed arms, and one of them basically says, I was told to come to this session on self-publishing, but we don't carry self-published books in my library. But then I showed them the slide that I had that had Alex Hormozi, David Goggins, and Seth Godin, Pat Flynn's book, all self-published. And every one of them was sitting on those library shelves. They changed their position a bit and started to pay attention. And I think that this is what they realized, was that it's not how a book was published that matters. What matters is demand and whether the book is good. So let's just clear 2 myths off the table right now, shall we? Myth 1, libraries won't carry indie books. Completely false. They carry them by the thousands. Myth 2, if your book is good, libraries will just find it on their own. Also false. And that's the one that I think authors don't realize. Librarians are book snobs. I say that with love. They're snobs because they love books. They don't want junk on their shelves, and good for them. But snob does not mean they hate indies. It means they hate bad books. Big difference. So the door isn't locked because you self-published. It's shut right now because they can't find you and they don't know you exist. And if for some reason you manage to get their attention and your book isn't top quality, they're not going to keep looking at you. So fix those 2 things and libraries open up. The timing right now is good for you. The Big 5 publishers are in a standoff with public libraries over ebook pricing. They won't play ball, which means libraries have gaps that they have to fill because their communities want content in that category. And they are actively hunting for strong local voices or niche topics. That opening could be for you if you know how to walk through it. So if you weren't here when I revealed the stats on the Author Guild study from earlier this year, I'll link to that video at the end and in the description below. But you should know library readers could be your exact ideal reader. Many of them are earning more than $75,000 a year and read a lot of books. All right, so here are 5 things that actually get your indie book into a library. And some of this comes straight from Ingram's Indie Title Assessment Grid, which is of like a scorecard that libraries use to decide if your book is worth a look. Other pieces come from our years of working directly with libraries to get our authors in for speaking engagements, workshops, book readings, and just have their book carried. All right, so the first one, make the book good. I know it's not groundbreaking, but I have to say it because no amount of metadata magic saves a bad book. If your cover isn't highly professional or the interior looks really basic or is even a mess, and you didn't have professional editing? Even if your friends told you that the COVID looked great, yeah. The reality is that so many self-published books have bad covers. Great cover designers get paid really good money. And I can tell you we spent years and years finding a team that is amazing for our clients. A librarian can spot a mediocre cover in a split second. And that's a dead giveaway that your book was indie. And now they're wading through a flood of AI-generated books on top of everything else. So their guard is higher than it's ever been. Production quality is your ticket in. Hire multiple editors, get an amazing cover, or just come on over to Book Launchers. We produce top-quality books that libraries and bookstores stock all the time. Without a truly well-published book, nothing else on this list matters. Number 2, fix your metadata so they can find you. This is a boring one that wins. Metadata is, you know, BISAC categories, your reader age range, your description, your author bio, and the bar is low. Clean categories, a description that actually says who the book is for, a bio that matches everywhere. That's really what you need. And you know what? A lot of publishers fail this all the time, especially on their older backlist. So make sure your metadata is clean, complete, and up to date. And when you do that, you might outrank a big 5 title inside that library's ordering system. The giant with all the advantages loses to you because they got lazy and you did not. Number 3, go local. Librarians search their vendor database for books that fit their community. Local authors, local settings, topics that are local. So make sure you've put your local relevance right in that description. Set in by a Denver author, by a UNLV alumni who now lives in Seattle. Whatever is true for you. And then you can start with your own library, your own district, and grow out from there. Local is kind of that crack in the door most indies walk right past. Number 4, prove you're credible. For nonfiction especially, your bio has to show you actually know your stuff, and it has to say the same thing everywhere— your book, your website, your Amazon page. Inconsistent bios are a red flag that gets you skipped. It's key to building trust with LLMs. So when ChatGPT sees your bio is consistent across all the places, you're much more likely to get a positive nod from it too. Credibility in the eyes of librarians is where professional reviews also earn their keep. And if you're wondering which professional reviews matter, well, Ingram's Grid points specifically to Forward, Kirkus Indie, Publishers Weekly Select, and Blue Ink as reviews librarians trust. And you can add a review to your metadata after publication. So if you land a strong Kirkus review 6 months in, update your metadata because it keeps working for you. Number 5: Bring the demand. This is a big one. Reader demand is the single most powerful discovery tool there is. And this is where I have to tell you about Linda Magoon. Linda is a client favorite of ours. We've talked about her many times on the channel. She wrote a memoir called Live Free and Hike about climbing all 48 of New Hampshire's biggest peaks after divorce. We booked her to speak at a library about her book. One talk. The audience loved it. The librarians loved working with her. So much so that they told other libraries in the district, and then those libraries wanted her too. And she did great there too. And they didn't just want her book on the shelf, they wanted her to come in and speak. One talk turned into a whole district of bookstores and of libraries. That's demand in action. That is what libraries are actually hungry for. Great stories, great books, authors that connect with their readers and give their community something real. She was also a darling star at our booth at the American Library Association event. She had a lineup like she was J.K. Rowling. Or maybe not that long, but it was still pretty impressive. So don't just ask a library to stock your book. Offer to speak or do a workshop. Give the community a reason to walk in the door. Demand is what justifies a librarian's yes, especially when a book might be seen as a risk. You bring the readers and that is the whole game. You see the pattern? Every one of these 5 is in your control. No one needs a publisher. You don't need a connection that you might not have right now. You need a good book, the right metadata, a local hook, real credibility, and generate demand. If you wanna know where your book actually stands right now, this is what we do now. Go to booklaunchers.com/auditmybook and we'll audit how discoverable your book really is and show you exactly where the gaps are. And then if you want us to make your book more discoverable, we have packages you can purchase and we can do it with you or even for you. Because if you'd rather we just handle it, writing the articles, fixing the metadata, pitching you for podcasts and library talks and working your ebook sales, reach out at booklaunchers.com/apply. Libraries are not a gated club that only let the big guys in. Libraries are hungry. They want good books and they want stories that serve their community. They just can't carry what they can't find and they won't carry what isn't great. So make it great, make it findable, bring the demand, and I'll see you in the library.