So, went down to the local library today

I decided to stop by the local library today and stop in. I drive by it fairly regularly now whenever I go into town. For a small town, it is a pretty good sized library. Part of the problem has always been going by it when it's open. Usually when I go into town it's closed.

They really don't have much of a science fiction or fantasy selection. Honestly, I'm tempted to do something about that, there's definitely a lot of stuff they could use, I may ask the Baen people about that when I see them at LibertyCon in a couple of months. I'd be happy to pay the costs, but maybe I can get a deal if I go through them directly.

They YA section however was huge. Definitely going to buy some of Jon Del Arroz's stuff and donate it to them, he really is a good YA writer, and it's steampunk. The world needs more steampunk. I know some people consider my Valens' series to be YA, but I don't think it belongs there, I feel it belongs in the New Adult category, which is the one right after that age wise. But then, what do I know? YA has changed a lot over the years.

So, it felt kind of weird going in there and talking to them. It's pretty much bragging to go in and say 'hey, I'm a local author, I just moved here, and would you be interested in free copies of my books and oh, by the way, I'm very successful.' I know these days there are a lot of folks running around introducing themselves as authors who really haven't sold much (if at all) and who try to act like they're up there with the big names, when they're obviously not. I still have trouble at times coming to grips with just how well I've done. When folks like Larry Correia remember your name and introduce you to his fans at a book signing because he sees you're in the audience, it's a moment you're never going to forget.

Anyway, now they have to 'vet' me, mainly read some of my stuff so they know if it'll fit in or not. Make sure I'm not writing the kind of stuff that they don't want in the library, which again, I can understand. It'll be cool if they decide they want my stuff, I'll be more than happy to give them a set or two of everything. If they don't want it, that's fine too. But if nothing else, it's practice at going out there and dealing with folks at a promotional level.

I haven't dealt with libraries before, because I found out that at the big one where I used to live, if you donated books, they wouldn't put them in the library, they'd just sell them. They only put in books that they bought themselves. Apparently that's the way the big libraries operate, and again I can understand it on the one hand, they want to be sure nothing 'crazy' gets in there. But on the other hand, my junior high school and high school library had hard core porn in them, because those books were on the 'recommended' lists and the local librarian obviously never read them, (and no, being a typical teenager I never told them either, I just read 'em).

But on the other hand, I've never been a big fan of gate keepers. People should be free to read what they want to read. After all, it's the gate keepers in trad pub who wouldn't allow me to publish my stories, and look at me now, my sales are right up there with the big boys. Yet they still won't touch me, even though I'm a proven money maker. It'd be cool to be in the book stores, but I know that'll never happen. At least not until the current gate keepers are replaced, if then.