Getting a physical copy of your book onto real shelves, public libraries, school libraries, and Little Free Libraries, is a different challenge than listing it online, since these institutions generally aren't browsing Amazon for new acquisitions the way individual readers do. It usually takes someone actively reaching out and placing the book, which is exactly the gap a placement service is built to close.
Libraries, schools, and community Little Free Libraries don't typically discover self-published books the way individual readers do, through algorithm recommendations, social media, or word of mouth. Reaching them usually means direct outreach: identifying which libraries, schools, or community boxes to target, shipping physical copies, and following up, a logistics-heavy process most authors have neither the time nor the existing relationships to manage well on their own.
A book on a library shelf reaches readers who might never encounter it online: patrons browsing in person, students assigned reading in a school setting, and passersby who stumble on a Little Free Library box in their neighborhood. It's also a different kind of credibility signal than an online review; a library or school choosing to shelve your book suggests a level of institutional trust that complements, rather than replaces, your online reviews and marketing.
You provide the physical books and ship them to Entrada. From there, we handle placement at libraries, schools, and Little Free Libraries on your behalf, for $11 per book, which includes postage. This removes the part of the process most authors find hardest: identifying and reaching out to individual institutions and covering the shipping logistics involved in getting books to each one.
There's no minimum or maximum order size, and every book you send gets placed. Entrada has established relationships with libraries that are glad to receive complimentary titles from indie authors, so there's no submission or rejection process working against you. Once your shipment arrives, books go out to libraries within 2-3 business days.
Library and institutional placement works well alongside your other marketing efforts, not as a replacement for them. Consider it alongside ARC outreach to libraries and educators (see How to Get Reviews From Bloggers, Journalists, and Librarians) and your broader marketing plan (see How to Write a Book Marketing Plan). Placement gets physical copies onto shelves; outreach and marketing build the awareness that brings readers to those shelves in the first place.
Books with broad, general appeal, especially children's and YA titles, tend to fit library and school placement particularly well, since these institutions actively build collections for a wide range of readers. That said, placement isn't limited to any single genre or age category; if your book has a real audience, physical placement can help that audience find it.
Get Your Book Onto Real Shelves
Ship us your books, and we'll handle placement at libraries, schools, and Little Free Libraries for $11 per book, postage included.
$11 per book, which includes postage. You provide the physical copies and ship them to Entrada; we handle placement from there.
Yes. This service places books you supply; it doesn't include printing costs.
Public libraries, school libraries, and Little Free Libraries.
No. It works best alongside your other marketing and outreach efforts, giving your book physical, institutional reach that complements your online presence rather than replacing it.
No. Send as few or as many as you'd like — there's no minimum or maximum order size.
Books go out to libraries within 2-3 business days of Entrada receiving your shipment.
Yes. Entrada places 100% of the books authors send, through established relationships with libraries that welcome complimentary titles from indie authors.
No, placement is limited to the US, though this includes military libraries at APO addresses, since the USPS delivers to those at standard domestic postage rates.