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Tag: American Library Association

My Dystopian Bookshelf at ALA 2023

Libraries are an important place for book discovery. As an indie author, it’s even more important that I find ways to reach a critical audience of curators: the librarians!

This year I was excited to have an entire shelf to myself featuring my four dystopian novels at the American Library Association’s 2023 conference in Chicago. The event ran from June 22-27. My books appeared in a booth managed by the Independent Book Publishers Association. I’m a proud IBPA member.

Novels by Adam Bender on a shelf at the ALA 2023 conference on a stand for independent publishers. Also displayed are bookmarks for Utopia PR and postcards for The Wanderer and the New West.
Utopia PR bookmark with a quote: "Maybe you see a vicious killing machine that got loose and went on a rampage, but I sure don't ... Why, that there is a hero pup!"
Utopia PR bookmark

I made some really fun Utopia PR bookmarks specifically for the event! I’ve got extras and will try to find a way to make these available in the future. Let me know if you’re interested by tagging me on social media.

I had previously displayed and signed copies of The Wanderer and the New West at a pre-pandemic ALA conference in Washington, DC. I was unable to attend this year’s show in person, but I hope to get out to this excellent conference again in the future.

I love finding out that my books are available in libraries, whatever the format. All four eBook editions of my novels, plus the audiobook editions of my last two books, were accepted into the Indie Author Project and available to participating libraries. Books in physical and digital formats can also be acquired separately through distributors including Ingram and Smashwords. Please contact me if you need help finding my books.

Here are few more photos from ALA 2023. Here’s a fun idea: Try to find my novels in each picture like it’s a Where’s Waldo book!

Thanks to IBPA for taking all of the photos in this post!

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The Wanderer visits the library…

Maybe you wouldn’t expect to find a couple of gunslingers holed out in a library. However, in a town taken over by the Red Stripe Gang, the library might just be the best place to plot one’s next moves.

The “library scene” from The Wanderer and the New West

That’s a scene from my dystopian western novel, The Wanderer and the New West. You can read a piece of it in the picture above.

I’ve always loved libraries, that temple-like space where one can find a new book and–gasp–take it home for free! Growing up in Bucks County, PA, my favorite section was the 741s. I assume you’re up on your Dewey Decimal System? See, that’s where they kept all the comic book collections, including ancient tomes like Superman: From the ’30s to the ’70s (for the record, I read this in the late ’90s).

That’s why it’s so awesome to see my novel popping up in various libraries across the country. It’s thanks to the great Kirkus review (a favorite mag among librarians), my book’s distribution on library platforms like Overdrive, and most recently, an appearance at the 2018 American Library Association conference in New Orleans, courtesy of Booklife by Publishers Weekly.

The Wanderer and the New West at the 2018 American Library Association conference in New Orleans.
The Wanderer and the New West featured at the 2018 American Library Association conference in New Orleans, courtesy of Booklife.

As an indie author trying to get noticed, my hope is that readers will find my novels in libraries (eBook and print!) and give ’em a try. If they love one of my books, maybe they’ll recommend it to a friend! Sales are great, but I’d much rather know that more readers are getting a chance to enjoy the words I’ve written.

If you can’t find my novels in your library, please request them! You can refer librarians to this post or the official page for The Wanderer and the New West if they need more information. Please let me know in the comments below if you found my books in yours!

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