Some Insights About Book Buying Habits

Take a minute and consider where you you bought your last few books. Was it in a brick and mortar bookstore? Did you buy them at an event or from an online retailer like Amazon? Was the book new or used?


As a long-term reader, I often purchase books. Last weekend I was at the third Writers on the Rock Conference and heard Allen Arnold speak.  For years, Arnold worked as an editor and publisher at Thomas Nelson Publishers and now he is working with best-selling author John Eldredge.  At the end of his keynote, Arnold mentioned his book, The Story of WITH which he sold for the discounted $10. I was interested to learn  Arnold self-published his book and I was glad to get an autographed copy and look forward to reading it.

This week I was talking with another long-term friend who is in publishing and he mentioned how he buys his books online from Amazon which offers choices whether to get a new book or a used version. We were talking about book buying habits because of the publishing news about Family Christian Bookstores closing 240 stores and over 3,000 employees losing their jobs. 

Several years ago, Family Christian Bookstores went into bankruptcy and had emerged from that situation. Publishers were the principal vendors who took a hit when Family Christian Bookstores went into bankruptcy.  One of the domino or related actions from this bankruptcy was the sale of Gospel Light. This family-owned publisher had a long-term history in the market and was sold to two different publishers.  Family Christian Bookstores owed Gospel Light $143,000. This debt was too large for Gospel Light to absorb and forced them into bankruptcy. The numbers of brick and mortar bookstores nationwide have been declining. Literary agent Steve Laube wrote more details about the closing of Family Christian in this article.

About four years ago when I lived in Arizona, a couple in my local church took part of their life savings and opened a Christian bookstore. It had several challenges from the beginning. While my friends had good motives, they did not come from a book or publishing background.  I knew way more about books, authors and the publishing business than they did. While eager to learn, they had a lot of ground to cover from a business perspective. Also the store was located in a shopping center and two doors from a well-known Hallmark store.  I often would drop by the nearby bookstore and talk with them and purchase things (if I needed them). Ultimately these friends closed their bookstore right about when I moved from Arizona. As I watched this store, it was an upfront and close lesson about some of the challenges of the brick and mortar retail business—and in particular in the Christian market.

A little off my topic but related: last week I went to Target to buy some blank audio cassette tapes for a new project. They didn't have any of them and were selling only one brand of tape recorder. Then I went to Office Depot who didn't have tapes in their store but said I could order them from their website online with free shipping. I ordered the tapes—only to have the online store cancel my order later in the day because the product wasn't available.[I don't know why I received a cancellation message because today the tapes showed up so I probably double ordered]. I attempted to buy this product at a brick and mortar store yet had to order it online from Amazon.

The book buying habits of consumers continue to change. Most of us have a smartphone in our pocket so wee can compare prices even standing in an actual store to see if we can get it less online. As I've written in these pages, the self-publishing world of books continues to increase (to the tune of over 5,000 new books every day—traditional and self-publishing combined). It's why every author has to continue to work on increasing their own audience (platform). Get my Platform Building Ideas for Every Author free ebook and use these ideas in your own writing.

In the comments below, let me know where you buy books. Book buying is a complex issue with no simple answers. All any author can do is offer your product in multiple formats (print, ebook, audio) and as many different venues as possible (online and brick and mortar). Our world is full of choices so you have to offer the consumer the broadest possible choices for your books.

Tweetable:

Have your book buying habits changed? Get these insights from a publishing expert. (ClickToTweet)
 

Discover New Authors and New Books

How do you find new books and new authors? As you answer this question, consider your own writing and books. What action steps are you taking to be in these places where you are finding books?

The answer to this question of discoverability for books continues to change as our world and culture change. Some people find new books through Goodreads.  Over 40 million readers are on Goodreads. If you are an author, you need to check out this inexpensive teleseminar then apply the lessons to your own books. It will boost the discoverability for your books. Several months ago, I had registered for Goodreads but didn't even have my picture on my author profile (a big sign of my lack of activity on Goodreads).  I changed my involvement on Goodreads and now I have 5,000 friends on this site (which I learned when I hit this number is the maximum for friends). I believe my activity on this site is boosting discoverability for my books—and it is not taking much of time. 

Word of mouth continues to be the best way to discover new books. I commonly take recommendations from friends when we speak together. While many have tried to study word of mouth, to most people, it remains a mystery how to use word of mouth to promote or spread the word about books.

I find new authors and new books at my public library. The recommendations of librarians and the displays at libraries have influence with readers.

I receive a number of electronic press releases from publicists and through reading those releases I learn about new authors and new books. It's another method that I use to find new authors and books.

I read trade magazines and online newsletters like Shelf Awareness or Publishers Weekly and find new authors and new books to read.

Also I go into bookstores and browse books. While I do this process, less than I used to do, I still enjoy this experience of holding the book, reading the back cover and learning about different authors. I hope you saw the news about Family Christian Bookstores coming out of bankruptcy last week. I was pleased to learn over 200 bookstores will remain in business.

I encourage you to study the Christianity Today article and you will see that the bankruptcy of Family Christian has had a domino effect to other areas of the Christian publishing world. The old-long established publisher Gospel Light which filed for bankruptcy. As the CT article said, “It was a contributing factor in our need to seek court protection,” Gospel Light CEO Dave Thornton told CT. “We had to write off $143,000 in expected income, and we’re a smaller, family-owned Christian publishing company that didn’t have deep enough pockets to sustain that, combined with other unexpected losses this spring.” It makes you wonder what other things are going to happen from the Family Christian bankruptcy.

Recently I heard a podcast from Susan Meissner. I have known Susan for several years but not read any of her books. During the podcast, she mentioned her historical novel, Secrets to a Charmed Life. I found my local library had this novel so I got it and began reading it this past week. I can see why Susan Meissner  has a growing fan base for her work. It is evident from over 580 customer reviews on Amazon for this book which released in mid-February. I've not completed this novel but find the story spell-binding. As I've read this novel, I've become a fan of Susan's work.

There are many different ways to discover new authors and new books. If you are an author, I encourage you to:

1. Make sure your book is available in as many different formats as possible. For example, some people only read Ebooks while others prefer audio books or print copies. You want to reach a variety of readers in these diverse markets.

2. Be aware of where your book is being sold online and in the retail market. For example, I learned one of my Morgan James author's books was not available on a certain Christian online site. I called it to the attention of our marketing department and they are investigating it—and trying to resolve it. If I had not been reading my email and responding to it and others on the Morgan James Publishing team, we would be unaware of it and working toward a resolution. It takes a team and you need to be using your team. If you are self-publishing, are you gathering a team to create this synergy?

3. Be telling others about good books that you read—in emails and in person. If you read a good book, when you finish, take a few minutes to write a few sentences of honest review on Amazon and Goodreads.  Use your social media and other connections to spread the news about good books and excellent authors.

We live in a complex world but you can spread the word about good books to others and encourage others to help you spread the news about your books. We need each other.