What Makes You Buy a Book?

Zoë Sharp

Last week I read a very interesting article by indie author Maggie Lynch on the Alliance of Independent Authors website about what makes readers buy books.

Maggie has clearly gone into a great deal of depth on this subject, including doing a questionnaire with her own email list. If you want to read the full study, follow the link above to the piece.

She also quotes from a very scientific survey done for the Australia Council of the Arts in 2016, which covers all kinds of genres, including non-fiction, and a lot of details on how else people spend their leisure time.

Maggie mentions various other surveys and studies, from which the answers vary quite a bit as to what are the main points of influence for book buying. A good deal of it seemed to revolve around what questions were asked and how they were phrased, although generally, we didn’t get to see that part.

Among Maggie’s own readership, the most important factor was how well known the author was to the reader, closely followed by the cover, if the book was recommended by a friend (as opposed to being recommended via social media, which rated much lower), the description, and if it was part of a series. Way down the list was apparent bestseller status, literary prizes won, or who the book was published by.

In the Australia Council of the Arts results, however, the subject matter was by far the most important aspect, although it doesn’t specify fiction or non-fiction here. That the reader had read and enjoyed previous works by that author was second (the reputation of the author was sixth) and third was that the book was available in the format the reader wanted – something that didn’t make it into the top ten on Maggie’s list. Number five was the price of the book.

Other interesting information that came up was that type size was quite a factor, which applies only to print books. People were far more influenced by prizes, and by reader reviews rather than by professional reviews. Recommendations by librarians or booksellers were also taken seriously.

Just as a point of clarity, on some of the results, ‘blurbs’ were listed as a factor. It was not always clear what was meant by that. To me, a blurb is an endorsement on the front of the book by another author or a quote from a review. The brief synopsis of the book’s subject matter I would always refer to as ‘jacket copy’ or ‘flap copy’ as it’s found on the back of the paperback, or the inside flap of the hardcover.

Mark Dawson did a survey of his readership last year, although it differs from the others because, as Maggie points out, it was asking what influenced people who had already purchased Mark’s books. He asked how people found him, for which advertising, such as BookBub promotions and Facebook ads ranked top, with Amazon Also Bought suggestions next, and a very low incidence of personal recommendation.

Mark also found that the blurb (and reading the transcript of the podcast he did on the subject, which you can find via the link above, meant the jacket copy description) was most important, followed by reviews, the Look Inside excerpt, and then the cover a distant fourth.

I know my own reasons for buying books have changed a lot in the last few years and they vary a lot depending on the format of the book. I buy physical books using different criteria to ebooks, and I buy them for different reasons.

If I’m buying non-fiction research books, then if the price is not too steep, I’d far rather have a physical copy. It’s much easier to flip back and forth and stick Post-it notes in a ‘real’ book than an ebook. But if it’s something that may only yield one or two pertinent facts, or if time is a factor, an ebook would be fine.

I receive a daily digest from BookBub of books on sale, so there’s an incentive to buy them there and then, before the offer window closes. In this case, the brief couple of sentences about the story has to really intrigue and appeal. The number of five-star ratings have no effect on my choice, nor do review quotes unless they particularly mention an aspect of the story that grabs me.

The cover doesn’t sway me except in a negative way – a really poor cover will put me off. If I like the sound of the plot, I’ll go and read the full jacket copy description on the book page, and if it still sounds good, I’ll do a Look Inside to see if I like the sound of that writer’s voice.

I keep stressing this – the writer’s voice is what keeps me coming back to an author time and again. When I see adverts that say: ‘If you like Jack Reacher or Mitch Rapp, you need to read…’ they don’t inspire me to check out the book, because even if the character was a carbon copy of Reacher, the writing style would not be the same as Lee Child.

In print, I’m far more fussy. There are authors whose books I will buy automatically as soon as they come out, like Lee. But having far less space for books means I have to be very hooked in order to want to give up precious bookshelf space. If I know the author personally, I’m far more likely to buy a physical copy and have them sign it for me, which makes it more special.

So, what influences your book choices?

Here are some of the reasons mentioned, in alphabetical order. Are any of these a factor?

·            Author familiarity or reputation

·            Advertising

·            Bestseller status of author or book

·            Book trailer video

·            Cover design

·            Endorsements (blurbs)

·            Format

·            Indie vs traditionally published author

·            Jacket copy description

·            Length of the book

·            Literary prize-winner or nominee

·            Look Inside segment or website excerpt

·            Price/offer

·            Publisher

·            Recommendations from family/friends

·            Recommendations from librarian/bookseller

·            Recommendations on social media

·            Reviews (professional)

·            Reviews (reader)

·            Series character

·            Setting

·            Subject

·            Type size

This week’s Word of the Week is cly-faker, meaning a pickpocket, using fake in its nineteenth-century slang sense of to rob or steal, and cly from claw or possibly from the Dutch kleed meaning a garment.