Books and Libraries
Books and libraries go hand in hand. It’ll be a very sad day if libraries no longer house books and transform into something more like a media center. But it can be difficult for authors to get into libraries. They have limited shelf space and often take what comes out from the bigger publishers.
Wait, read that last part of the sentence above again. Yes, that’s the secret to get your book into a library. A recommended book puts the book in the librarian’s mind. The library has a purchasing committee, and at certain times of the year, they pull out patrons’ requests and decide what to purchase from them. It’s true some books aren’t selected, but trying half the battle.
So if your favorite author has a print book out that you can’t afford to purchase, then ask your library to purchase a copy. The worst they can say is “No.”
Have you asked your library to request a book before?
An Excerpt from Prologue of Reborn
"I have to save her."
“Think of the consequences, my son.” She seized his robes.
He had. They both knew the gods would find a way to curse him and this innocent child, but the price was worth saving the kingdom.
Ignoring his mother’s protests, Apenth leaned over the lifeless baby again. His lips pressed against her ashen forehead, so cold to the touch. Postera clawed at his arms, but he shoved away her hands. Nothing would stop him from completing Amora’s prophecy, protecting the kingdom.
“You are mine, little one.” His palm rested on the infant’s chest. Heat flowed from his glowing fingertips and nearly burned his flesh, but he kept his hand steady. The white light expanded and exploded within the room.
"Live," he commanded, pleaded.
“No!” Postera screamed. The child’s life-thread ripped from his mother’s hand and joined the pulsing jewel on her belt. The piece sizzled, reattaching to the gemstone, and transformed to blood red.
The life-giving luminosity collapsed into the child, her flesh glowing for a moment. A tiny strawberry-colored birthmark in the shape of a phoenix blossomed upon the flesh over her heart. The baby’s lungs filled with air, and a cry broke from her lips.
To save a kingdom, a prophetess must challenge Fate.
On the day of Yssa’s death and rebirth, the god Apenth chose her as the Phoenix Prophetess.
Sea serpents and gods endanger the young prophetess’s journey and sour the omens. Yssa is cursed instead of blessed, and her duties at the Temple of Apenth prove it. She spends her days reading dusty scrolls, which does nothing to help her forget Tym, the boy back home. But the annoying yet gorgeous ferryman’s son Liam proves to be a distraction she can’t predict, even though he rarely leaves her alone for two sand grains.
Her boring temple life screeches to a halt when visions of her parents’ murders consume her. Yssa races across an ocean to stop the future. If she can’t change Fate, she’ll refuse to be the Phoenix Prophetess any longer. Fate, however, has other plans for her and the kingdom.
Yssa must either accept her destiny or fight to change Fate.
Available in eBook and Print!
To purchase: Amazon | Createspace | Google Play | Kobo | Nook | OmniLit | Smashwords | Other Retailers
The authors of Untethered Realms and I are giving away over $50 worth of books to one lucky winner. The giveaway is open internationally.
A self-proclaimed bookworm, Cherie Reich is a speculative fiction writer and library assistant living in Virginia. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies, and her books include the horror collection Nightmare, a space fantasy novella collection titled Gravity, and the fantasy series The Foxwick Chronicles and The Fate Challenges. Reborn is her debut novel. She is Vice President of Valley Writers and a member of the Virginia Writers Club and Untethered Realms. For more information, please visit her website.
Thank you for stopping by, Cherie, and good luck on the rest of your blog tour.
Great post! I worry libraries might become media centers too. I love going in to a library and being surrounded by books. I have recommended books a few times as I can do it on my local library's site. They do not take self-published books, though, unless they receive a good review from a national reviewer.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for hosting me today, Esther!
ReplyDeleteChristine, I think it'll be a LONG time before libraries don't have any print books. And sometimes it takes more than one person requesting a book to get it in. I'm sure they'd even bend their no self-published books rule if they had many patrons requesting it. And in time, I think their policies will change.
I've not requested on yet; they always had what I was interested in. I have donated book before, but often the send them to other libraries or sell them at a book sale -- which I don't mind 'cause it to get library funds.
ReplyDeleteDonating a book is a good way to get into a library or at least get your book in front of another reader, if they put it in their sale. Thanks for stopping by, Southpaw!
ReplyDelete