MCPL: Information for Authors: How to submit your work for evaluation

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Information for Authors: Submitting your work for evaluation

Authors, publishers and producers frequently ask us to include their work in Montgomery County’s public library collections. Our professional selection staff evaluates each published work or media production according to our collection development policies and guidelines.

If you would like to send either a copy of your work for evaluation or information (including reviews, author information and ordering details) about your book to our Collection Development staff, we will consider your book for purchase. Review copies will not be returned.

Our address:
Collection Development
Collection Management Division
2 Metropolitan Court, Suite 4
Gaithersburg MD 20878

Please include with your submission any published reviews about your work that might help to inform the decision of the library selectors. Our professional selection staff looks for reviews in standard journals (for example Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal) as well as in the mainstream media. We rely on professional reviews to assist us in the selection of non-fiction, but also in assessing potential interest in and demand for fiction, poetry and books for young readers.

Montgomery County Public Libraries can purchase only a fraction of the 300,000 or more titles published in the English language each year, so competition is fierce. We buy more titles in high demand areas of the collection, but even there we are unable to select everything that is published in a given year. The costs of cataloging, processing and providing access to any given title exceed the purchase price of the item, and we take this into account as we evaluate items for the library’s collections. We will consider, but seldom select, titles that have been self-published or published with a book packager.

A decision will be made on your work when the library is selecting new publications in the category into which your work falls. Some types of materials are only considered 1-2 times per year, and some titles will need to be considered more than once before a final decision is made. For these reasons, the Library cannot suggest a specific time at which a final decision will be made regarding the work.

Montgomery County is home to many writers whose work is featured in our Local Authors Shelf program at the Gaithersburg Library. A single copy of a book by a Montgomery County resident may be added to this collection without further review. If your work is not selected for purchase for the general collection, please let us know whether you would like your review copy sent for inclusion in this program.