With thousands of read-worthy books in any bookstore and library,
what most influences you to buy a book?
Truly, I am intrigued by this question, but I won't lie... this information could really help us in our marketing efforts.
Every Tom, Dick and Harry (and no offense to the wonderful men named Tom, Dick and Harry out there!) wants to charge us exorbitant fees for marketing. Problem is I keep thinking back to what makes me pick up a novel to purchase. I can honestly say 85% of all the books I buy are recommended to me by friends or are on my book club list. This is why we've focused on getting the book out there to as many friends and family as possible (to start) and hope they recommend it to their friends, book clubs, family, etc.
The other 15% are roughly broken down as follows:
5% - Authors I've read before and feel I can trust to write a good novel when other pickings are slim (often I'm disappointed in subsequent authors' books, so I don't often trust this)
5% - Magazine articles I've read (most notably top 10 annual books or featured books in the occasional People or Entertainment Weekly magazine - I might be a bit high-brow with my novel criteria, but not at ALL with my magazines!)
5% - everything else: movies I've seen but hadn't read the book, browsing the bookstore because I'm waiting on my kids to pick or book (or more often, browsing Amazon to find a purchase to qualify for free shipping), morning news programs highlighting a book, etc.
We really NEED your input. Personally, I don't think it's very productive to pay a marketing firm to pursue magazines or place Advertisements, but maybe that's how other people choose their reads.
Let us know!! Don't be afraid to comment. Your input helps us!
3 comments:
Most of the books I read are dictated by book clubs, but when they take a hiatus during the summer or I have extra time to sneak in one extra book, I have stacks laying around ready to grab. Where do these come from? Mostly, word of mouth, but occasionally I will find a jewel while browsing at the book store. Of course, by the time I get hooked, have a couple of cups of coffee, I walk out with a half read book. I won't even let the clerk bag it. I want to make sure it's available each time I stop at the light or get in a traffic jam. A good book can capture you like that - a true narcotic! Read on, Angela Silverthorne
I haven't read the book yet - I am going to. I am totally confused about the theme based on the title. My first thought, not knowing anything would be that this book is about the Depression era. Aside from this I would head right to the Best Sellers display to look for a book, ask friends or check the Costco latest because they are usually up on selecting popular books. Also who is your target market?
To the last commenter-er, I appreciate your confusion on the title (please see the FAQs tab on this blog for some clarification as we've heard that comment several times). However, most titles don't clearly define theme and instead become clearer as you read the book (most and in my opinion of course). For instance, Stones from the River doesn't reek of a story about a dwarf in Germany and I just bought The Elegance of the Hedgehog based on friends' recommendation with NO idea what the book is about based on title. I hope this helps, and glad to know you'll be reading the book. Happy Friday to you.
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