Love Inspired at the Library

My name is Keli Gwyn, and I love libraries. I have a hunch I'm not alone.

Since the author copies of my first Love Inspired Historical, Family of Her Dreams, arrived recently, I'm busy thinking of ways to spread the word about my story.

Promotion can be fun, especially when it involves giving away copies to eager readers. (Heads up! I'll be offering an autographed print copy two different times next month when I post here at Love Inspired Authors.)

Since Family of Her Dreams is set here in California's Gold Country where I live, I'm sure local folks would find it interesting. But how can I get the book into their hands?

I asked myself where avid readers hang out. The answer was easy: at the library.

When my debut novel released, our local library was happy to add copies of my book to their shelves. A Bride Opens Shop in El Dorado, California was a full-size trade paperback, so they had no trouble accepting it. I wasn't sure if they would accept copies of my LIH, though.

Having learned that it doesn't hurt to ask, I marched into the library with a copy of my shiny new book in hand. I asked the librarian who oversees their author events if they would shelve copies if I were to donate them.

To my surprise, the answer was yes! It turns out they have a new section just for the smaller mass-market paperbacks. Of course I had to visit the section and see if I could spot any Love Inspired titles

Sure enough I did! Sherri Shackleford's August 2014 release, The Cattleman Meets His Match, was on the shelf. There are several more Love Inspired titles in the collection, but they were all checked out.

Now that I know my library carries the LI titles, I'll be donating copies of those I've read so others can enjoy them as well. The more readers we can introduce to Love Inspired, the better, right?

Does your local library shelve books from the Love Inspired lines?

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Research Made Fun from Gail Gaymer Martin

Hi from Gail Gaymer Martin at http://www.gailmartin.com/
Research can take more time than writing a novel. It's all the pre-work an author must do to bring her story to life. While I love writing, sometimes research gets frustrating. I want to make my story accurate so I check many details to make sure it is.

But research can be fun, especially when it involves travel. When I was asked to push back my next book deadline and write a duet novel for next Christmas, I agreed but not without thought. I had just sold three novels to Love Inspired---one completed and two to go---so I wondered if I could manage adding another one to my list of projects. But I hadn't written a Christmas novel in quite a while and had wanted to do one. . .so I said yes.

The problem was they needed a synopsis and information for the cover immediately plus a name for the novel and I didn't have a story yet. Being involved with publishing can be fun.

That night I went to bed and couldn't sleep because my mind was developing a novel for the book. In recent travels to visit a relative in northern Michigan, I'd passed many small towns along Lake Huron, and I thought about creating a new series set in this area. My mind headed for that idea with the Christmas book.

First I needed a town so I used the Internet to find a small interesting town on Lake Huron. I found it-- Harrisville. This is a town of about 500 people with many interesting events around Christmas so I decided a visit there was necessary. 

We went there in mid-November and I visited the elementary school where my heroine will find a job, the library (seen in this photo), the Chamber of Commerce, and a popular restaurant. I visited the stores and talked with the owners. One of them who lived in town was very willing to let me call her with questions.  That kind of resource is needed for an author. I learned about their tree lighting ceremony and a special event called Christmas In The Village which happens in early February.  I visited the park where I climbed the slide (you'll notice that in the first photo) but decided I'd end up in the damp sand if I slid down.

One of the best things I did was drive through the residential areas and take photographs of houses. This helped me create homes for my characters that are typical in a small town. Gathering this kind of information brings the story to life for me. I can picture my characters living their daily lives in this environment. Seeing the setting stimulates story situations that will add interest and meaning to the novel. Research is hard work, but it can be fun. Most of all it helps create a story that readers will love. I hope you enjoy Small Town Christmas to be released next November by Love Inspired.

My next visit with you will be to tell you about A Dad Of His Own, my next LI release, in March, 2011.

Libraries

Camy Tang here, and at the time I’m writing this, I’m just back from an interview for a part-time library position.

Applying for the job was a no-brainer. I mean, what reader wouldn’t want to be surrounded by books for a few hours each day???

The job is also part-time, which means I can still spend time writing each day. While I would love to work in the library, writing is my favorite job.

The librarian mentioned that the library has gotten busier because of the economy right now. After all, library books are free! And books are cheaper entertainment than a movie. Have you visited your library lately?

Did you know that for many libraries, if they don’t have the book you want but another branch has it, they’ll have it sent to your branch so you can read it? Here in California, it’s called a Hold request. You can actually do it online—you put a book on hold and the branch that has the book sends it to your branch, and when it’s available, you get an email saying it’s ready for you to pick up and check out.

Did you also know that you can suggest books that are not on their list? If you search their catalog and, say, Margaret Daley’s latest book isn’t there, you can submit the title to the library to suggest that they purchase it. Most libraries are happy to buy a nice inexpensive paperback that someone has requested (as opposed to a more expensive hardcover book).

Some libraries will allow you to donate books and they’ll put them in their catalog, but not all libraries do that. Many libraries around here will accept donated books, but they sell it at a special table (for $1 each, so they’re a good deal) rather than adding the books to their catalog. :( So be sure to check with your library on their policy before donating your books, because they might not add them to the stacks.

Anyway, if it’s God’s will, I pray I get the library job!

Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. Her novel Single Sashimi is out now, and her Love Inspired Suspense novel, Deadly Intent, releases in July this year. She runs the Story Sensei critique service. In her spare time, she is a staff worker for her church youth group, and she leads one of the worship teams for Sunday service. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels every Monday and Thursday, and she ponders frivolous things. Sign up for her newsletter YahooGroup for monthly giveways!