Independent Book Publishing Association Podcast: Set Your Book Up For Success for the Library Market, Featuring Me

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A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of chatting with Christopher Locke, the Independent Book Publishing Association's [IBPA] Member Liaison. I was invited on to talk to their members-- both independent presses and author publishers (which is what we used to call self published authors), about how to best interact with the library market. I give this type of informal talk to authors and small presses frequently. 

Here is the direct link to my appearance.

Before I get into why this appearance matters to my library worker audience, I want to first tell you a little bit more about the podcast. From their landing page:

Launched in March 2018, “Inside Independent Publishing (with IBPA)” wants to make you a smarter publisher by giving you access to powerful ideas, strategies, and tools for success through a monthly podcast.

Podcast guests are independent publishers, author publishers, and hybrid publishers, as well as distributors, printers, typographers, reviewers, booksellers, marketers, visionaries, and opinion leaders from all sectors of the book publishing industry.

The podcast is sponsored and supported by the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), the largest book publishing association in the US serving independent publishers and author publishers. IBPA’s mission is to lead and serve the independent publishing community through advocacy, education, and tools for success. Its vision is a world where every independent publisher has the access, knowledge, and tools needed to professionally engage in all aspects of an inclusive publishing industry.

Read more about IBPA's mission and vision here.

Okay, so I already know many of you are already like-- Becky this is great that you talked to IBPA but why are you telling us? Great question. I have answers.

First and foremost, I learned something by interacting with IBPA over the last few weeks, so I know you will too. An obvious example (and I mentioned it in passing above), I leaned that the preferred term for self published authors is -- author publishers. I had no idea. I am so thankful for connecting with Locke to learn the proper terminology. But this leads to my overall first reason for sharing this appearance with all of you. Yes, I went to IBPA to help them understand us, but by interacting with Locke, in our pre-meeting, during the taping, and in my perusal of their resources as I prepared for the podcast, I learned much about the current state of their world, a world we need to be more attuned to. So if nothing else, I hope today's post alerts you to the IBPA and encourages you to use their resources to keep yourself more in the know when it comes to their world.

Which leads to second, when we know what their issues and concerns are, we can be better partners with them in our shared goal of getting more books by independent publishers into our collections. We need more than just the Big 5 titles and more than just titles that get formal reviews and even more than Forward Reviews (the largest reviewer of independently published books) can get to. We need to look at IBPA as a resource that we can use to make our collections more inclusive of the entire publishing landscape.

Third, listen to what I am telling the IBPA members. Obviously I only had 50 minutes and we had to be very general, but I worked really hard to get the larger points communicated. There are things I missed. There are things that your library cannot do. But I have been giving this talk in many spaces because the independently published authors WANT to connect with us and the vast majority of them want to make sure they do it correctly. Do not assume every author out there is rude and pushy and just trying to get their book on your shelves. I am consistent in warning every author that the first time they visit their local library should not be on the day they are asking for their book to be added to the collection.  

Knowing that resources like this podcast are out there should remind you that they are trying to understand us and work within our confines. Their leadership is also encouraging it. As I mentioned, this is not the first independent publishing venue with which I have shared this information.

And take this point to a further action step by using what I am telling the authors to help you find new ways to connect with them. Reach out to your local small presses and authors. Actively seek them out by posting in their community forums. Getting them more involved with your library serves many purposes. Yes you can find out about their books, but there is a lot more. Think about it. They are your patrons, they are also readers and writers. They understand our book and reading centered world more than the average patron. IBPA comes to ALA Annual and is trying to go to more state library conferences (we talk about that a bit). It's a two-way information street. We are learning from each other so that we can share our knowledge and serve readers better.

And finally, pass the IBPA and its resources on to all of your patrons. Obviously if you have a writing group to them, but there are many library patrons who are aspiring writers. They would love to know about this resource.

I am sure there is more to learn here, but that is a start.

Please click through here to watch me or watch in the window below, but consider sharing all the podcasts with your patrons and use the IBPA's website to stay abreast of the independent publishing world.