Are You Missing Out On Book Sales Because Of Your Reading Preference?

View Comments (34)

• My reading profile is similar to yours, Joanna. We downsized into a much smaller house (an excellent decision for busy people!) and got rid of practically all of our print fiction, so now I read fiction, craft books, and business-related nonfic almost exclusively on my Kindle. I don't belong to KU.

  I write historicals so there's a lot of background reading involved, and most of the books I buy for research purposes are paperback or hardback. Many are used copies from Amazon (I read a lot of older books) but I buy from my local bookstore (one of those Waterstones that looks like an indie) whenever I can, even though Amazon would be cheaper, to support the store.

  I have an Audible subscription and nearly always have an audiobook on the go, either fiction or non-work nonfic.

  I don't download samples much. I find books through Goodreads, book blogger recs, discovering new comps through networking, history magazines and blogs, and The Guardian book pages. Despite all my efforts my eyes are always bigger than my belly and books tend to pile up waiting to be read. I also belong to a book club and that gets me reading books I wouldn't normally have chosen.

  Not surprisingly, setting aside more time to read is one of my 2018 goals.

  • I also have books 'piled up' to be read on my Kindle and in print :) But that behavior is part of what makes the publishing economy go round, so hopefully people are doing it with our books too!

• Hi Joanna,
  We too are looking at downisizing the next time we move, and I have shifted tons of books already in my move to ebooks. The only things I buy in print are cookbooks, because I love writing notes in the margins and there is nothing worse than being in the middle of a recipe with goopy hands and having your ipad time-out. Been there. Done that.
  But I can see a future where making notes in an e-book will be much easier and I'll be able to voice control the time-out, so when that day comes, good-bye cookbooks.
  I have bought a few writing reference books in print, but only a very few and I'm moving to ebooks for that as well.
  The only other book I like in print is something inspirational, like The Art of War, so I can leave it on my coffee table and pick it up and open to a random place. But I don't need many of those.
  I find non-fiction through podcasts, blogs, and personal recommendations. Fiction? Much tougher. Mostly personal recommendations. My last new favorite author discovery was through randomly participating in the Kindle Scout voting, and having the book win. Loved it! So I went on to buy her other books.
  I'm with Jane and need to set aside more time for reading fiction!
  -Jessica

  • We're quite similar then, Jessica - and the downsizing is always a huge thing on moving house. Which books are worth taking onwards! When we left Australia, we found it almost impossible to give our books away - sadly.

• Wow different world. For context I am just trying to learn how to start writing stories hence being here.

  I only recently got a Kobo so I will buy non fiction (mainly writing craft books since I got it) books on that. If I *especially* like them I will then I will re-buy in print, if available.

  The only fiction I have on the Kobo is stuff I can't easily get in print and in that case it is either an author who's craft book I am reading so I can see if I want to listen to their advice :-) or a recommendation.

  By far my preferred way to read fiction is in paperback and I find most of my fiction by browsing a books store, unless it is a book I know I want e.g. the books store doesn't have book 1 in a series grrrr, then I will amazon it.

  I am still not convinced by the Kobo, it is better than reading on my phone or iPad but I still don't like the image quality. It may be my age (early 40's) but I vastly prefer the feel of a 'real' book. I find referencing things in it difficult and not knowing how big a book is is hard too.

  As for KU, my thought is is a book is worth reading it is worth buying, and vice-versa if I buy it I am more likely to read it rather that it being in a big to read pile. The same with free giveaway books — they generally don't end up getting read by me.

  I have audible (I just use the 'free' credits) and listen to it when I have run out of podcasts, it has generally being non fiction, stuff like Big Magic. I find the experience fun but not as nice as reading.

  • It's not your age - I am 42 :) It's more of a preference borne from your ability to get print books at a reasonable price - so I moved to Kindle in Australia because new print books were over $30 and I couldn't get what I wanted second-hand or fast enough in libraries. That switched me!
    Interesting to hear you also like non fiction in audio.

• I read both eBook and print books although my preference is the print book. I love picking up a book off my bookshelf or desk and randomly flicking through a page which sometimes becomes a trigger for my creative thought processes. I use the kindle app to read while travelling or when sitting in the hairdressers chair! I have my favourite reads both in print and eBook to pick up the reading wherever I am.

  • Thanks Mala - that's why I have non-fiction in print too :)

• I read on kindle only because of my pet sitting etc job and Mini won’t have space for books, My coffee machine is more important, ha, ha.

