Reader Research #5 - What can we learn from our readers? (Female, 20-30 yrs)
I asked 6 readers what they shop for on Amazon.com when looking for e-books for their Kindle.
Here's what reader number five had to say:BIO: This reader is a female, aged 20-25 years old and is an indie writer.The first question I asked this young reader was what she tends to look for most when shopping for books online. She advised cover designs, book descriptions and prices. She says that 'the book cover is the first thing we see along with the title. I think it's what lures you to click and read more. Then, I want to know what the book is actually about. In a shop you would pick up a paperback because you like the look', she continues to say, 'the last thing I look at is the price'.She advised me that she has no preference when it comes to indie or traditional books. 'I'm an indie author but I usually buy paperback books from traditionally published authors, mostly because indies tend to opt for Kindle only. Kindle books are different. They are usually much cheaper so I often download indie books to read when I have some time'.I asked this reader what her genre preferences were and she said those about disasters and 'end of the world' books. She likes to imagine what the end of the world will be like after her time or 'how the human race might react if something happened during my lifetime. I like zombie books because I am both terrified of them and can't get enough of them, so you could say I like horror books because they are equally as creepy and scary.'When asked to explain further, she said 'I'm picky when it comes to my fantasy genres. I like epic and dark fantasy but I'm not into shifter romances or things that look as though they should be categorised with 50 shades.' I asked if she's read the books. She admitted she had. 'I tend to pick up anything that looks good'.We moved on to discuss reviews and what might sway their decision to buy a book online. She sais that 'I think verified reviews are great because it shows that people are actually buying on Amazon but it doesn't mean to say they aren't legitimate if not. I've reviewed books on Amazon before having bought them elsewhere. I just wanted to share how good they were.' I asked her to again explain further and was advised, 'Amazon is a huge retailer and a lot of people who buy, do so on their websites. It makes sense to review on there.'I asked her how often she would recommend a book on social media and she said occasonally, when it's special. She likes books with morals behind them or that stay with her, emotionally. She recommends by word of mouth. 'When I've finished reading them and I'm still thinking it over several days later, I'll recommend it. I don't do so online often. i just re-tweet or share things that others have posted.'She prefers emotional books with messages to share and says she can tell if a book online is self-published when there is a poor cover, editing or the book is perma-free. This doesn't put her off buying one though.'Of course I think it's wonderful, however I do agree there are books out there that let the side down. Books where the cover is terrible are tacky and disappointing. They are completely unnecessary. I'm not overly bothered about prose or picky with characters etc because some traditionally published books are riddled with issues like this. I do think betas are important though.'To fix this, she advises, 'fix the cover. It should be difficult to tell the difference between traditional and indie books. I'd like to see less erotica and romance out there. I worry self-publishing will soon be associated only with those kinds of books.'We briefly discussed bad language and violent scenes, but she said they don't bother her. 'i don't like to see it placed in a book for the sake of it'. She agrees it's ok when the genre and circumstances require it.Finally I asked if she would leave a review in exchange for a free digital copy. She said she wouldn't expect her own betas to pay for a book as they are doing her a favour proofing it, but the reviews would still have to be legitimate and honest. 'I don't feel obliged to give the author good feedback because I didn't pay for a book - the author needs the truth.'
What did I learn from this interview? What can indie writers take from this reader's feedback?I enjoyed reading through this because the reader likes the same genres I do, or near enough.This reader's interest is first drawn to the cover and she uses buying in a shop as an example, picking up the book because of the cover, checking out the description, then looking at the price. If everything fits, it's a sale. If not, the reader moves on. I think this is an interesting way to compare to online shopping. If you think about it, we do the same. We click on an item because the image looks good, then we read about that item, then we decide if it's worth the asking price. To me, a book is the same.This reader again has no problems with indie publishing but agrees some are letting the side down with poor covers, editing and perma-free, which give away the books that are self-published. She says it's not always a bad thing, but she wishes there was less erotica on the digital shelves.This might be something for writers of this genre to note - can you make your cover/s and your descriptions different? How can you make them stand out from the others out there to grab the attention of those with a similar opinion to this reader? I must agree to some extent (despite having just released a romance story myself) that the digital shelves are packed with books containing adult content, some of which do appear to be of very poor quality. However, there are also some stunning books out there. How can we make ours unique enough to squash this view?Prior to this, she said she likes books with emotional strength and morals that she's still thinking about days later, so she tends to recommend these more and shares things related to that on social media. This suggests if you have a book with such a strong lesson, create some marketing material and get it out there. Readers like this will force your voice out across their followers, but they may not create content for you. Quotes, inspirational paragraphs from the book and related photos are always a great way to engage readers and hook new ones.In every interview so far, readers have advised that bad language isn't an issue if it has a purpose - this one is no different. However, she says that indie and traditional books should be difficult to tell apart. Personally (based on the book I'm reading now that's indie), I have noticed a lot of violence and bad language and wonder if this is due to there being fewer moderators on the way to success. This does not by any means suggest a negative - I'm actually addicted to this book and have recommended it a lot in the past few weeks (it's a big book!), but it might be something to think about when releasing an indie book.Finally, another reader who feels free books in exchange for reviews are fine, so long as they are legitimate and honest. She herself agrees she'd have no problems doing the author this favour, but wouldn't leave good feedback just to protect their feelings. She says 'authors need the truth'.I hope this has helped all you indies out there. The final reader research interview will be live on my blog tomorrow (oct 4th, 2016), so check back soon!
