SELF-e discussion

Has anyone submitted to SELF-e? Was anyone selected for the national catalog, or for a state catalog?

Yes. My book was selected for the international catalog. (I'm Canadian.)

Yes. My book, DERELICT was selected for the MA catalog. However, I'm not sure how to leverage that or promote it.

L.J. my sentiments exactly. I'm hoping that the distribution of the catalog will be self-promoting.

I have also had books accepted, but never managed to figure out which libraries they are available in.

Yael, were there any sales from it?

My book was also selected for the international collection. What I got is increased exposure which I hope will help with FUTURE book sales, but do not expect more sales as it is free from the library.

I think this is best for new authors who need to get their name out there.

The first four books in my Friend Grief series were accepted into Illinois and National collections. One of them made the top ten for September. Still waiting on the 5th book.

And I'm the first SELF-e Ambassador!

Victoria, congratulations are certainly in order! Has either collection been released yet?

Yes, but as they are still working on NJ libraries, it's not of much use...I figured it can't hurt. I also don't know how discoverable we'll really be amongst all the other, once they get things rolling. I only plan to do it with the one book.

Java wrote: "Victoria, congratulations are certainly in order! Has either collection been released yet?"

Yes, in August? September?

Here's the link about my "appointment":
http://self-e.libraryjournal.com/meet...

Holy Cow! I thought the appointment was a joke (a GOOD joke), but no! Congratulations on your appointment. Have them think of me if they want a Pennsylvania resident :-)

Java wrote: "Yael, were there any sales from it?"

Not that I've been told about. One assumes there must be a threshold before you receive payments, but I don't recall them ever asking for any information about how to send me a payment.

I thought that the Library Journal catalogs were just suggestions of titles with synopses. I thought the library then had to make their own purchases separately. Are you saying that libraries can buy directly through these catalogs?

Here's the link from SELF-e's page that will answer a lot of your questions. http://self-e.libraryjournal.com/auth...

I found the submission process to be pretty close to painless!

Remember that this is a marketing tool: it makes your ebooks available to libraries that purchase the state/national collections. It's up to us as authors to connect with those libraries for purchase of print books, speaking engagements, etc.

Thank you for this. It sounds intriguing, although Pennsylvania is a HUGE state!

Victoria wrote: "Here's the link from SELF-e's page that will answer a lot of your questions. http://self-e.libraryjournal.com/auth...

I found the submission process to be pretty close to painless!

Reme..."

You have nothing to lose by submitting. But it gives you an "in" when you approach libraries.

Java wrote: "Thank you for this. It sounds intriguing, although Pennsylvania is a HUGE state!

Victoria wrote: "Here's the link from SELF-e's page that will answer a lot of your questions. http://self-e.library..."

Victoria wrote: "Here's the link from SELF-e's page that will answer a lot of your questions. http://self-e.libraryjournal.com/auth...

I found the submission process to be pretty close to painless!

Reme..."

Victoria wrote: "Here's the link from SELF-e's page that will answer a lot of your questions. http://self-e.libraryjournal.com/auth...

I found the submission process to be pretty close to painless!

Reme..."

Perhaps it takes some study of the Self-e site, but somehow I am baffled. How can one know which libraries have subscribed, much less taken on one's book. That I would love to know.

I'll have to reach out to SELF-e staff to tell you which library systems have signed up.

When your book is chosen, it is included in your state collection. That means every library system in your state that has signed up has your ebook. If you are in the national collection, every library system in the country that has signed up has your ebook.



Tim wrote: "Victoria wrote: "Here's the link from SELF-e's page that will answer a lot of your questions. http://self-e.libraryjournal.com/auth...

I found the submission process to be pretty close t..."

Excellent! If I can assist, let me know!

Yes, my first two books have been accepted into the California system. My first book, The Green Pearl Caper, was accepted into the National collection. My second book is still in the queue for consideration in the National collection.

Great, Phyllis. How do you know this? Or, better, how can one check on acceptance and all?

Tim wrote: "Great, Phyllis. How do you know this? Or, better, how can one check on acceptance and all?"

You should receive confirmation from SELF-e. But if it's been a while since you submitted, feel free to follow up with them about status.

Yesterday was SELF-e's Indie Author Day event in the United States and Canada. I attended one of several in California. Some appear to have been rescheduled for later in the year.

