Against the Grain
Volume 25 | Issue 3 Article 14
June 2013 Small Press and Self-Published Books: A Collection Development Dilemma Matt aP cer Capital Area District Libraries, [email protected]
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Recommended Citation Pacer, Matt (2013) S" mall Press and Self-Published Books: A Collection Development Dilemma," Against the Grain: Vol. 25: Iss. 3, Article 14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7771/2380-176X.6521
This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. Small Press and Self-Published Books: A Collection Development Dilemma by Matt Pacer (Technology Librarian, Capital Area District Libraries, Downtown Branch)
ecause of their sheer numbers, it is Up, published. After a year of no success, merely leveled the playing field for writers by increasingly difficult to make informed she let her agent go and thoroughly reedited minimizing the publishers’ role as gate keepers collection decisions regarding small her book that she then self-published. She to the publishing world. B 1 press and self-published books regardless of also used social media to publicize heavily In the article, “Changing the Way Books format. The collection development process her book, which has since sold over 4,000 Are Found, Acquired, and Published,” Janet had remained static for selectors and collection copies. Linda views self-publishing as a way Spavlick (2012) shows that eBooks offer au- development librarians during the last several to let the book stand on its own merits rather thors an easy way to get published since there decades. They mostly continue to use the well than riding on a publisher’s coat-tails by using is a very low cost to publish them. Also, the tread review sources such as Library Journal, their financial backing and marketing plan author gets a larger portion of the royalties Kirkus, America Libraries, and many others to (Murphy, 2013, p45). Selling over 4000 copies and can reach a wider audience as ereaders make informed decisions. As new information of a book may seem small; but, to a and tablets become more prevalent. portals became available through the Internet, previously unpublished author, it eBooks also offer a way librarians adapted well. For example, vendor is a significant achievement. for authors to write sites such as Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Follet, The question about how for niche markets and others aggregated reviews in one location libraries find these that large publishing for librarians. Publisher and author websites books still remains. houses overlook. An provide even more information about books or Three authors interesting point the series. Librarians can also locate reviews and (John Locke, Aman- author discusses is best seller lists from newspapers, TV, and the da Hocking, and the contest hosted by Internet. All this information made the collec- E.L. James) found Apostrophe Books. tion decision process quicker and much easier. success in self-pub- In the contest, read- Even with all these available informational lishing. Fan fiction ers rate a book chap- resources, it is increasingly difficult to make sites, social media, ter. The winner is informed collection decisions regarding small and old fashioned awarded a book con- press and self-published books, regardless of word of mouth created tract, and Apostrophe format, because of their sheer numbers. sales. The key for them was that, after they publishes the book in different electronic for- In this essay, I will present an overview of successfully self-published a book, a large pub- mats (Spavlick, 2012, p6-10). The contest is a the current literature. Then I will summarize lishing house discovered them. The publisher novel idea and takes advantage of social media what libraries are currently doing to address put marketing and financial support behind by letting the readership decide the merits of a the explosion of small press and self-published the author that led to even more financial and book. A second consequence is that the contest books. My goal is to provide libraries with publishing success (Deahl, 2012, p5). creates a ready-made customer base. some steps to take when making collection Each of the three authors mentioned above Publishing houses do not have the luxury development decisions regarding these items. used the Internet to extend their audience. The of gambling on authors. They put money up- Literature Review old process of word of mouth is no longer a front into publishing and advertising that forces The current literature on the topic of col- local phenomenon that focuses on family and them to seek large franchises or best sellers. lection development and how libraries treat friends. The reach of the Internet spans the In the same way as authors have easy access small press and self-published books is scant. globe and creates a large customer base. The to publishing technology, librarians need to Most of the specific information that is out author no longer has to rely on the publishing expand their collection development activities there comes from Collection Development house. A Website, fan fiction sites, and social beyond the traditional sources. Librarians need Policies (CDPs) and procedures. This lack of media can take a book viral very fast. The key to embrace the digital culture. What I mean by information made it extremely difficult to dis- to the book’s success falls solely on its own digital culture is not simply finding traditional cern where the profession is moving. There is merits. A good well-written story and other reviews in digital formats from vendors or a substantive hole in the literature that requires positive qualities will make the book “in-de- websites but utilizing other social media tools. further research, especially in light of the mand,” perhaps catching the attention of large Social media tools such as Facebook, continued growth of self-published books. To publishing houses. LinkedIn, Pintrest, Twitter, YouTube, fan compensate for the lack of research, I expanded The literatures states that self-publishing is fiction sites, and others offer channels where the literature review to cover the broader topic a far easier process now than it ever has been. library users can identify writers and topics. of self-publishing and small presses. It is not There are many companies to choose from to Librarians need to incorporate the rating meant to be an exhaustive review. Much of help the author self-publish. Each company systems used by these tools when making this literature is from either the author’s or provides many different services in an à la carte collection development decisions. Likes, re- the publisher’s viewpoint. This expanded fashion regardless of format. These companies tweets, and comments may not be professional literature review is important since it provides include LuLu, Bookbaby, Kobo, and Amazon reviews; but they do show interest in authors. a window into how the publishing industry is (Hageman, 2012, p29). Our patrons use these tools, and so libraries responding to the growth of self-publishing and An old argument still exists that such com- must be there too. Libraries should maintain how and why authors are using self-publishing panies are more like vanity presses, but this accounts on several of these sites, particularly technologies. By understanding these two argument is losing validity. I would suggest Goodreads and LibraryThing. 50 Shades of viewpoints, libraries can develop better CDPs that all authors have some vanity by wanting Gray was a successful self-published book that address self-published books. their word to be in print and read by a large before it went mainstream. To stay relevant, Much of the literature focuses on an au- audience. Regardless of the press, this does not libraries need to find those titles and authors. thor’s inability to find a publisher for his or necessarily diminish quality. As Deahl (2012) Rosen’s (2013) “Author Turns to Self-Pub- her book. In Murphy’s (2013) article “Look- pointed out, publishers will seek out popular lishing” shows how important small press ing Onward and Upward,” the author Linda books when they realize they can increase and self-published books will be in the future. Pressman struggles to get her book, Looking their profits (Deahl, 2012, p5). Technology continued on page 34
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