Here's what reader number five had to say:BIO: This reader is a female, aged 20-25 years old and is an indie writer.The first question I asked this young reader was what she tends to look for most when shopping for books online. She advised cover designs, book descriptions and prices. She says that 'the book cover is the first thing we see along with the title. I think it's what lures you to click and read more. Then, I want to know what the book is actually about. In a shop you would pick up a paperback because you like the look', she continues to say, 'the last thing I look at is the price'.She advised me that she has no preference when it comes to indie or traditional books. 'I'm an indie author but I usually buy paperback books from traditionally published authors, mostly because indies tend to opt for Kindle only. Kindle books are different. They are usually much cheaper so I often download indie books to read when I have some time'.I asked this reader what her genre preferences were and she said those about disasters and 'end of the world' books. She likes to imagine what the end of the world will be like after her time or 'how the human race might react if something happened during my lifetime. I like zombie books because I am both terrified of them and can't get enough of them, so you could say I like horror books because they are equally as creepy and scary.'When asked to explain further, she said 'I'm picky when it comes to my fantasy genres. I like epic and dark fantasy but I'm not into shifter romances or things that look as though they should be categorised with 50 shades.' I asked if she's read the books. She admitted she had. 'I tend to pick up anything that looks good'.We moved on to discuss reviews and what might sway their decision to buy a book online. She sais that 'I think verified reviews are great because it shows that people are actually buying on Amazon but it doesn't mean to say they aren't legitimate if not. I've reviewed books on Amazon before having bought them elsewhere. I just wanted to share how good they were.' I asked her to again explain further and was advised, 'Amazon is a huge retailer and a lot of people who buy, do so on their websites. It makes sense to review on there.'I asked her how often she would recommend a book on social media and she said occasonally, when it's special. She likes books with morals behind them or that stay with her, emotionally. She recommends by word of mouth. 'When I've finished reading them and I'm still thinking it over several days later, I'll recommend it. I don't do so online often. i just re-tweet or share things that others have posted.'She prefers emotional books with messages to share and says she can tell if a book online is self-published when there is a poor cover, editing or the book is perma-free. This doesn't put her off buying one though.'Of course I think it's wonderful, however I do agree there are books out there that let the side down. Books where the cover is terrible are tacky and disappointing. They are completely unnecessary. I'm not overly bothered about prose or picky with characters etc because some traditionally published books are riddled with issues like this. I do think betas are important though.'To fix this, she advises, 'fix the cover. It should be difficult to tell the difference between traditional and indie books. I'd like to see less erotica and romance out there. I worry self-publishing will soon be associated only with those kinds of books.'We briefly discussed bad language and violent scenes, but she said they don't bother her. 'i don't like to see it placed in a book for the sake of it'. She agrees it's ok when the genre and circumstances require it.Finally I asked if she would leave a review in exchange for a free digital copy. She said she wouldn't expect her own betas to pay for a book as they are doing her a favour proofing it, but the reviews would still have to be legitimate and honest. 'I don't feel obliged to give the author good feedback because I didn't pay for a book - the author needs the truth.'What did I learn from this interview? What can indie writers take from this reader's feedback?I enjoyed reading through this because the reader likes the same genres I do, or near enough.This reader's interest is first drawn to the cover and she uses buying in a shop as an example, picking up the book because of the cover, checking out the description, then looking at the price. If everything fits, it's a sale. If not, the reader moves on. I think this is an interesting way to compare to online shopping. If you think about it, we do the same. We click on an item because the image looks good, then we read about that item, then we decide if it's worth the asking price. To me, a book is the same.This reader again has no problems with indie publishing but agrees some are letting the side down with poor covers, editing and perma-free, which give away the books that are self-published. She says it's not always a bad thing, but she wishes there was less erotica on the digital shelves.This might be something for writers of this genre to note - can you make your cover/s and your descriptions different? How can you make them stand out from the others out there to grab the attention of those with a similar opinion to this reader? I must agree to some extent (despite having just released a romance story myself) that the digital shelves are packed with books containing adult content, some of which do appear to be of very poor quality. However, there are also some stunning books out there. How can we make ours unique enough to squash this view?Prior to this, she said she likes books with emotional strength and morals that she's still thinking about days later, so she tends to recommend these more and shares things related to that on social media. This suggests if you have a book with such a strong lesson, create some marketing material and get it out there. Readers like this will force your voice out across their followers, but they may not create content for you. Quotes, inspirational paragraphs from the book and related photos are always a great way to engage readers and hook new ones.In every interview so far, readers have advised that bad language isn't an issue if it has a purpose - this one is no different. However, she says that indie and traditional books should be difficult to tell apart. Personally (based on the book I'm reading now that's indie), I have noticed a lot of violence and bad language and wonder if this is due to there being fewer moderators on the way to success. This does not by any means suggest a negative - I'm actually addicted to this book and have recommended it a lot in the past few weeks (it's a big book!), but it might be something to think about when releasing an indie book.Finally, another reader who feels free books in exchange for reviews are fine, so long as they are legitimate and honest. She herself agrees she'd have no problems doing the author this favour, but wouldn't leave good feedback just to protect their feelings. She says 'authors need the truth'.I hope this has helped all you indies out there. The final reader research interview will be live on my blog tomorrow (oct 4th, 2016), so check back soon!
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