If you're self-published it's a good way to meet other such authors for tips and moral support. Mine consisted of a panel discussion by authors with questions from the audience. If you missed it don't worry, this is to be an annual happening.

http://indieauthorday.com

There were a number of locations that had to reschedule because of the hurricane.

This was the first time for this event and not all libraries had enough time to prepare for it. Here in Chicago, only 4 branches had events because of too-short lead time. My event was small but the attendees were VERY engaged, so it was definitely worth doing.

Also, anyone can watch the recording of the livestream panel (which was also impacted by the hurricane).

I expect this to expand way beyond the 300-ish libraries in the US and Canada that participated this year. It was a win-win for everyone involved.

Tim wrote: "Great, Phyllis. How do you know this? Or, better, how can one check on acceptance and all?"

I received a notice from SELF-e with the good news. There was an error in the message (they neglected to indicate which of my books was accepted), so I emailed them directly and obtained clarification.

Ron wrote: "Yesterday was SELF-e's Indie Author Day event in the United States and Canada. I attended one of several in California. Some appear to have been rescheduled for later in the year.

If you're self-..."

I participated in our local Indie Author Day event here in Carmel, California. I was one of the panel members. There were six of us on the panel and ~25 people in the audience. It was a very enjoyable experience and exchange of information. Most of the audience members were also authors.

Because of the hurricane and our libraries flaky Internet connection, we decided as a group to forego the livestream panel and expand our Q&A period.

I am thrilled that self-published authors are starting to gain some recognition and respect from the established writing/publishing support network, including Library Journal.

Hey Phyllis, I was there too with my daughter! We sat in the front row. I was the one who was a bit late because, as I mentioned, my copilot fell asleep on the way ;) (we were coming from 150 + miles south of you).

I was especially impressed with Robin Gregory and you. I'm also a SELF-e author as I write about here.

https://midmiocene.wordpress.com/2015...

I would have been on the panel but the library already had a full lineup. That's OK though; I was happy to listen to you all.

Ron wrote: "Hey Phyllis, I was there too with my daughter! We sat in the front row. I was the one who was a bit late because, as I mentioned, my copilot fell asleep on the way ;) (we were coming from 150 + mil..."

Hi Ron,
I remember you and the comment about your copilot :)

Thanks for making the special effort to attend. I'll have a look at your blog.

Phyllis

Ron wrote: "Hey Phyllis, I was there too with my daughter! We sat in the front row. I was the one who was a bit late because, as I mentioned, my copilot fell asleep on the way ;) (we were coming from 150 + mil..."

Ron, how did you get the SELF-e badge to appear on your profile page?

Just read your post One Hundred Years Ago Today.... A touching story.

Phyllis wrote: "Ron, how did you get the SELF-e badge to appear on your profile page?"

When SELF-e sent that email notifying me of inclusion in their catalogs they sent two versions of their badge, one that looks like the one on my blog and the other that looks like this:

https://static1.squarespace.com/stati...

I'd contact SELF-e about it since you're already in the collection. My impression is that they are very busy and occasionally overlook details.

Ron wrote: "Just read your post One Hundred Years Ago Today.... A touching story."

Thank you, Ron.

Ron wrote: "Phyllis wrote: "Ron, how did you get the SELF-e badge to appear on your profile page?"

When SELF-e sent that email notifying me of inclusion in their catalogs they sent two versions of their badge..."

Yes, I have the badges. I'm just having trouble getting the badge to show on my goodreads Author page. It uploads, but doesn't automatically display the way it does on your page.

Phyllis wrote: "Yes, I have the badges. I'm just having trouble getting the badge to show on my goodreads Author page.

Oh sorry. Go to your Author Profile page. Next to your name look for the link "edit author profile". On that page you'll see a box below the words "bibliography (tips)", in that box you paste the URL of the badge image if you already have it. If you don't, you can get it by first uploading the image to your blog then right clicking on it and copying the URL. Then try just pasting that in that box and click Save and see if it appears on your profile page. If that still doesn't work you can use mine by right clicking and copying and pasting the URL into that box and saving. You can also copy one from here:

https://www.google.com/search?q=self-...

I hope it works for you.

Note: I tried including html for you to copy but it's not showing up here so in case all else fails I'd contact Goodreads support.

Ron wrote: "Phyllis wrote: "Yes, I have the badges. I'm just having trouble getting the badge to show on my goodreads Author page.

Oh sorry. Go to your Author Profile page. Next to your name look for the link..."

Thank you! It worked.