Facebook --> Google+

I have tried repeatedly to entice my friends and family away from Facebook* and towards Google+. And so I’ve been asked repeatedly: What is Google+ anyway? Why is it better than Facebook? Why should I move, when everyone I know is on Facebook?

So here it is.

What is Google+?

It is yet another social networking tool. This one is somewhere between Twitter and Facebook: it allows updates of unlimited length, but you do not have to be friends with someone to follow their updates. Instead of friending people and then dividing them into groups, you add people to circles, and they can add you back or not—It’s up to them, like with Twitter.

At first glance, circles seem weird and possibly confusing. And yes, it will take you all of five minutes to "get" it. But it turns out they’re a powerful tool for organizing the people you know. I have circles for friends, family, writers, and people I don’t know at all but want to follow. I can load links to my professional blog and allow everyone (“Public”) to see them, and also post a photo of my duvet cover and only allow “Close family” to see it, or possibly only “Old friends.” Someone can belong to more than one circle. For instance, my mom belongs both to my “Friends” and my “Family” circles. I have people in my “Writers” and “Friends” circles, and others who are in “Writers” and “Acquaintances.” That’s a pretty big distinction in my world.

By comparison, I have two Twitter accounts: one that's public, for everyone, and one that's private, for a few close friends. If it weren't so complicated to switch between them I'd have more: one for writers, one for work friends... etc. This is what is accomplished with Google+'s circles. And unlike with Facebook, people don't have to approve of the way you organize them. They aren't even told which circles you’ve put them in. I might have also put my mom into “Nifty ladies” or “Meddlesome adults” and she’ll never know. Muahaha.

Otherwise, it’s very much the same as other social networks. You post updates, links, photos, whatever you want. You see other people’s updates, links, and photos. You don't have to agree to share your information with a new company every time you click an update, so that's nice. And you can choose a circle and only check out their updates. For instance, if you just want to see what your family is up to, click your “Family” circle. There it is.

There are various shortcuts for mentioning & drawing attention to your updates, but I don't use them. There are lists all over the place. There’s also a function to check out updates from your surrounding area, but I haven’t used it. And something called "Hangouts" where you videoconference with whoever you want. Again, I haven't used it, but if you're interested it's not difficult to find more information.

Why is it better than Facebook?

Privacy is a huge part of it. First of all read this post I wrote a while back, or don't read it and believe my summary that Facebook is a privacy nightmare. On Google+, since you decide on your circle definitions, changing privacy settings (a regular Facebook event) mean nothing. If you don’t want someone to see what you say, they won’t see it. Ever. There is a lot I want to share with the world about writing and libraries, but that doesn't mean I want to share my wedding photos, workplace, and home address with every person I'm connected to. Google+ allows for this, whereas on Facebook it's like juggling angry cats.

You can also edit your updates. Those of us who occasionally typo are relieved.

There are Facebook-style games, but they’re stuck in their own tab and updates from people harvesting their Farmville won’t appear unless you actually go over and look. Thank God for that. (I’ve never looked.)

And for those of us who already use Gmail, it’s very easy to see updates. A small number comes up at the top of the page to indicate updates, and looking at them doesn't open a new page. Much nicer than being emailed every time someone you don’t know replies to someone else you sort of know.

Why should I move, when everyone I know is on Facebook?

I agree that it would be simpler to stick with what you know, no matter how broken it is. But Facebook is a massive unwieldy mess of systems do not work happily together. No matter how many times people complain about the complexity of Facebook’s settings, they’ve never been re-hauled to make them simple. It’s like a baby that won’t stop vomiting app updates and policy changes all over your shirt. Why do we put up with this? I’m a well-educated computer-savvy individual and it’s difficult for me to figure out who can see what, and even when I do I realize that it doesn’t work as it should: new systems are constantly undermining the old, so if you friend someone you’d better trust them and all their friends with everything, and if you’re online at all you’d better be okay that Facebook knows it.

Google isn’t much better as far as knowing what you’re up to online. But what does Google do with the information? It gives you little ads along the side of your emails. What does Facebook do? It commandeers your private photos and whores you out to dating sites. Not kidding.

So yes, your Facebook is already all set up and everyone you know is there. But sticking with it for that reason is like standing in a house on fire with all your friends. I know we're all together and such, but honestly—Shouldn't we be somewhere safer, happier, and possibly less painful?

But if you’re asking me specifically why you should move from Facebook to Google+, the reason is that I will not update my Facebook and I rarely check that news feed. Whereas through Google+, you could actually socially network with me. Go figure.

