Discoverability?
I’m hearing about it all the time in the blogs now because no one knows how it works. We’re all searching for the magic bullet and so far no one has found it.
Readers want an easy way to find books; authors want an easy way to find readers. No one knows where to find the other. We need some kind of dating service.
So many people have tried or are trying to come up with a solution, but so far it’s really been hit or miss – sometimes you come across something interesting, most times you don’t. One client of mine wants to create a Goodreads type of website, but without the trolls. He envisions a place where readers and authors can get together to discuss books in a calm, happy and productive way. I imagine it being sort of like your favorite book-club, but on-line. People read a book and recommend it. People who like a similar genre will somehow be steered toward either the person recommending or the book itself.
The trick is that Goodreads tried this. It worked for a while, until the nasties moved in and started attacking books, authors and then each other. Now it’s not a pleasant place to go and I know a good number of people who avoid it all together.
Amazon has it’s automated suggestions – people who bought this also bought. That actually works a lot of time. But it leaves the authors out of it. A new author can’t make a suggestion saying “I’m coming out with a new book. People who liked this book by this other author would like mine.”
There are the hundreds (thousands?) of blogs for readers by readers where authors can come and submit books for consideration – to be reviewed, usually. There are loads of websites for indie authors to join and upload descriptions of their books. I have yet to make a connection on any of these blogs to an actual reader despite the fact that they claim to make that possible.
I find books to read through my friends’ postings on Facebook (I may be a writer, but I’m also an avid reader, as good writer should be). That doesn’t mean that I only read my friends’ books, because I have wonderful friends who promote their friends books, or just books they’ve read and loved. I also happen to have a friend who reads and writes reviews of romance novels for Kirkus – her suggestions are always taken very seriously, naturally.
But I’m always searching for a new way, another way, to find books and allow readers to find mine—and I don’t think that Bookbub is the answer.
Where do you find books to read? Have you been successful in getting your books into the hands of those who you’re pretty sure want to read it and aren’t just buying it because it’s free or on sale for .99? Is there a solution to book discoverability or are we just going to continue floundering around in the dark for years to come? Thoughts?
