An author at a conference recently asked me for tips on publishing on the Kindle and then said that he didn’t actually read books on digital devices.
I was kind of gob-smacked because how else are you going to know if there are problems until you start getting 1 star reviews?
When you publish a print book, don’t you buy it immediately to test the process and the quality? So why not do the same for ebooks?
If you’re going to digitally publish, I believe you should own an e-reader, even if just to test how your book looks. They aren’t expensive anymore so there is no excuse.
It’s also important to understand how ebook readers shop, because they are the high-volume readers, the ones who will make up the bulk of your digital sales.
How do ebook readers shop for books?
I read around 95% digitally, on a Kindle Paperwhite and through the Kindle app on my iPhone. I don’t own every device but I certainly test the .mobi format on Kindle and the ePub format on my desktop reader and my iPad and iPhone. I am also a voracious reader, getting through 3-5 books per week, more on holidays. Not having a TV helps!
This is how I shop:
a) I hear about a book on twitter, or I see one at a physical bookstore, or see a review somewhere, or find something I like in the Amazon store Top rankings for categories I like. I surf for fun in the Last 30 Days area.
b) If the book is available as an ebook, I download the sample right away and put it into a collection marked Samples. If the book isn’t available as an ebook, 99% of the time I won’t buy it unless it is an author I am committed to. I have other Collections on my Kindle marked ‘To Read’ which are books I have bought but haven’t started yet, “Reading” for ones I am reading now and “Make Notes On / Review” for those I want to revisit to write notes on or review on Amazon & Goodreads.
c) In between books I am currently reading, I go through my samples. If I make it to the end of the sample, I will usually buy the book because I am hooked. If I don’t, I delete the sample. No sale. I usually give a book 3 clicks of my Kindle before I delete it. Harsh, maybe, but life is too short to read books that don’t call to you.
So your marketing efforts, your book cover, your book description and reviews have helped your book get this far, but it is the sample that leads me to buy. I probably delete 60-75% of my samples so I have a harsh approach, but I don’t think I am an untypical example of a high volume ebook reader (although if you are one also, I’d love to know what you think in the comments!)
Make sure your sample makes the reader want to buy
Your book has to start with something that hooks the reader.
This isn’t new advice – if you want an agent, the first page has to hook them, and readers of print in bookstores may browse the first page, but because there are so many ebooks available, readers are increasingly unforgiving if a book doesn’t fit what they are looking for.
Here’s some tips:
- Get into the meat as soon as possible. Put all the acknowledgements and extra stuff at the back, not within the sample. I was severely annoyed recently to download an Angela Carter anthology of short stories to find that the entire sample was an essay about her work and the stories didn’t come until later. I looked for a better version.
- During the editing process, make sure you pay particular attention to what will hook the reader. If non-fiction, what is the problem you’re solving. If fiction, why would the reader read on? What have you caught their attention with? What loops have you opened mentally that they must close?
- Make sure the formatting is excellent and easy to read throughout. I have deleted samples straight away when they start with coding errors. It denotes a lack of respect for the reader. This is why you need to test and curiously this has happened with more traditionally published books than indie. Seriously, one book was entirely formatted in Bold. Did no-one even check it? (Make sure this doesn’t happen to you!)
- If non-fiction, DO include the table of contents. If fiction, your chapters don’t really add anything so aren’t so necessary.
What other suggestions do you have for improving samples? How do you shop for ebooks? Please leave your comments in the notes below.
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I’m really surprised by the aggressiveness with which many of you cut bait. This was a great post. It gave me a lot think about. Many great points about what should and should not be included in a sample. But I never bother reading the samples. I read the description on Amazon and take a look at a sampling of the feedback (across all ranges of ratings) and then I either buy or don’t. But once I buy it takes a lot for me to give up on the book. If the summary of the book got me interested it is usually enough for me to have a certain level of commitment to the read. Enough to give it more that “3 clicks.”
While I respect everyone strategies, some strike me as efficient while some are down right cutthroat.
I love the samples feature and I really should avail myself of the feature, at least time to time. It seems the habit of a smart shopper. But I think there is something to be said for liking what you see in the description and then jumping in with both feet.
In a way I used to be like that, too, finishing everything I started, but 7 years producing audiobooks (which meant very little reading that was of my own choice!) taught me that there are just too many other books out there to spend time reading something you are no longer enjoying.