---

* No, I won't link to Facebook. If you don't know how to get there, my work is already done!

A spy in a small town

While considering a new novel-length project, I've started remembering how I became inspired to write my previous novels. In 2005-2006 I wrote a spy thriller. I'd never written about spies before, but looking back I can understand why I did: I'd moved from a city to a very small town.

Most spy thrillers are based in big cities. International cities with hundreds of communities and dead-drops that no one will find. Millions of people who never look each other in the eye from day to day. Different races and religions, and not just a few--pretty much all of them. Public transit that everyone uses. Terrorist threats and politicians to assassinate. Spies (fictional spies, anyway) love big cities.

One of the first things I learned when I moved to my small town was that the locals were determined that their community, too, was extremely international.

I was invited to a house party fairly soon after I arrived. Standing in a kitchen that belonged to a new friend, I was cornered by someone I didn't know. But "not knowing" in this small town was awfully different than it had been in the city.

"You know those boat people?" this woman said.

"Sure." I knew those boat people. People from other countries who arrived at the coast, hoping for a new home. Sometimes they got it. Sometimes they drowned.

"I'm one of those boat people," she said.

"Oh. Really?"

So she was, apparently. She went on to tell me that there were people from everywhere in this town: Canada, the US, Japan, Britain. Everywhere. It was very international and I should be surprised.

It occurred to me that I couldn't check her back story. Not that I was in the habit of doubting everyone I met, but I'd met a lot of people in a short amount of time and it had become very clear that the only thing I'd be remembered for was being New. And I'd be remembered for that for a very long time (years.) I could be a war criminal, a circus clown, a jet pilot, or indeed a spy in hiding and the only thing that mattered was that I was New in a town full of interesting people with interesting stories who were damned well not going to believe that any city was any better than right there, because right there had everything, and everything could be believed.

So I wrote a novel about spies, and unsurprisingly I didn't concentrate on politics and car chases so much as the art of disappearing wherever you were, convincing someone you were someone else, and trying to trust what people claim.

And when I told a few people what I'd written, at least one local asked me if I was indeed a spy in hiding. I said yes. I have no idea if they believed me.

I wonder if I was the only one.

---

Photos: Spying by Anette K and Crowd by Tamara Craiu on flickr

An interview with Icy Sedgwick

It has been a while since I’ve welcomed a fellow writer to this blog. Today I’m pleased as punch to interview Icy Sedgwick, a writer from Northern England who produces some incredible work from steampunk to supernatural. I collaborated with Icy on the Chinese Whisperings and Nothing But Flowers anthologies and nearly every week she produces some of the best gothic short fiction I’ve read for Friday Flash. Icy has just released a novella called The Guns of Retribution.

Today she’s talking about Guns, publication, and possibly getting Nathan Fillion on board for the film adaptation. (Yes, please!)

So, Icy. Tell us about your first publication.

I'd already put out two self-published titles myself but I suppose the stigma surrounding self-publishing still exists, so even though I handled all aspects of publishing myself, I don't really consider them as being "published". It's bad, since I put a lot of effort into editing and cover design, and I made sure I crossed all the self-publishing t's and dotted all of the "DIY" i's, but there you go. By contrast, The Guns of Retribution has been handled by Pulp Press so I consider it my first publication! I wrote it in about three months at the start of 2011 after the publisher asked me to write a story about revenge, in a chosen genre. I opted for a Western and got the idea for the plot straight away. Basically, it's about a young bounty hunter named Grey O'Donnell, who ends up back in his hometown while pursuing a murderer. He comes face to face with an old nemesis and has to dish out some come-uppance.

Tell us about your road to publication: did you find it very easy, very hard, was it as you expected?

Well, Pulp Press approached me and asked me to submit something so I feel like I've skipped a couple of steps. I didn't realise that was even an option - I thought I'd write a book, perfect it, then submit it to an agent and hope they could sell it to a big publisher, but I've completely circumvented that process. I've really enjoyed working with Pulp Press, from working on the manuscript to editing to getting massively excited when I finally saw the cover, so I'd definitely go for independent publication again. A lot of people pooh-pooh self-publishing due to the perceived lack of quality, but an indie publisher will give you that thumbs up that you need to market with real conviction.

Do you have any opinions about ebooks vs. traditional books?

