The Evolving Role of Libraries in the Digital Age – Part I

It was 2 am, and Earl was at his laptop feeling a mixture of nervousness, excitement and empowerment, ready to click on the publish button. His wife was fast asleep in the bedroom and the moon was shining through his open window as if congratulating him on this momentous occasion- He was finally ready to publish his own eBook!

The last 4 months had been transformational for Earl because he finally found a way to share his family memoir with the rest of the world. Most importantly, due to some combination of luck and coincidence, he was able to find a community and support network that provided him the tools, mentorship and strategies to launch his own book and share his story with the word.

To be honest, Earl did have a historically significant and remarkable story to share. His family was one of the first settlers in British Columbia and the stories in his books were handed down from one generation to another.

Over the years, after speaking to numerous relatives and close friends he was able to glean information to embark on his dream of publishing his own family memoir.

However, that was just the beginning of his journey. He didn’t have any experience with publishing, but what he heard from acquaintances was that getting a book deal meant building strong relationships with the publishers, multiple redrafts and numerous rejections… They were right.

When Earl finally began visiting publisher offices, ready with his manuscript, he was asked to leave the documents at the office with hopes that he would get a reply soon. The general reply he got after few weeks was in the form of a rejection letter.

A few months later, he was almost ready to give up his dreams of publishing his family memoir. Heart breaking as it was, he woke up and realized that he needed to provide for his wife and his pet Labrador. So far, he was able to pursue his dreams as much he had because his children were grown up and had their own families.

Realising that he needed to get a job, feeling heartbroken and depressed, he headed to the local library to return a cart full of reference books that he had borrowed to help write his book and that is when everything changed.

In the next article you will find out exactly what happened that helped Earl on his journey towards becoming an author and sharing his story with the world.