But I have never, in my life bought a book on the basis of blurb alone – I always, always open it to read the first page – even if the blurb is accurate on what the book is about (and they often aren’t) – I need to know that I can spend time with the author’s writing style in my head. Sometimes I’ve found myself hitting the end of chapter one and unable to bear putting it down for more than the second it takes to let the shop assistant scan it and take my money (Astonishing the Gods was like that … /happy sigh)
To me, that’s what samples are/should be – reading the first few pages. Oh but I really don’t look at reviews for fiction books at all – in fact it annoys me no end when I turn to look for a blurb and am told only that another author approves (even if it’s a favourite author of mine), or Ariana Huffington couldn’t put it down. I don’t care what other people think, I’ll have my own mind – just tell me WHAT ITS ABOUT! lol
I sometimes buy on the basis of the author or the blurb but very rarely these days as I have been massively disappointed lately – for example, Umberto Eco has long been an idol of mine – but Prague Cemetery, which I bought without sampling was so unenjoyable I had to stop reading it. I tried several times, but in the end, life is too short to buy books you can’t read, or read books you don’t enjoy!
You make a good point. There have been books where the blurb makes it sound like the central plot is about one thing— but when I read the book I find that it’s really only a subplot and the book is largely about something different. I can’t say that I have felt tricked or that the book was a disappointment in those cases. Just that it was not nearly the subject matter that I was expecting.
I would do well to take advantage of the samples. I guess I was never one to stand in a book store and read the first chapter before making a decision so that carried over to the virtual book store. We have no shortage of options these days, so why not. If it doesn’t capture your attention with the sample, move on.
The reviews have been helpful for me. With books as well as just about anything I buy online. I often look at the lower rating to see what it is that people didn’t like about a book. If I see a negative review and think, “well, that’s just a dumb reason to dump on the story,” I’ll keep going and buy it. There are a lot of people who give negative reviews for the craziest of reasons.
I agree that many reviews are simply not helpful. But some can give you a good sense of the quality of work. Maybe more quickly than reading the sample.
A lot of folks here have surprised me with rather cutthroat decision making metrics. Fair enough, if what they are doing is working, why mess with it. But I can’t help but think that some are missing out on some great books.
Book one of the Millenium Trilogy sticks out in my mind as an example of something that would have been cut from everyones Kindle without a second glance. It started slow and with a rather painful buildup to the plot. But once it got rolling things really changed. The series became a bit more of a smash hit than I would’ve anticipated but it was well worth the time I spent with the books.
But point made. I need to start reading those samples. It makes for smart shopping!
Joanna,
Sorry I’m a bit late coming to the conversation, but I loved the post. I hadn’t thought of moving the acknowledgments to the back of the book but I think it’s a good idea. Also I couldn’t agree more with you about the importance of a sample hooking a reader. I think of buying a book like dating, you need to put your best foot forward
thanks for the post.
Nick
Great post Joanna with lots of interesting points. As a digital publisher and a writer I agree that with so much choice to read, even in specific genres, sampling efficiency by the reader is now a must have skill – and yes I am getting just as ruthless as time is precious. As writers we must read as much as we write to feed the creativity – much food in this post for the indie publisher as well as the author self publisher to get that first 10% spot on. How anyone can publish eBooks without having an eReader is beyond me. Final editing using an eReader is essential – I use a Kobo touch on an ePub version rather than the Paperwhite. It has a fast and accurate highlighting technique. The TOC issue for fiction is interesting – time to put it to the end. For sampling though I now download to my Kindle Fire, where all the covers in brilliant colour sit on a sweeping carousel on opening so cover and content provide a combined impact. Great to sweep, select, set to sepia and read quickly – then if I like buy and read fully on the Paperwhite – all synced.
As an Indie author, I realized right away the importance of how much is revealed in the Sample.
I have restructured the first 2-3 chapters of a book just for that reason.
I always look at the sample material on Amazon and decide whether or not that is sufficient to hook a reader into my novel.
I do have TOC in all my books, because I think its more professional in formatting. But it is an interesting consideration to move the TOC to the back to get more sample up front. I just might have to do that with all my books and reload the updated files.
Thanks for a quick and concise rundown on a very important consideration for publishing ebooks.
Travis
You’ve hit a great topic and I appreciate everyone’s honesty. I just received my manuscript back from my editor and she made wonderful suggestions as to how to improve my story, and by the comments in this post I better make sure I do a great job of it.