I do like holding a paperback in my hands, and if I drop a book in the bath, it's cheaper to replace than a Kindle, and books don't run out of batteries. People say e-books are more environmentally friendly but considering how sustainable paper is compared to the chemicals and rare minerals that go into e-readers, I'd disagree. Plus, it's easier to browse through a bookstore than it is to flick through pages on Amazon. That said, it's so much easier being able to carry an entire library on a tiny electronic device, the prices can be better, and storage is much easier. For the time being, I prefer to buy fiction electronically, but non-fiction on paper, mainly due to the problems of reproducing illustrations in the existing electronic formats. Essentially though...books are books. Just buy them and enjoy them.

What are you working on now?

The sequel to The Guns of Retribution. I did have a list of other things I wanted to do but Grey's been on at me about doing the next book, so you have to go with what the Muse demands! Things take a more supernatural turn in this one, but the beauty of the Western is you can mix it with lots of genres and it still works.

What's your favourite writing book?

Definitely James Scott Bell's Plot & Structure. It's clear, it's concise, and it's really helpful. Whether you're trying to work out why your novel structure isn't working, or you've hit a brick wall with your existing plot line, there's plenty in the book to help you through. I highly recommend it to anyone who's even just thinking about writing a book.

What's your favourite fiction book or author?

I can't think of a specific book but as far as authors go, I have to name two. Neil Gaiman, and Roald Dahl. I grew up reading Roald Dahl, and I love his books even now. They're just so wildly imaginative, and they're perfect escapism. The man was an absolute genius. As for Gaiman, I first discovered him through The Sandman, which really proved that comics and graphic novels can be as intelligent as "high" literature. Again, he's a storytelling master.

Tell us about your favourite thing you've ever written.

Well I have to say The Guns of Retribution, don't I?! Actually, it was probably the short story, The Midas Box, which is in my Checkmate story collection. Not because I think it's the best thing I ever wrote, but because it was the first story I ever had accepted for publication.

Give us a DO and a DO NOT for aspiring writers.

Do read all you can. Ask questions. Seek out knowledge. And write your backside off - the more you do it, the better you'll get.

Do not assume that because your spouse or your mother loves your work that you know what you're doing. Seek the opinion of a seasoned editor, or trusted beta readers. Don't shy away from criticism - it'll bruise your ego but if you pay attention, you'll be a better writer in the long run.

Who is your favourite character in Guns?

I love the hell out of Grey, my protagonist, but I think my favourite character is probably Madeline, the femme fatale. She's just such an evil cow - she was a lot of fun to write! I think in some ways it's harder to write a villain because they have to have some kind of plausible motivation to behave the way that they do, but at the same time you don't want that motivation to inadvertently make them a sympathetic character, or worse, to turn them into a cliche. It's tough to strike that balance between wanting your reader to actively want to hate the villain, but also wanting them to understand why the character acts that way.

I know part of the reason I love The Guns of Retribution was because you did excellent research on the old west. But we all cheat now and then. Is there anything in the story you completely made up, even knowing it was probably inaccurate?

Well there is a scene that involves a gun shot and a rope, and I included that even though the TV show Mythbusters proved you probably couldn't shoot through a rope. I put it in anyway because I think it's cool. I also completely made up the geography of the land in and around Retribution because I couldn't find an existing town on Google Earth that matched the landscape in my head!

If it was made into a film, who would you like to play Grey O'Donnell?

I'd ideally want Nathan Fillion, but he's a bit too old since Grey is only 26 and the lovely Nathan is 40. Henry Cavill would be another good one as he's the right age and he knows how to act but he's gone off to be Superman now. I suppose casting would give me a nice opportunity to look at lots of nice-looking young men.

And a bonus question: Tell me about your local public library!

I haven't been to the public library nearest where I live since it moved location, but we've got a fantastic new public library in the City Centre! It's all glass and exposed steel, with new computer areas alongside the book aisles. You walk in and it's quiet, yet has this real sort of buzz going. The people who are there really want to be there, and the excitement in the genealogy section is amazing.

Thank you very much, Icy. And now I need to trek North to take a look at that great library.

Look at this gorgeous cover. It makes me think of an old paperback well-read and comfortable in my favourite book bag. The kind of book you’d write in the margins because you like it so much. Guns has been released as an ebook available at Amazon US and Amazon UK and will soon be released as a paperback. Icy is currently posting a great series about writing the novella on her blog.

Affirming a goal

I've spent the last year concentrating on short fiction. It has paid off. I'm happy with the stories I've produced, the publications and feedback from readers. But I looked at my writing notebook yesterday, at the date by my notes for the last full-length novel I wrote, and realized: it says July 2010.

