I’ve just
seen this year’s Public Lending Right statement and it makes interesting
reading. Not so much for the payments, which are most welcome, but mainly for
the numbers of people who have read my books. I’ve said it before, we write to
be read, not to attain riches.
This year’s
figures are based on the British Library collecting loans data from a changing
sample of UK public library authorities. This year’s payments are based on
loans data collected from 36 library authorities across the UK during the year
July 2014 – June 2015.
It was
good to see that paperback Write a western in 30
Days and fantasy hardback Wings of the Overlord
are now in libraries and have been borrowed. This is the first time they have
shown up since being published.
The other
loans are exclusively for my Robert Hale westerns:
The Magnificent Mendozas – 100
The $300 Man – 975
Old Guns – 1638
Blind Justice at Wedlock - 816
Last Chance Saloon – 785
Death at Bethesda Falls – 581
That’s a
total of 4895 readers (unless some borrowed a book more than once!)
Of course
that is only the tip of the readership iceberg; one must assume that libraries
not in this year’s sample will also have loaned these books. That’s gratifying
to a writer, to know that my books have been read by in excess of 5,000
readers.
My latest
western, The Magnificent Mendozas was
only registered in 2014; it’s nice to know that my first book, Death at Bethesda Falls is still finding
readers.
Now, if
only libraries would stock my crime and suspense books!
Viz:
Spanish Eye
Catalyst
Blood of the Dragon Trees
Sudden Vengeance
Libraries can’t
stock The Prague Papers, The Tehran Text,
Catacomb or Cataclysm as these
are currently only in e-book format.
New
paperbacks and hardbacks should be registered with PLR before 30 June this year
to be included in the 2017 sample: www.plr.uk.com.
