Well, I'd like to give you some reasons why writers should consider marketing their books to libraries:

• Author recognition - most people are reluctant to spend their hard-earned money on a book written by an author they don't know. This is an excellent way to become one of the authors readers would be willing to spend money on.

• Tons of libraries - don't underestimate how many libraries are out there. I don't know the total number the U.S. has, but look at this website. Click on each state and see how many libraries there are. (You'll run out of fingers very quickly.)

  We're talking about sheer volume here and from my experience, most libraries order anywhere between five and ten copies of your book. Imagine getting every library in Indiana to order your book? Then Virginia?... We're talking about thousands.

• Not just the U.S. - Remember, there's Canada (check out the number of libraries), Australia, and the U.K. And, in the U.K. the author makes a certain amount each time the book is checked out. Not bad, huh?

I'm suggesting that you market on a national scale. And, remember, the people you would be selling to aren't the readers per se, but the librarians. They're the ones who make many of the decisions about what should be stocked in their library.

And now I'm giving away a little secret here. Remember the link I gave you earlier? Well, this little website is worth its weight in gold.

publiclibraries.com has the name, address, email address, and website of all of the libraries in the U.S. With these contacts, you can mail out flyers and send e-mails directly to the librarians.

So, good luck marketing to libraries.

If you have any questions, or would like me to add something to this article, write me at: Leigh_Barbour@yahoo.com.