As part of my exhaustive (exhausting?) all-encompassing marketing of my two novels, “Welcome Home, Sir” and “Matter Over Mind,” I have undertaken a campaign to get my novels purchased and on the shelves of public libraries. Indeed, this is a great potential market for any of you who might be trying to sell a few more books, as local libraries like to showcase local authors.
Shown above is one of my novels at my own local branch (there are 4 copies available in the library system, and 2 of my other novel). Although Truman Capote is not my favorite author, having “Matter Over Mind” by Caplan side-by-side with Capote is a pretty humbling experience. Or so says Mr. Vain…
About Steve Caplan
I am a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska where I mentor a group of students, postdoctoral fellows and researchers working on endocytic protein trafficking. My first lablit novel, "Matter Over Mind," is about a biomedical researcher seeking tenure and struggling to overcome the consequences of growing up with a parent suffering from bipolar disorder. Lablit novel #2, "Welcome Home, Sir," published by Anaphora Literary Press, deals with a hypochondriac principal investigator whose service in the army and post-traumatic stress disorder actually prepare him well for academic, but not personal success. Novel #3, "A Degree of Betrayal," is an academic murder mystery. "Saving One" is my most recent novel set at the National Institutes of Health. Now IN PRESS: Today's Curiosity is Tomorrow's Cure: The Case for Basic Biomedical Research (CRC PRESS, 2021).
https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B006CSULBW?
All views expressed are my own, of course--after all, I hate advertising.
Congratulations!!!!!!! (love Truman Capote!)
woho! That’s awesome. Congratulations with both the books and the library. Must be such a great feeling 🙂
I forgot to mention the REAL vanity part: I actually checked out one of the books, just curious to see if the librarian might happen to notice that my library card and the name of the author are one and the same.
This experiment ended with the following comment: “I’m afraid you owe 75 cents for an over due book…”
What, it took you that long to read it? 😉
Underfunded libraries, yes. But I think they make up for it by having people like me with 20-25 books out at a time and continually charging me for overdue books. Sometimes I think it would be cheaper to just buy them…
Hah–no it wasn’t my novel that was overdue!
And also… so, how do you go about convincing a (presumably underfunded) library system to buy your novel, as opposed to any other? Come on, spill your secrets. 🙂
Actually, that turned out easier than I would have guessed. There is an online form for suggesting acquisitions, and I just filled it out. I figured that they would only be interested in the second novel, as it has an actual publisher (not self-published like the first one). S I saw they bought 2 copies of “Welcome Home, Sir” and then I later noticed they bought 4 copies of “Matter Over Mind”–the self-published novel that I didn’t even request (and which has by far out sold the other novel by over 500 books…).
So no secret–just need to be persistent, I guess.
Thanks for the tips. Just prodded the Vaughan Public Library system to obtain The Best Science Writing Online 2012… and investigated the Toronto library system, which already has ten (!) copies.
Very interesting … I’m now gonna facebook our local librarian, who is a friend….
Steve, you are an inspiration. I have now contacted my local librarian who is now going to request that her library (cash-strapped though it is) orders some of my books.
Great! Guess you’ll join Maurice, Maggie and all the other “Gees” on the shelves. Stay away from B. Gees, though–I’ll assume your Stealer is better quality…