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Internet Marketing—Law

how to market to libraries - getting those important reviews

Selling to libraries is not a difficult proposition because of all the people I know, librarians are always searching for new information (they read your promotional material!) and they are driven to meet the needs of all their patrons (no matter how specialized their interest) so if you have a book on a unique subject, chances are, they'll want to put it on their shelves.

But, the number one source librarians use when making the decision to purchase a book is whether or not the title has been reviewed and by whom.

The key things to keep in mind when marketing to libraries is an understanding of how they make their purchasing decisions. According to a study conducted by Library Journal in 1997, these are the sources used most for buying books:

Source	% of Librarians
Reviews in Trade Journals	96%
Patron Request	89%
Best Seller Lists	74%
Consumer Media	68%
Publisher's Catalogs	65%
Wholesaler/Distributer Catalogs	56%
Word of Mouth	54%

Traditionally, it's been difficult for small publishers to get reviewed in the traditional trade magazines like Publisher's Weekly , Library Journal and Booklist, not to mention The New York Times Book Review and other equally prestigious publications. But new review resources are being created in print as well as electronically and that gives a small publisher a new avenue to generate those important reviews and recommendations.

So, take a look at some of these other resources as a way to garner reviews on your titles.

Book Review Sites on the Internet
Midwest Book Review

My favorite one is The Midwest Book Review that specializes in reviewing small press's titles. Founded in 1980 The Midwest Book Review produces "Bookwatch", a weekly television program reviewing books, videos, music, CD-ROMS, and computer software for WYOU-TV, Cable Channel 4, Madison, Wisconsin. They also publish five monthly library newsletters for community and academic library systems in California, Wisconsin and the upper Midwest: The Bookwatch, Children's Bookwatch, Reviewer's Bookwatch, Wisconsin Bookwatch, and Internet Bookwatch.

Besides reaching librarians through their newsletters and web site, The Gale Research Company (a large publisher of reference materials for libraries) publishes these reviews in their Book Review Index interactive CD-ROM series, designed for use by community, university, and corporate libraries nationwide in the U.S. and Canada. The Midwest Book Reviews also appear on Anazon.com.

Publishers can submit finished copies of their books for review when they are published. You are encouraged to include a publicity release and/or media kit, as well as your catalog. Emailing of publicity releases is also encouraged. Send your information to: James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review, 278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI 53575. email:mwbookrevw@aol.com

Independent Book Stores

As more and more bookstores are putting up web sites, you'll find many of them will "review" a book and add this to their content. Take a look at Powells Books and The Tattered Cover where you'll find reviews written by the staff of the bookstore as well as annotated "recommended" lists.

Individuals

There are also numerous individuals who have created book review web sites and who write and post reviews. Here's one called BookIdeas and there are hundreds of reviews at this site.

Librarian's Sites

BookBytes is a site that is maintained by a reviewer for Library Journal. She posts her reviews as well as lists of recommended books. Another librarian at St Ambrose University has posted a web site containing reviews.

Other Sites

To find other book review resources on the Internet, go to the Yahoo directory.

Reviews are critical to selling to libraries and while some reviews are more important than others, getting a librarian to review your book and post it on their web site can give you the credibility you need to sell more books to this market.

Remember, your promotional material (including book jacket) should quote the review and the reviewer's (or publication) name as well as the date the review appeared. If you have a web site, you should list all the reviews for each of your titles. This is the information a librarian will look for as a "second opinion" for purchasing your book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This article was written by Carol Ann Waugh, President of Xcellent Marketing, a marketing and new business development firm specializing in the educational and library market. Xcellent Marketing offers a variety of marketing services to help publishers increase their revenues and profits from identifying new markets, providing critiques of web sites and marketing communications such as direct mail, catalogs, advertisements, etc. as well as developing effective traditional as well as Internet-based marketing plans. Carol can be reached at (303) 388-5215 or at cwaugh@xcellentmarketing.com.

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