As A Librarian, I Would Like To Second What @aeliad Is Saying.

As a librarian, I would like to second what @aeliad is saying. 

Supporting libraries supports authors.  Libraries buy books (and audiobooks).  When books are popular they often buy multiple copies to meet the demand and as books wear out they check the circulation record and buy replacements if they are popular enough.  (I can not even tell you how many copies I have bought for my library of the Harry Potter books just in the past few years - so many, so so many)

The other thing librarians do is recommend books and made displays.  So tell your librarian all about your favorite books, trust me we want to know.  Tell us why the book is great and we are more likely to recommend it to other patrons looking for a new author or put it on display where people are more likely to see it and pick it up. 

And you can support your local library just by visiting and checking out books.  We keep those statistics and use them to defend our existence.

Sometimes I feel guilty because all of my books come from the library. Even books I really love, like yours. I just read so fast and so much that buying books isn't a good financial choice. Do authors receive any benefit from library readers?

Oh my gosh, honey*, no.  No no no.  Please, please don’t feel guilty for using the library, or for going to the used book store, or for borrowing from a friend.  All these things are built into the literary ecosystem, and publishers have had literally centuries to get used to them.

Do authors receive any benefit from library readers?  Absolutely.  We receive readers.  Maybe you will never personally buy a book in your life.  But.  You have friends who will.  You can leave reviews on places like Amazon and Goodreads.  You can make sure the world knows which books you enjoyed, and that our publishers know that you want to see more.

Libraries pay for the books they loan out.  With physical books, they pay for an object, which will stay in circulation for X number of loans before it gets purged due to wear and tear.  With electronic books, they pay for a license, which allows the book to be loaned a certain number of times before it needs to be licensed again.  Yes, this means a single sale can represent dozens of patrons, but there is still, at the root, a sale.

Piracy is a problem because there is no root sale; because the e-book “license” doesn’t exist and hence never expires, meaning our publishers have no way of measuring a book’s popularity; because it’s outside the feedback loop.  But the loop is large, and meant to accommodate those of us who can’t buy alongside those of us who can.  I promise.

(*We do not know each other and I am not trying to offend: this is just where my speech patterns go when I am worried I have hurt someone accidentally.  If you dislike “honey” from a parasocial acquaintance, please substitute the respectful term of your choice.  I suggest “High Inquisitor Sugarbat.”)

I just want to remind everybody

Leverage gave us a middle-aged couple who impetuously fell into bed and had hot passionate sex, then cleaned up their acts emotionally before committing to each other in marriage.

Leverage gave us a young black man gently, wisely courting a non-neurotypical blonde white woman.

Leverage gave us a young black man whose two white male best friends both describe him as the smartest man they’ve ever known.

Leverage gave us a guitar-playing country boy, an ex-hitman and army vet, who puts his life in the hands of a geeky black man and his blonde girlfriend (till death do them part).

Leverage gave us Parker, Sophie, Maggie, and Tara; it also gave us female villains with as much cunning, ruthlessness, and agency as any man’s. 

Leverage gave us villains who were rich, powerful, greedy white people who had to have just a little bit more, and a clever, cunning, usually compassionate, occasionally terrifying white guy who beat them at their own game and robbed the rich to help the poor.

Leverage, gentlefolx.

So @ladyaster3 you would be okay with me moving in with you just until I finished binge watching everything I want to see on Netflix right?  I'm sure work wouldn't notice if I called out sick for a month or two right?

okay but why had nobody alerted me to the existence of The Dragon Prince???

mixed race, nontraditional family

not one, not two, but three badass female characters

one of whom is canonically deaf and communicates in sign language!

and everyone just treats her like this is fine and normal and she’s still a complete and total badass!

magic! elves! dragons! wolves!

it’s on Netflix! 9 bite sized episodes! go watch it!

Adam: Why is your room always so messy?

Jesse:So that if someone comes in and tries to kill me, they’ll trip over something and die.

Yes.

IT’S ALMOST 1:00 AM AND I GOT THE BEST WRONG NUMBER TEXT EVER.