Here’s a question every writer gets from time to time: if I borrow your book from the library, aren’t I depriving you of income?

Maybe not. In fact you may well be helping us in what’s rarely a well-paid profession. Libraries buy their ebook licences in the first place. In over thirty countries, including the UK, Canada and Australia, though sadly not the US, authors are paid every time a book is borrowed, through a scheme called Public Lending Right. In the UK it’s run by the British Library and pays around 12p per loan for print, ebook and audiobook loans. That’s not a fortune per loan, but it adds up, and for many authors it’s a growing part of their income. The scheme is also capped at £6,600 a year per author so the big guys who don’t need the money don’t eat up the pot for the rest of us. A library loan also puts a book in front of readers who might never have bought it, and some of them go on to buy the next one. So please borrow away. If your library doesn’t stock the books you want, here’s how to ask.

1. Try Libby first

If you borrow through Libby, search for the title. If nothing comes up, switch on the “deep search” filter to see titles beyond your library’s collection, then tag the book with the Notify Me smart tag. Your interest is shared anonymously with your library, and if they buy the title you’ll be notified and can borrow or reserve it straight away. Not every library enables this, unfortunately. There’s more in Libby’s own guide. The older “Recommend to Library” option in the OverDrive app and on OverDrive library websites is a separate system, and those requests don’t appear in Libby.

2. Otherwise, use your library’s request form

Have the details ready: title, author, publisher, format (ebook or audiobook), and above all the ISBN, the 13-digit number on the retail listing. It tells the library exactly which edition you mean.

The form’s wording varies: “Suggest a Title” (Seattle Public Library), “Recommend a Title” (New York Public Library), “Suggest a Purchase”, or “Stock suggestion” at many UK councils. Look under Books & Media, Help or Services, or within the online catalogue. Many libraries, including Hackney and Kensington and Chelsea, only show the form once you’ve logged in with your card number and PIN. If there’s no form at all, email, phone or ask at the desk, which works just as well.

Thank you for reading, and for supporting libraries. Authors love them as much as readers do, especially in countries with a PLR scheme.

Good news to share: When the Germans Come has been chosen for a UK BookBub feature this September, running in their historical fiction list on the 9th.

If you don’t know BookBub, it’s one of the biggest deal-alert services for readers, and a feature like this puts the book in front of a huge number of people who love historical fiction but may never have come across Louis Renard, Jessica Marshall, or wartime Dover otherwise. It’s a genuinely useful boost, courtesy of my publisher, Bloodhound Books.

For anyone who hasn’t picked it up yet: it’s 1940, and Dover is bracing for a German invasion that could come any day. Jessica Marshall, a Canadian journalist, is filing stories from the town that nobody back home wants to print. Louis Renard, a former Scotland Yard detective still recovering from Dunkirk, is trying to hold together a police station that’s barely functioning. Then a dancer is found murdered in one of the town’s secret underground bunkers — and the two of them are pulled into a case that exposes just how exposed and fragile this corner of England really is.

If you enjoyed the book, this would be a lovely week to leave a review, or to mention it on social media — every bit of noise around a BookBub feature helps. And if you haven’t read it yet, the 9th of September is a good moment to grab a copy.

When the Germans Come is available on Amazon UK.