I’ve just received my statement from the PLR department (Public Lending Right), which details how many times my books have been borrowed from public libraries over the last year. Every time a book is borrowed, the Government makes a small payment to the author to recognise that a borrowed book, is a lost book sale. It’s only a token payment, but for many authors, this payment is vital, and in these tough economic times, all income is vital. From my point of view, it’s really interesting to see which of my books people are borrowing from the library.
Whilst my bestselling book, One Hundred Ways For A Dog To Train Its Human, has sold over 222,000 copies in the shops, it has only been borrowed from the library 550 times, since publication in 2003. My most-borrowed book is Fundraising for a Community Project, which has now been borrowed 4,173 times, since it was first published in 2007, followed by Best Walks in the Welsh Borders, borrowed 2,344 times, also since 2007.
So, if you would like to buy a book, but can’t, then please use your local library instead. It will help to keep your local library open, and it still helps authors.