Reader Research: #2: What can we learn from our readers? (20-30 yrs, Female)

I asked 6 readers what they shop for on Amazon.com when looking for e-books for their Kindle.Here's what reader number two had to say:BIO: this reader was a female in her 20's, reading mostly fantasy and dark fantasy books. I did not find out any further information about this reader.To begin the interview, I asked what this reader looks for when shopping online. She advised cover design, book description and the author name. 'A good cover helps me to paint a picture in my mind of what the novel could be about. But I don't judge a book by its cover so read the description on the back to get the gist of the story. If it sounds good and intriguing, I add it to my 'to buy/ to read' list.' She continued by saying 'I tend to buy from authors I know about. Purely because I've either read some of their other work before or they've been recommended to me and I enjoyed reading it.'She gave the example of Charlaine Harris as she's seen the television series True Blood and bought the books to follow. She then shopped for the Grave and Aurora Teagarden books. She also mentions Fifty Shades of Grey. 'I only started to read the series as I saw many of my friends on Facebook mentioning it so wanted to see what all the fuss was about.'I then asked her whether she shops mostly for indie or traditionally published books, to which she said 'traditionally (large publishing houses such as Penguin/ Harper Collins etc)'. She said that she has always bought new books from Waterstones and WHSmiths, however since a friend of hers became self-published, she's broadening her reading material and having a look at indie books too.Her genre preference was certainly clear when she said 'I love fantasy and vampires, fae, were-animals, other supernatural beings and everything that comes with them. I think I found myself drawn to this genre after watching True Blood. This was the start of an obsession and serious attachment for the past 7 years. When the series ended I cried a lot. It's the mystery, excitement and thrills that the genre brings that keeps you wanting more.'She later said that after reading True Blood, she immediately pictures vampire characters as Eric Northman because 'who doesn't want a tall, handsome viking vampire in their life?' She also loves fantasy because it gets her away from reality and with such a busy life it's hard to escape the pressures. 'Reading something that's not from our world gives you that escape. You can forget your worries for a while and relax, maybe even imagine yourself as a character.'She continued to enjoy other television series adapted from books such as the Vampire Diaries after True Blood ended. 'The genre has so many twists and turns, although always with one main storyline, there are many plots that link to each other in one way or another and cross from time to time.'Moving away from genre, I asked her if reviews and verified purchases sway her decisions when shopping, to which she replied 'I read the reviews after having a look at the description. If others have liked it and rated 4-5 stars, I consider buying it. Mainly the book description makes more of an impact.' She then went on to say she recommends almost every book she buys if she enjoys it.She advised if she enjoyed reading the book and there are others in the series then she'll like the page on Facebook and follow the author. 'I have this odd book quirk where if I have one book of the series and enjoyed it, I have to buy the entire series'.She loves Charlaine Harris for emotional and entertainment reasons. She thinks they have important lessons and also that plenty of cool stuff happens.I asked the reader if she can tell when a book is self published and she said 'yes, when the editing is poor'. She says, 'In my honest opinion, justtake time on the novel and make sure it's the best it could be. I believe a self-published author can have the same quality of work.'On the topic of bad language, she says it would depend on the genre, but it wouldn't put her off buying or reading a book. She would also be willing to read a free book in exchange for a review. 'I'm an avid reader and maybe my review can help others try a new genre'.She had no further comments to add to this interview.What did I learn from this interview? What can indie writers take from this reader's feedback?As a writer of fantasy this was an interesting interview for me, because I learned an awful lot about the connections young readers make between television adaptations of books and the books themselves. This interview suggested the reader found Charlaine Harris through the television series on HBO. It can be a scary thought for a writer of fantasy when books aren't our readers' first discovery.However, it was comforting to see that she has no issues with indie books having learned about them through a friend. I got the feeling this had opened her eyes to a new world of fiction, which appeared to be more exciting to her than anything else. This gives us hope, particularly when you read her reasons for loving fantasy. Indie writers can be very creative and often offer books in series form, which immediately meets this reader's needs (she even buys the full series if she likes book one!).I still get the impression that reviews and book description are next in line to cover design. I'd again advise that you make your sales page as professional and 'like a traditionally published book' as possible, because although this young reader now has no issues with indie books, she wasn't aware of them prior to her friend's success. This tells me that it's not quite as popular and well known as we assume, but that poor quality is still easily noticable from our writing.My thoughts on having a social media presence were confirmed after hearing she uses it for following authors. She she likes books where cool stuff happens (entertainment value) but also books with an emotional value (lessons to learn). This stresses the importance of reason behind our writing - why are we telling this story and why will our readers care?However, indies might struggle to find a reader like this because she does shop by author name and in major retailer stores too, which would rule out a lot of lesser known names and indie works. Still, she shops to satisfy curiosity. If you could get the book to her and support it with another reader's positive comments, you could easily grab her attention.Again this reader had no problem with bad language/ violence depending on the genre, which tells me there are some genres she may not expect the above content to be in. Perhaps indies need to keep these scenes to a minimum and ensure they are age appropriate and are of course necessary.Finally, this reader said she would review books for free to help others find new books to read, interestingly mentioning nothing about how legitimate they would seem or Amazon's rules. This causes me to ask, are non verified purchases on Amazon really that big of a deal? This young lady seems to think not and that sharing entertaining books is more important than technicalities.I hope this was helpful to you indies out there. There's more where that came from. Re-visit tomorrow for another fantastic reader research interview. Many thanks!