There was a time in my writing life when I said I wouldn't be bothered with short fiction because my ultimate goal was to publish a novel. This decision was supported by discussions with other writers where we talked about how the publishing world was changing. We agreed that although writers used to have to rack up short story publications before someone would look at their longer fiction, now it's as difficult for anyone to be picked up, and to heck with endeavours that took so much time and energy away from your goal.

But the internet is changing the publishing world again (or: still.) Whether or not previous publications help a writer sell their book, it's now much easier to work on short fiction. It's easier to get feedback from a large number of readers, easier to research markets, and easier to submit to magazines and contests. So I did. And as I said, I'm happy with the results.

There's also the small fact that I kind of fell for short fiction. I always knew I liked it, adored Stephen King and Kurt Vonnegut's tiny masterpieces, but never considered that I could contribute. Now that I've tried, and practiced, and produced some stories I approve of, I admit I'm smitten. It is not an easy and disposable form of fiction. It might be easier now to submit, but not to write and edit the stories. It's a difficult art, tricky and immensely satisfying.

But my first love remains: my novels. And July 2010 feels like a long time ago.

It's time to get to work.

---

Fat cat with a thick book by Lehva on flickr

Friday Flash: "Top This"

"Top This"

by Jen Brubacher

“Open the door.”

“I can’t.”

“The dog is out there! Open the bloody door.”

“I can’t! The computer is rebooting!”

Dottie stared out the porthole at the craggy red landscape. Mars’s atmosphere was kept out of their front garden by a forcefield that showed only in a foggy drift here and there as dust kicked up outside. Not that it was much of a garden: the grass was more yellow than green, and the line of butterfly bushes along the walkway had sagged, obviously unimpressed with their relocation to an alien world.

The dog was sniffing at the forcefield. Huffed breaths fogged the tenuous separation between it and the deadly situation beyond.

“I don’t want him out there for much longer,” Dottie warned.

“I told you, I can’t open the door while the computer is rebooting. If it was a better system, maybe…”

“Better? It’s beyond anything on Earth!”

“Aha.” Walt looked up from his desk with a glint in his eye Dottie knew promised nothing good. “That’s true. But we’re not on Earth, are we Dottie? Are we?”

“No.” She crossed her arms.

“Of course not. We’re on Mars. And of course the computer system is beyond anything on Earth, because we’re not meant to be on Mars, are we Dottie? Are we?”

“No.” She rolled her eyes.

“If you’d listened to me. If you’d just stopped for one minute before blurting out the first thing that came to mind…”

Dottie couldn’t stop herself. “Oh ho! If I’d listened to you? I did listen to you! I listened while you made our first wish, and where did that get us?”

They both glanced back through the porthole where the dog was pawing at the forcefield, creating tall grey cracks of electricity that lit its dark fur. Its dark, matted fur, filthy with mud.

It turned as if it could hear them arguing and let out a noise.

“Awwwoooeeerrrgh.”

“Zombie dog,” Dottie said triumphantly. “By the way, does it sound hungry to you?”

“I love that dog,” Walt muttered.

“You loved that dog when it was alive thirty years ago. I’m just amazed we didn’t end up with a skeleton and nothing else.”

“I made sure we wouldn’t.”

“Yes, that was very clever. Don’t just resurrect some skeleton, you said, and voila: zombie dog. Brilliant job, Walt.”

“I can’t believe you’re angry about that when you’re the one who actually got us stuck on Mars.”

Dottie shut up.

“There,” Walt said eventually. “The computer is done now. Whatever it was doing. You can let him in.”

Dottie peeked out the window. The dog’s white eyes stared up at her. Strings of saliva trailed in red dust. A maggot crawled out of its right nostril and dropped to the ground.

“Never mind, I think it’s okay now. Don’t forget, we have one more wish to decide on.”

“But how will we ever top this?” Walt gestured at the house. The trip out of Earth’s atmosphere had cracked a lot of the plaster but it hadn’t fallen down, giving the walls a spiderwebbed appearance. The modest chandelier over the dining table was crooked as if it might drop at any moment. And, of course, all the windows had vanished apart from that one circular viewport through the newly-installed steel door.

“I guess we could—”

“We could wish that we never had any of these wishes.”

“Oh that is just so amazingly dull,” Dottie said. “That’s what it wants, I’m sure. What a waste.”

“Fine then. You pick one. But!” Walt held up a hand. “Tell me before you wish!”

