July 18, 2024
Topic: Local Authors & book events
Attendees:
Shannon, Hoover
Samm, Hoover
Loretta, BPL
Cara, Ctr Pt
Bridget, Homewood
Connie, Wylam
Tamara, Irondale
Lora, VH
Laura, BPL
Weston, BPL
PJessie
Saundra
Tywanna
Timilcir
Who did I miss?
NEXT ASRT SESSION: IN PERSON at O'Neal Library on Sept 19th at 10 am: ADULT PROGRAM SWAP!
View the recording: https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/JsQuwm-Abyt8iz1OiHJV5CHH6oKtlFoRTIvDv4svONq6z6IYr4O0UN0e604_OCdy.9gcmHAHryLLQi4uY
JCPLA Staff Day preparation for August 30: 2 sessions on book repair, discussion on adult summer reading and special collections Q & A, plus much more! ALLA will be there to talk about administrative code changes and how they will effect libraries.
Local Authors: In doing research, most of the "advice" out there is geared towards authors and how to get their books into the public library and how to get libraries to do book events.
Shannon: My experience at Hoover is that local authors don't attract that much of an audience, unless they come with a build-in support group. Hoover has developed an author submission page where people can submit their book for consideration. Here's a link to that page: https://www.hooverlibrary.org/author-submission.
BPL doesn't have a form, but they do have a page that addresses the libraries policies: http://www.cobpl.org/resources/marketing.aspx
Loretta: BPL Central has its own local author collection (read about it here: https://bplolinenews.blogspot.com/2022/07/birmingham-public-library-introduces.html ) Not sure how circulation is but it gets great exposure and is great for support.
Hoover (Samm) has a very active writers group (Write Club) that meets monthly and a temporary display of books that have been published by those members was up in the Fiction Dept. The group has author talks, a "Flash Fiction" event and more. Feel free to email her at samm.hamilton@hooverlibrary.org for more information if you are interested in starting your own local writers group.
From Samm's perspective, the reason they donated their books is because it's easier to distribute through Amazon or BookBaby than it is through Ingram. Ingram doesn't pay small players a fair share. Local books also might take more time to manually catalog because they don't appear with MARC records. Local authors may not have the money to devote to cover design (AI is changing that though.) and we all know how important cover design is for circulation!
Loretta: Famous authors have to start somewhere! Promote the local authors before they become famous! A local authors collection is great for the community and the library is concerned about them. The local authors expo is great for people to see the works, purchase the works, and they donate books to the collection. If you want more specific information about the Local Author Expo, contact Loretta at Loretta.Jones@cobpl.org. The space at BPL first floor lends itself well to about 50 authors in one place. That's been the cutoff point so far.
Bridget: Local authors that walk in off the streets don't understand the process and how much time it takes to get a book into the collection. They won't donate the books, but want us to purchase them online. It takes us educating them on how the process works. It's not just an automatic thing to schedule a book talk. We also have to be nonpartisan and not show favoritism if the book is at all controversial. How do you highlight the books but not show favoritism? Does anyone out there get criticism for particular books highlighted?
Do we deal with speakers fees? The local authors expo charges the authors a fee ranging from $25 to $50. Authors need to understand that we can only do so much for a small event. We can't guarantee an audience or that people will purchase books either. It's great when local officials come to an event to support the library and authors. Besides exposure, the local authors gain experience in public speaking and promotion. Also, we don't give a speakers fee but if they sell books, that is all for them.
Local authors that draw a crowd: Robert Bailey (legal thrillers), Katherine Clark, Patti Callahan Henry, Ginny Duncan (Romantafantasy), Rachel Hawkins, Bobby Matthews (mystery writer up for an Anthony Award), Lauren Denton, Charles Ghigna (children's author), Joi Miner ("America's next great author"), Vallean Jackson, Jay Owens (very popular & sold lots of books), Zelma Glover-Willis, Micki Janae (YA scifi), LaDarrion Williams (https://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/2024/06/03/helena-native-becomes-new-york-times-bestselling-author/), Dr. R. Scot Duncan (Director at Alabama Audubon and published his 2nd book about AL rivers), Tina and James Braziel (Glass Cabin, poetry/essays), Vanessa Davis-Griggs and Joi Miner were "headliners" for the BPL Expo.
Loretta: 2023 BPL Local Author Expo author list: http://www.cobpl.org/programs/localauthors.aspx There is a committee that decides fees and more about the expo. The event goes from 10 am to 2 pm, with setup at 9 am. The authors invite their own audience and it is very well attended. Planning starts about 3 months in advance. There is a committee for attendance, food (light breakfast), gifts, name tags, greeters and table setup. Authors contact the library year round and authors work with EventBrite - they will send out information about attendance. "Local" for BPL means Alabama. Most authors are actually closer to Birmingham. Invitations are sent out in October; event is in November. PR Dept does publicity, including on Facebook a "local author spotlight". (Every library can do a local author spotlight on social media to promote local talent.)
Local author with a specific expertise, like Dr. R. Scot Duncan, do a program on that expertise and the author can sell the book there. I did his program on Alabama Rivers and had great attendance. AL Audubon is paying Dr. Duncan to do book talks around the state. Easy peasy! Academic books might fall into this category or may pose a unique challenge.
Bridget: Come on down!! July 23rd, Mildred J. Mills, at Homewood Public, will talk about her memoir about growing up in Alabama.
If you are curious about a comprehensive list of Alabama authors
Other information:
https://bhamnow.com/2023/12/19/6-local-authors-birmingham-book-world/
https://bhamnow.com/2021/02/01/read-local-support-these-published-birmingham-authors/
https://birminghammomcollective.com/home-and-lifestyle/birmingham-authors-you-need-to-read/
Alabama Authors and their works:
http://www.lib.ua.edu/Alabama_Authors/
ALLA Authors Awards Committee: (pdf of AL award winners)
https://www.allanet.org/authors-awards