As for what hooks me, it depends on my mood. At times I can get into a slow developing story and then some days I just want a quick hook. Shifting POV in a scene really bugs me and I see it even from well established author and it always makes me wonder why this wasn’t caught by the editor. Good writing will keep me reading no matter the pace.
I totally agree with what you said about reading the samples, Joanna. For me the biggest turnoff is seeing mistakes in grammar or punctuation; I’ve deleted many stories simply because I cannot bear the distracting misuse of its vs it’s, your vs you’re, etc. My editor’s brain is not willing to believe that an author who is not professional enough to get the grammar right will get the story right, either, so I don’t even give the book a chance. Authors need to know that there are many like me out here shopping for books.
Agreed Pamela, and I am one of those authors who often get things wrong – which is why I pay editors and proof-readers prior to publication
The self-publisher I used formatted the print books exactly the same as the e-books, with the exception of the table of contents. I’ve experienced this frustration of dowloading samples full of extra title pages, acknowledgements and even blank pages. Sadly, my own book falls into this trap. It hadn’t occurred to me that I had a choice in the matter, and perhaps I don’t, but now that I’ve read this, I’m most certainly going to ask. Thanks for the tip.
How can I get a sample of my ebook on Amazon? It’s already published there.
Hi Ron, if you have published through KDP on Amazon, it already has sample capacity as standard. If it is a print book, you need to submit it to ‘Look Inside the Book’ – just search that at Amazon.
Disregard my last comment. It’s done.
A very helpful post, and comments too. I have a book, under my writing name, Ros Glancey, in that cyberwarehouse which just sits there and I need to know what to do next. There is something not quite right about it, but I can’t put my finger on it. Can sample readers comment?
If you’re struggling with sales, check this post out http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/10/12/help-my-book-isnt-selling/
I’m only a low volume reader these days, but my reading time is valuable, so I’m pretty selective. I really love the ability to download samples, and I use them to determine whether I’ll buy a book or not. I’d say I delete a similar amount of samples (though I inevitably read to the end of them anyway, I just can’t put something down once I’ve started it). I tend to read a sample, move onto something else, and only buy it if it keeps tugging at the back of my mind.
I’m working on optimising the sample of my kindle book at the moment, and I agree that you need to push as much to the back of the book as possible. I was tossing up doing away with the table of contents, but I’ve had two readers tell me that they do use them. I have a post about this up on my blog at the moment, so hoping to get some more responses. Since they’re pretty low on words, I’m leaning towards including one.
Hi Rinelle – you do need a TOC, but it shouldn’t dominate the sample. The TOC is required as part of the Kindle Fire and other more developed e-readers.
Rinelle – just adding to Joanna’s advice you do need the Table of Contents (TOC) for any Amazon Kindle content for the reader to move about – uploading without one is liable to be rejected. Same for Kobo and I assume other eRetailers like B&N Nook. Following comments here on sampling, I have played with moving the TOC to the end of some new Kindle novels I will be publishing shortly, to maximise the sample size. On roadtesting it works exactly the same whether viewed on the PaperWhite or the Fire, except you don’t see it at the beginning now – so recommend to everyone. I have also added a one page about the book/author before the first chapters instead – also a sample improvement. Having felt the pain initially with TOCs, generating them now is easy – if you have any problem happy to help.
You all are much nicer than I am. First thing I check is the Look Inside feature. The writer has 3-5 paragraphs to hook me with their storytelling and convince me they can write a coherent sentence. If not, I don’t bother with the sample. Being so picky doesn’t stop me from buying and reading 3 or 4 ebooks a week, but it sure does cut down on my DNF (did not finish) pile.
A thing I’ve noticed about Look Inside on Amazon. The display is utter crap. BUT, it does tell me something very important about the ebook formatting. If the displayed text is justified or has a font other than what normally appears, I know the ebook is broken and will not work properly on my Kindle(s).
Wow, this has been a great discussion on how we all purchase online. For me, the blurb and the reviews are everything. I’m not a big sample downloader because I don’t have the time for that and because I support mostly indie authors – I don’t mind investing a few dollars in a “maybe” book.
If I don’t like the blurb, I don’t even continue on. Even if it’s an author that I’ve read and liked. If I like the blurb and I’ve read the author – I will buy. If I like the blurb but it’s an unknown author then I take a look at the reviews. If the reviews are good, then I’ll buy. Occasionally this doesn’t work out for me and I have to stop reading the book – but more often than not this works for me and I am a voracious reader.