Dottie thought. She thought very, very hard. More than anything in the world Walt had missed that dog of his, and that wish had gone poorly. She had always dreamed of living on Mars, and that had gone—Well, that had gone just as badly. What next? What could they ask for that wouldn’t turn into a disaster?

Really, the disaster hadn’t started until the genie’s lamp had arrived in their lives. Fifty years of marriage hadn’t given her more than a day or two of regret. She looked at Walt and remembered that first time he’d asked her to dance, at the spring village festival. She remembered their wedding and their escape in the old Ford for a honeymoon where she found out she’d married a man who was both kinder and more exciting than she’d realized from their short courtship. Every year they’d had an adventure of some kind, not provided by a genie but by their own imaginations, whether it was driving from John O’Groats to Land’s End or competing to see who could read War & Peace the quickest. She could think of nothing the genie could give that would top her life with Walt.

“I’ve got it,” she said. She was almost teary with the idea.

Walt frowned.

“Really,” she said. “I know what we should wish for.”

She gazed into her beloved husband’s eyes.

Walt scowled. “What? And please don’t say eternal life. I don’t want to live on Mars forever with a zombie dog. And please don’t say eternal wishes. Look how much trouble we got into with just three. And please don’t—”

In a moment Dottie had grasped the genie’s lamp where it had tipped over on the hearth. As Walt’s eyes widened she said, “Genie, I wish we could live our lives all over again.”

She saw a peculiar look on her husband’s face. She wondered if he was impressed, and then heard a great crunching from outside their house.

“Sweetheart,” Walt said. “That’s really nice…”

More crunching. And were those voices?

Dottie was distracted as she realized that Walt was becoming younger before her eyes.

“It’s working!” she said.

Walt was in his teens now. His voice squeaked as he said, “Yes. It’s just that I wonder if you should have specified where.”

There was an extra loud crash as the rest of London arrived on Mars.

---

Photo: Mars, once by Kevin Dooley on flickr

Jen's Guide, Part 5: Librarians

Jen's Guide
to Getting Your Book
Into Your Library, Part 5

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four




One last thing to say before I retire this guide.

On the Subject of Librarians

Librarians are not scary creatures. They’re also not a lot of other things: public relations experts, volunteers, literary agents, and disinterested, to name a few. There are diplomas and certificates someone can study to work in libraries, and if they want to work in a professional capacity they’ve likely gone so far as to study their Masters in Library & Information Studies (known as MLIS in most places.) This takes time, energy, money, and commitment—like any academic profession.

So librarians are academics. And since nobody becomes a librarian for the amazing salary, it’s a good bet that they’re also personally interested in their library and the whole idea of library service.

Some countries are doing strange things to their librarians. Where I am, for instance, they’re being squirreled away in offices, hidden from view, so nobody on the front lines of the library service is guaranteed to be an accredited librarian. I find this bewildering, but so it goes. This is why you might have to dig a bit to find the person who will decide the fate of your book, as I mentioned.

When you do, it will be good for you to keep in mind that librarians are academic professionals. This means they aren’t the stereotype of the bureaucrat that you need to battle to get to Point B, and they aren’t like agents or publishers, either. As authors we’re used to having to sell ourselves and our work to move forward, but librarians don’t want to hear an elevator pitch or the story of your life. They’d like to know why your book fits in the collection. That's it. Approach and treat them with the same respect you’d give any human professional and you’ll likely do well.

For example,

Good: "Hi, my name is Jen Brubacher, and I'm an author with a Mystery novel I think would suit the collection here. What do you think?" (At this point you can let the librarian talk.)

Bad: "Have I got a deal for you!" (Launch into your 3 page synopsis. If the librarian tries to interrupt, hold up an index finger. They'll thank you later.)

Why does this seemingly obvious point need a post all its own? Because it is not, apparently, obvious. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding library work, and it doesn't help that libraries are changing as much as the technical and information worlds are changing. Even the fact that they’re places where books belong isn’t safe from debate. Of those people with opinions about library service there are as many who want to see them book-free internet cafes as there are those who want computers kicked out of the stacks and anyone with food or drink to be barred for life.

It also deserves a post here, on my blog, because I am a librarian and I want to make it clear how I feel about the idea of someone approaching a library to get their book on the shelf: I love the idea. I think it makes sense in every way possible, and I want to ensure that everyone involved, from author to librarian, has the best chance of understanding what’s going on so the right thing happens—whatever that thing turns out to be.

That's it, that's all. Thanks for reading. I hope it's been useful.

Find the whole guide here.

