Comments on: Guest Blog Post: How Libraries Choose Books to Purchase http://www.sfwa.org/2010/04/guest-blog-post-how-libraries-choose-books-to-purchase/ Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Wed, 22 May 2013 23:41:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Robert Laughlin http://www.sfwa.org/2010/04/guest-blog-post-how-libraries-choose-books-to-purchase/#comment-6595 Robert Laughlin Sun, 25 Apr 2010 04:44:50 +0000 I heartily agree with Ms. Goben about the importance of getting a glowing review in the right place. My first sf novel, Vow of Silence, was a small press release with no commercial advertising, but it did get a good review from Publishers Weekly. Since then, Vow of Silence has sold more copies to libraries than to the general public.

]]> By: Krista http://www.sfwa.org/2010/04/guest-blog-post-how-libraries-choose-books-to-purchase/#comment-6561 Krista Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:25:22 +0000 Excellent article. You’ve really hit on the exact process I use to order books for my YA section, especially on the cover art, which I think is a huge indicator of whether teens will check out a book or not. If the book is for teens but the cover art is too cartoonish or babyish, it will not circulate, no matter how awesome it is.

I’ve had to make some agonizing choices now that my already tiny budget has been cut. I do my best to make a well-rounded collection, with new books from all genres, but it’s a fact that in my library, teens will check out urban fantasy romances much more than historical fiction, and my book ordering reflects that.

I would also add, if you as an author would like to give us an ARC or donate a book, that’s great. I recently had a new author stop by with an ARC of her first teen book, and it was a great experience for both of us, and I put her book on my order. Then I passed the ARC along to a teen. Just don’t do what another author did and stop by with two full boxes of your book and expect us to take them. Just bring one.

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