That’s good to know, Lisa. I honestly never realized how much readers might depend on the blurb alone. Thanks for mentioning that!
Thanks for a great post, and especially thanks for including nonfiction in this discussion.
I read both paper and e-book editions at the moment. I am very aware that I shop or browse for the two types of products very differently, no matter if they are fiction or nonfiction! Rather than look at reviews for e-books, I myself tend to look over friends’ suggestions on Goodreads. Yes, those are reviews, but I think they feel different since they come directly to me in my email inbox. With other reviews, like those on Kindle, etc, I just don’t have the patience to look around. With e-books I’m in and out of the shopping cart ASAP. I am not really into browsing online. Maybe that is a failing of the interface that the online book stores use right now. They just don’t work the way my brain does. (But that might just be me.) I usually know what I want before I even get to the shopping interface. Its something someone has told me to read or something I’ve seen in an article, or heard about on NPR.
I rely very heavily on the ability to sample, and like you I am VERY annoyed if the sample is nothing but notes, etc. One recent example: I was thinking of downloading Marc Twain’s autobiography. The entire sample was nothing but notes and prologues and documents…. I got so annoyed at turning the pages to try to figure out when the real book started that I gave up and thought, well, what the heck I’ll just look at it the next time I’m in a bookstore to see if I want to read it. In reality, though, that was more than a year ago and I have been to the book store dozens of times and never once gone to find that book. (I may never read it. )
For the paper editions I tend to be a lot less harsh. I’ll try all kinds of things from the library, and spend loads of time paging through things at the book store before deciding to buy. I do not know why this is… and one could speculate. But your posting has prompted me to ask around and find out how others shop or choose books so that when I get my book finished and out there I’ll be ready to address all kinds of shoppers.
Samples are so important and I buy both e-books as well as hardcovers the same way. I recently met a writer in my writers group who published her first book and did not do that and I tried to tell her how important it was. Being a traditional published author she left all her power up to the publisher and agent. Guess what? I didn’t buy the book. Another very good friend of my, (self-published) set her selling site up on Amazon so well that she included 6 chapters! I was so hooked I bought the book. As a reader, of both paper and e-books I like to know I’m getting quality before I plunk down my hard earned cash. Makes sense to me. Anyone who doesn’t do this is missing out on sales. Thanks for the post
I completely agree–samples are a MUST for me. It’s like standing in a bookstore–of course, you want to read the first few pages and see if the book is in a voice/style you’d enjoy. My process for buying ebooks is quite similar to yours. I buy print copies of books only if it’s an author I truly enjoy and know I’ll want to either read the book again or share with someone else. New authors are best checked out via ebooks (less commitment!)
I’m ruthless and glad to know I’m not alone
I sample on my computer before buying and do get annoyed at the long list of chapters that are simply numbers. Formatting is something I look at, but I’ve found lots of problems there with the trad publishers as well. It’s a signal, as you say, that I’m not important. Font doesn’t annoy me because I can change it on the Kindle, as well as the background color.
I also take it another step. If I get to page 100 and can’t tolerate how the work is unfolding, I return the book. There is never any question about my returns and it’s instant. I don’t know if this is because I’m such a high volume buyer, or just the way Amazon operates. I’ve even called them and asked that my free book for the month as a Prime member be removed and another free book offered (I had to haggle on that one, but they looked at my purchase history and caved).
I’ve lost my tolerance for bad writing, or putting effort and skill in the book’s “hook” and not following through. The sample is important, and you offer excellent suggestions for de-cluttering the sample, but authors need to know Amazon’s policy of extreme customer service as it extends to returns. There’s just no way to escape writing a good book from start to finish.
You are so hardcore Cyd but I think this reflects how many people feel. I think I might start returning books that don’t deliver as well – I should have returned Umberto Eco’s. I felt so hard done by and it was expensive … as authors, it is a great reminder to always deliver on the promise of the book. Obviously we won’t please everyone, but quality is so critical.
My family members always say that I am wasting my time here at net, except I know I am getting familiarity every day by reading thes pleasant posts.|
I am hardcore, but that penny has two sides. When I really like something, I give a well-considered review and do my best to promote the book. In fact, just above the email notification of a new comment on this post was an email from Amazon saying my review helped another reader decide to buy your book
As awful as it feels returning a book, the flip side is a smile of knowing good books do rise beyond pretty covers and aggressive marketing.
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