Jen's Guide, Part 4: Ebooks

Jen's Guide
to Getting Your Book
Into Your Library, Part 4

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3


There are two elements of getting your book into your library I’d still like to cover. One of them was brought up in a previous comment by Tim VanSant, and that is the subject of ebook donations. The other is the issue of how to speak to a librarian, the person who is going to decide if your book should be in the collection. I’m going to tackle the ebook subject first because it is a fierce and complicated bag of cats.

Ebooks

Libraries and technology are inseparable from each other, just like entertainment and information are inseparable from technology, because libraries are all about entertainment and information–whether their collection contains scans of old photographs of Vancouver or the brand new Harry Potter ebooks.

So, are libraries more open to receiving donations of ebooks than hard copies? You'd think yes. The trouble arises because of publishers and ebook management systems.

The very fact that ebooks don’t degrade like regular books is what makes publishers so very nervous about the whole ebook thing. It’s what inspired HarperCollins to offer libraries a ridiculous deal: they can buy their ebooks, but each sale only works for 26 loans and then it expires. So 26 people can borrow the book–they don't even have to read it, just borrow it–and then it’s as if the ebook has degraded beyond use and the library must buy it again.

Have you ever borrowed a library book you didn't read? Or ever read a book you didn't destroy? Probably.

One library visually demonstrated the stupidity of such a policy, showing real books in their collection that had been loaned 26 times and how degraded they actually were. They also show real books that have been read many, many more times than that and are inexplicably still useful. It’s worth watching:




Then again, it could be worse. Some publishers do not allow their ebooks to be circulated in libraries at all. The idea that they could last forever or be pirated is just too much to bear. Until these publishers relax, their books will never be in libraries. And if you were to try to donate a book that was published by someone else, anyone else, the library could not accept it even if you wrote it, unless you had put the proper copyrights in place that allowed the library to use and loan it freely. I’m not a copyright expert and I don’t know how you’d do that with a book published by someone other than yourself.

Focussing directly on your own privately-published ebook that you have no qualms about donating, could you give it to a library? The answer is maybe. It depends on the ebook management system.

Some libraries receive a lot of their stock through a subscription service that supplies popular new titles. In the case of ebooks, some libraries subscribe to a service that uploads all their ebooks directly, never touched by in-house librarians. In this case the library could not accept your book because it would have no way to access its ebook database. As you might guess, I think this is incredibly lame. As you might have also extrapolated, if we replace all librarians with volunteers they're all going to work this way and all our library collections will be incredibly lame. Just a thought for those of you who love the Big Society.

It’s not all libraries yet, though. Many libraries choose and upload their own ebooks and in this case, offering your own ebook, they would be able to accept it without worrying about degradation. And then it’s just a case of convincing the librarian it belongs in the collection.

Clearly it’s a complicated issue. Ebooks are still trickling into a lot of people’s consciousness and not everyone is comfortable with the idea, not even some librarians. Still, if you’re interested in donating it’s worth a try. You might be the first author to offer, opening up your library to possibilities they hadn't considered. If you do, please come back and tell us how it went.

Next time: librarians.

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Photo: Library Catalog, NoveList, Download Station by Skokie Public Library on flickr

Jen's Guide, Part 3: Who to talk to?

Jen’s Guide
to Getting Your Book
Into Your Library, Part 3

Part One
Part Two



We’ve covered how important Collection Management is in deciding if your book is right for a library collection. Now we’re going to examine how to approach a real life librarian in the wild.

Luckily, librarians aren’t skittish. We’re also not always glasses-wearing geeky girls with our hair in a bun and a surprisingly active sex life (though in my case... ahem.) Most importantly, we’re used to evaluating books to decide if they’re right for our collection, so you aren’t going to horrify us by asking.

The thing is, though, that I’m talking about librarians--and a certain type of librarian, too. To understand what I mean we will briefly examine

Library Hierarchy

Many people work in libraries. In my current library we have customer services assistants, library assistants, volunteers, customer service managers, local studies librarians, reference librarians, porters, administrators, temporary workers, careers advisors, stock and audience development librarians, systems officers, internet content librarians, business performance managers, building assistants, IT assistants, drivers, home service librarians, head librarians, assistant head librarians, acquisitions librarians, building support assistants… er, you probably get the idea.

This is a big library, but whatever the size of the place there are going to be people who have absolutely nothing to do with deciding on stock. I would never recommend just dropping off your book with the hopes that the correct person will find it and recognize its merits.

There are three routes you can try for approaching your librarian to offer your book.

