Tonight, I am joining others who are writers and librarians, like myself, to give a presentation for the members of Sisters in Crime. Unless you are a member, you cannot join us, but really it is not a program for you. However, it is a program you should know about.
Building Library Relationships that Work
Date: Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Time: 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm ET
Cost: Free for members (sign in required)
Description: Libraries, and librarians, offer tremendous opportunities for authors to meet readers and build their readership. In this webinar, three experience librarians and Sisters in Crime National Librarian liaison, Susan Hammerman, will discuss not only the value that libraries provide authors, but what authors can do for libraries, how to reach out to librarians, and tips for building a relationship that benefit authors, libraries, and the communities they serve.
Click here to see the panelists.
Okay, now back to why I am writing about a program I am doing that you can't watch. It is because all of the writers organizations are asking to know how to work with us, like all the time. For example, the HWA Library Committee can barely handle all the requests we have to appear virtually at our chapter meetings. I am regularly meeting with authors to help hem approach their library the correct way.
You need to understand that authors everywhere know that they should work with us but they don't know how to start. They have no idea what the first step should be. Although it doesn't always seem this way with the ones that do contact us, but the vast majority of authors don't want to be jerks and demand we add their books to our collections. They truly wan to have a relationship with us. But we have not made ourselves available in obvious ways.
So, now that you know this, what can you do? I would highly suggest you offer programs at your library for authors but not for them to work with each other, rather host a program where you can meet them, talk about the ways they can help you (offer programs on writing, or based on research they have done, really anything), and how you can help them. Why not even use the title above to offer-- Building Local Author-Library relationships that work.
A program like this will get a lot of interest and may result in some great collaboration and partnerships that will enhance both parties going forward.
Give it a try and see where it goes.
Eds note: I did find out you can register if not a member:
"Non-members are invited to register for the webinar; however, you must establish a Guest Non-member account on our site so that you can sign in to register. Creating your account is a one-time process, and you can sign in with the same credentials for all future webinars."
They are taking registrations through today. Maybe I will see you there.
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