I recently learned that libraries usually only buy books that have been reviewed in national publications aimed at the library market. So I’ve decided to research some of these organizations and send them copies of my book to see if I can get some reviews.
I’ve reached out to HistoricalNovelSociety.com, a group that reviews historical fiction books. According to their website they review children’s historical fiction novels but you have to send a request first and they decide, based on your book description, if they want to review it. I actually like that system because it saves time and money from shipping books to organizations who may not be interested in your book. So I look forward to hearing from them. (Update: they responded quickly and said they’d like to receive a digital copy which is great– saves on postage. As a self-published author all the financial burden falls on me to fund my project and it gets pricey after awhile! So any savings are appreciated.)
I’m also sending copies to The Midwest Book Review and The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books for their consideration. We’ll see how it goes.
And speaking of savings, if you ever need to ship books through the mail definitely do it via Media Mail. The shipping rates are much cheaper than first class and priority mail and you even get a tracking number so you can track your shipment. I was actually pleasantly surprised by that.