First, you can walk up to the person you see at the front counter and thrust your own book at them and tell them to consider it. Let me know how that works out for you.

Second, you can walk up to the person you see at the front counter and ask them who you need to speak with to offer your book for consideration. This might seem like a slightly better idea than the last one.

And third, you can examine the library website or leaflet and find the information phone line or email address and either call or email to find out where to offer your book. At first glance this seems like an even better idea than the second, but it depends on the size of your library and your own comfort levels, as well as how much you believe they'll return your emails and phone calls.*

I recommend Door #2. Although you might end up talking to a volunteer who has no more idea of the library hierarchy than you do, at least then you'll know your library has volunteers. If you can be patient, it's worth speaking politely to the person on the front line as if they have no reason not to answer your questions. Eventually you can target the correct person with your elevator pitch, your snazzy catalogue, or the book itself in your hand—whichever you decide (I'm not going to pretend I'm a marketing guru, though stayed tuned for a post about how to speak to a librarian when you've gotten that far.)

If you can't be polite, I suggest email.

The other day I was approached by a man who wanted to give a talk about his book. It's not a book that we had in stock, but he was going to sell it, too. He wanted us to schedule him for a lecture there in the library. I told him I didn't schedule our events but I could give him the contact information for the people who could. He was fairly offended, and wanted to show me where his book would fit on our shelves. When it became obvious that I wasn't going to schedule him right there, he said, "So this is the number one scientific breakthrough in religion of our age, and you're just going to turn it away?"

Yes, yes I was. Alas. There are some things even blind pushiness can't accomplish.

Beyond this, I often open the mail to find a book donated from an author. It usually comes with a polite letter of introduction and the same kind of pitch they'd give to an agent or publisher. And it rarely ends up catalogued. There's nothing wrong with sending your book in that way, hoping it ends up on the right desk and under a sympathetic eye, but I can't help thinking that a little bit of research would have saved them the cost of that book. My library has a very strict collection policy for donations of any kind: we will only accept those that are locally relevant. I've even tried to bend this by arguing for the relevance of this or that one-of-a-kind item, but I've failed. And if I've failed, working within the system, imagine your chances if you haven't even checked if your book would fit.

My guess is you've spent a bit of time on your work, so give it the best chance it has within this system by doing your research and showing the right people.

Next time: ebooks.

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* Please note that this advice is for individuals with a book or two to offer, not for small (or large) publishers with a whole line to offer.

Photo: A busy office by hku rbr on flickr

Write Anything: "Choosing your Table"

The theme at WriteAnything this month is "genre." I've written about my first experience at the Surrey International Writers' Conference, trying to choose a table at the Genre Lunch, and receiving a bit of wisdom from Thomas Perry.

You can read it right here.

Jen's Guide, Part 2: Book Darwinism

Jen’s Guide
to Getting Your Book
Into Your Library, Part Two

Part One




Today we’re branching out (Library humour! Ha ha) and exploring how to get your book into more than just your local library. First we must ensure that your book is tough enough to survive, and I don't mean with a strong plot and thorny issues. We have to look at another aspect of Collection Management called:

Conservation and Preservation

This ensures that a collection continues to be useful and does not succumb to rips, mould, page loss, digital degradation, deletion... whatever.

These are things that librarians do not like:

• Folding over pages so the corners fall off.
• Reading in the bathtub so books get damp.
• Setting books pages-down and open so the spine is cracked.
• Writing in library books:
  
  • With pencil, so we have to have to go through and erase everything.
  • With pen, so no one else can read the book without also reading your comments on the text.
• Eating greasy, crumby, or sticky food while reading.
• Drinking sticky, stinky, or staining drinks while reading.
• Storing books on the floor so they get stepped on.
• Cutting out photos or notable paragraphs.
• Using books as a shelf for something, eg. your hamster.
• Giving books to your dog to chew.
• Giving books to your baby to chew—unless it’s a baby book, then go wild!
• Dank basement storage areas.
• Electromagnetic pulses (Bloody supervillains.)
• Lighting books on fire, generally.

For more interesting ways to torture your librarian, and examples of the same, see this site by the Cambridge University Library: Marginalia and Other Crimes.

All these things steadily destroy a collection no matter how hard librarians try to keep it healthy. Next time your librarian scowls at you because you brought a book back damp, try to remember that you probably aren’t the first one that day, and that you aren’t just slightly dampening a book but also possibly stopping several other people—or several dozen others—from reading that book in the future. You aren’t just wrinkling a page, you’re inviting mould to grow. Mould will spread very quickly through the stacks, so the book has to be discarded before this happens. And due to library budgets, books can’t always be reordered. If it’s raining or snowing, think of every book like it's your most valued book. Put it in a plastic bag!

