Hello my Gentle Readers. I won’t call this a true Meet the Author Monday, because, well, it’s not Monday, is it? Today I am talking with Denise Weldon-Siviy, author of “Self-Publishing and Libraries” that I reviewed yesterday. Per the usual here, we will put my comments in BLUE and Denise in GREEN.
Denise, let’s start off with something my readers always want to know about, what started you as a reader and what genre(s) really grab you?
I’m not sure. I think I’ve always been a reader. Even as a child I would dive into a book and the rest of the world would disappear. My sisters would run in circles around me and I wouldn’t even notice! I remember maxing out my library card every week at the book mobile.
As for genres, I read a ton of books across the spectrum. Having said that, there is nothing like an extensive fantasy series to lose yourself in. I really enjoy finding alternate worlds that I can spend some serious time in.
I agree. There is little else like a great epic world to get lost in. What’s your favorite fantasy series to get lost in?
That would depend on what day it is! I’m usually reading several series at the same time. My all-time favorite would probably be Anne McCaffrey’s Crystal Singer series. More recently, I just finished the Earthcent Ambassador series by EM Foner on Kindle Unlimited. And I’m halfway through the Alien series by Gini Koch. Oh, and I’m very impatiently waiting for Indie writer Tima Lacoba to finish writing the fourth book in the Dantonville Legacy series.
Anne definitely put out some great books. My readers can click the links above to the others on Amazon. Let’s get to your publishing history. What can readers find from you in the literary world?
What they’d find is probably a lot of things they wouldn’t read unless someone paid them
I spent 25 years as a Technical Writer and Editor specializing in systems level engineering documentation. At that point, I decided two things. One was that I wanted to do something other than technical writing. That was when I started library work and began work on the MLIS that I just finished. The second thing was that I wanted to write things that people would read voluntarily. So far, I’ve put out a Kindle Single (part of their curated collection) in science fiction – The Betta Virus, under the pen name Jadzia Banks (https://www.amazon.com/Betta-Virus-Jadzia-Kindle-Single-ebook/dp/B00Z4RNHRW). I also wrote some fun nonfiction as Charity Grant. Since I’d written tech manuals for so long, I picked topics that I found interesting. First I wrote a tongue-in-cheek fitness book for people tired of circling their dining room tables to get in those last steps. That was 20,000 Steps (https://www.amazon.com/20-000-Steps-Easy-Ways-ebook/dp/B0147MGKQO). And I wrote a clutter busting book for people who don’t really want to get rid of their stuff. It’s called Moving Clutter to the Cloud (https://www.amazon.com/Moving-Clutter-Cloud-Charity-Grant-ebook/dp/B018UPUNIA).
Now that the library degree that resulted in Self-Publishing and Libraries is out of the way, I’m working on finishing a longer novel – The Pacifist Assassin – which I plan to have completed by the end of the year. After that, who knows?
We can circle back to The Pacifist Assassin, let’s talk about your experience with this latest book, Self Publishing and Libraries. Being a self published author myself, I’m very curious about getting my book into public libraries. Are the waters a little less murky now when it comes to getting on a library’s radar as a self published author?
Very slightly, but it’s definitely not water clear enough to drink!
And that brings up probably the most important thing about my book: it looks at the process from the perspectives of both self-published authors and librarians. I think the largest barrier to getting self published works into libraries right now is that those two groups — self-publishers and librarians — have no idea what the other group does or how and why they do it. What they do have is a lot of misinformation that gets in the way of effectively working together to present the best of self-published literature to library patrons.
My great passion is traveling. Seeing and experiencing new things. New countries and cultures, fascinating places across the US, even day trips to explore all of the new and exciting things around my home. Right now I’m getting ready to move to the Netherlands for five months and planning a visit to Africa where my youngest daughter is serving in the Peace Corps.
If you mean getting your book onto the shelves physically, if anything that’s becoming slightly more difficult. One of the things that I talk about in the book is how much it costs a library to accept even a free book. The cost of cataloging, physical processing, and staff time are easily 4 to 5 times the cost of most self published books. With budgets for public services being what they are, I don’t expect that to improve in the near future.
For e-books, however, things are definitely looking up. By understanding the market and knowing how to go about publishing their works, authors can now make their self published works available on the e-book platforms that libraries serve up to patrons. With SELF-e, that’s not a big deal because they require self published authors to donate their work to be included. Quite frankly, I find the idea that authors of Indie works should just give away their work to be insulting. Overdrive on the other hand allows self-published authors to set library specific prices in the same way that traditional publishers do. The ability to get self-published books into public library book collections via Overdrive really is a game changer.
At the other end of the process, just making librarians aware of specific self-published works is still a struggle. Too many are still relying on discovery tools (like paid review services) that were designed for the traditional publishing industry and really don’t serve the self-publishing model very well. One of the things that I do in my book is to make librarians aware of where to learn about top quality self published works.
And that brings up probably the most important thing about my book: it looks at the process from the perspectives of both self-published authors and librarians. I think the largest barrier to getting self published works into libraries right now is that those two groups — self-publishers and librarians — have no idea what the other group does or how and why they do it. What they do have is a lot of misinformation that gets in the way of effectively working together to present the best of self-published literature to library patrons.
It’s a great, informative read. Readers can find my review on Amazon, Goodreads, and HERE.
Let’s move away from your professional life and learn a little about you the person. What keeps you occupied when you aren’t writing or diving into fantasy realms?
My great passion is traveling. Seeing and experiencing new things. New countries and cultures, fascinating places across the US, even day trips to explore all of the new and exciting things around my home. Right now I’m getting ready to move to the Netherlands for five months and planning a visit to Africa where my youngest daughter is serving in the Peace Corps.
I also try to spend as much time as possible with my four children and two grandchildren. Since they’re spread out over several states and countries at this point, that usually involves travel as well.
Sounds like you have enough to keep you busy. Well, good luck with your launch and I hope when you have “The Pacifist Assassin” ready, which sounds like a great title by the way, you will stop by and visit us again.
My Gentle Readers you can find Denise over on her blog HERE.
Father, Author, Blogger, Publisher 