I bring up Conservation and Preservation because if you’ve published your book yourself you need to be aware of how well your book will fit into a real working library collection, eg. how well it will stand up to everything I've just listed. Because as wonderful as readers are, they're also evil creatures that will treat your book like adamantium trash. It’s your book, your treasured story, but a librarian may take one look at the state of it and decide it won’t survive the first person who checks it out. It isn’t personal.

This seems like common sense, but let's be honest with each other. If there's one thing writers can lack when it comes to their own stuff, it's common sense. I've been given beautiful chapbooks by writers who have spent a meditative day on each chapter, written it out free-hand with their own blood on the hide of their most precious pet goat and sewn it together with their lover's eyelashes (I'm starting to exaggerate, all right, but some chapbooks are nearly this) and they do not understand why I've told them we can't take it. It's even worse when they've paid someone their life savings to print their book professionally and it's just as poorly bound with bubble gum glue, ready to split and lose pages the first time a reader cracks it open.

If you’ve taken a look at your book and decided it’s sturdy enough for library life, congratulations! Now you just need to convince every librarian that it should be in their library. Next time we’ll examine the best way to do this without causing them to recoil and stab the security button on the desk.

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Photo by Gunnar Wrobel on flickr

Jen's Guide, Part 1: Collection Management

As a unique* combination of librarian and writer, I am often asked, “Jen! You have an inside perspective of libraries and I am a published/self-published author. How can I get my books into a library?”

To satisfy the demand for an answer to this question, I present the following.

Jen’s Guide
to Getting Your Book
Into Your Library






It’s understandable that you want your book in your library. It is your book, after all, and as a bright young thing you probably spent hours in your public library reading wonderful things in wonderful books that inspired you to write your own. Of course it should come full circle.

There are a few things you need to know before you rush to your local branch. First of all, whatever David Cameron might think, libraries are not (and should not be) run by volunteers. One of the thousand reasons for this is called:

Collection Management

This is a branch of librarianship centred around deciding what material is kept by the library, including newspapers and magazines, textbooks and fiction, online databases and your own masterpiece. Collection Management is something librarians study to ensure that they’re creating the best library collection for their specific patrons. Since not all neighbourhoods are equal, not all collections can be identical. For instance, users of the Vancouver Public Library will have different demands on their library collection than users of the British Columbia Law Association, let alone users of the Kenya National Library Services. Even within those communities, Collection Management must balance the needs of the healthy and wealthy with the disadvantaged and mentally challenged. It must cater to all ages, all interests, and reading levels from illiterate to genius. And regardless of a librarian’s personal opinions, we must cater to everyone from open-minded gay vegetarian anarchists to close-minded black-hearted asshole Conservatives.

Oh, and within budget.

It is not a simple thing, Collection Management. If you’re curious about how your library chooses its collection, you could ask them for a copy of their Collection Management Policy. It might go under a different name, but the question “How do you choose your stock?” is not unusual.

Regardless of all this, variety is a good thing. You wouldn’t want all collections to be equal because libraries do not have infinite storage space and we’d have to decide on Plato’s Ideal Collection, leaving all other books out forever. Your book would probably not make the cut. Neither would most books ever published.

So now that you have some understanding of Collection Management, you may still believe there is no way your library would not want your book. It’s absolutely relevant to your neighbourhood’s interests, after all, because it was penned by a local author. You have a great point! Most public libraries I know will happily consider and often include a book that was written by a local author. If it’s a small community you have a particularly good chance, and in a large city library there’s still a better-than-average chance of consideration—though keep in mind that in a large city you won’t be the only author offering a free book. If you come from Writerville and your library is in danger of overwhelming their collection with local authors, please be understanding.

But wait. You still need to know how to approach your library with your book. And maybe this isn’t your only goal. Maybe instead of one book in one local library, you’re aiming higher. You want your books in more than one library. Maybe you want it in ALL THE LIBRARIES. And your argument about a local author in a local library just blew away on a busy wind. Pffft.

All is not lost. You still have as much of a chance of getting your book into all libraries as anyone else in the world.

You can take that statement any way you’d like.

So in this case, what to do? And even if you were aiming for just the one library, how to proceed?

Stay tuned.

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* Ha ha, no.

Photo: Library books by CCAC North Library on flickr