• I buy academic books for my PhD in print (I need page numbers, unfortunately) and I nearly always buy non-fiction in print because I find it's easier to refer back to. For fiction, I either read it on my Kindle Touch (I'm old school) or in print. I stopped buying paperbacks but then a branch of The Works opened in Newcastle and I can often get three novels for a fiver, so I don't mind taking a chance on new authors I've never heard of for that price. Then I take the paperbacks to Barter Books in Alnwick (my favourite place on Earth) to exchange them for something else when I'm finished with them!

  I've never listened to an audiobook but I know it's something I need to get into with my own books. It's definitely on the To Do list for 2018.

  • Interesting on your print behavior! The Works is remaindered books I think, so they get over-printed stock from publishers dirt cheap. I wonder if that model will change as publishers move to smaller print runs or print in demand for many books?

• I read almost all on Kindle-- I like the complete convenience of finding, sampling, and ordering a book and then having it forever on my machine.

  I haven't tried KU yet because I get enough book ideas from BookBub and other sources (and Kindle WiFi hates me).

  I haven't tried audiobooks either. Intriguing, but the experience sounds too passive for me.

  I do still use some paper: if a series catches my interest I might reserve it at the library to save money. And I'm considering getting a top favorite or two in paper because some kinds of searching don't work as well on Kindle.

  • Thanks Ken - audiobooks are more for when you're doing something else e.g. I listen when out walking for long distances

• Great blog post, Johanna, and comments, everyone else!

  I'm an avid reader of what I guess is narrative-style natural history non-fiction (David Quammen's Song of the Dodo is the best book in the world, apart from Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams!). I rarely read fiction. There's a room at my parents house in which I've accumulated thousands of printed books. I'm middle-aged, have always lived in rented shared houses, and would never be able to take my books with me.

  When I go out, I always want to have something with me to read, and, because I'm never quite sure what I'll be in the mood for, my habit was to take three books with me when I went out. That's heavy and a bit silly.

  About two years ago my dad gave me his old style Kindle when he upgraded. After a few months I turned it on. I purchased one ebook for £9.99 which I already had on my shelf. I'd still stick a couple of printed books in my bad too, but I found that I habitually read on the Kindle! I downloaded several more books - again, ones I had on the shelf.

  I've now accumulated several thousand ebooks and very rarely purchase a printed book. I never take a print book out with me. I've just discovered audio books and downloaded one of yours, Johanna, a Write. Publish. Repeat, and Let's Get Digital.

  I very rarely visit the big high-street book store - Waterstones - these days. I used to virtually live in there! I buy everything on Amazon. I read a lot of ecology books and they tend to have a lot of charts and tables. So I've purchased a few of those in print, via Amazon - but, every time, I've also purchased the ebook version (usually for £40 or whatever, grrr!).....and, despite the naff formatting, I still read even those books on the Kindle. The printed version just sits on my shelf! One of these days they'll create an ereader that can handle technical / text books properly without giving eye strain.

  I stumbled upon a blog post about self-publishing about six months ago, in which the writer said he'd been convinced to go indie by Johanna's podast and after reading Be the Monkey. I immediately purchased that book on my Kindle, have read it about five times, and have downloaded and listened to all those podcasts, and Simon Whistler's, Stephen Campbell's etc. I purchased Scrivener after catching one of Johanna's videos and haven't opened Word since! I now have c.15 book manuscripts on the go! All natural history. A small niche I'm sure but I enjoy writing (now I have Scrivener) and am on a bit of a mission to get my opinion on things 'in e.ink'. I've started to experiment with the free Dictation thingy on my Mac and it works really well. I have a cheap mic and have found it works fine sitting on the beach in Ventnor (Isle of Wight). But I type a lot in cafes too. I'm also setting up a wee charity and so am exploring how selling POD and ebooks might help with fundraising.

  I've rapidly migrated away from reading print books, and can see myself heading more and more towards audiobooks because I can just walk around listening to them (and innumerable podcasts!). I'm most excited about global prospects. I've done a lot of work out in Cambodia and, deep in remote forest field sites, after a day of tracking tiger prey, the Khmer field staff get out their smart phones and start to play games and, sometimes, read books. That's how some are learning English too. Same in Borneo, West Africa, Colombia, Isle of Wight. These book-shop-less regions are leap-frogging print in favour of digital

  • Thanks for the comment, Steve, and for purchasing my books and audiobooks :) I'm thrilled to be part of your author journey. It sounds like your conversion to digital was slow but complete once begun. Glad you're trying dictation too.
    Very interested in your comments about Cambodia and other developed countries - as I'll be talking about on the next show, that is absolutely the future.

• Hi Joanna,

  I primarily read fiction Ebooks, but want paper or hardcover for nonfiction. I find my readers are the same--and my nonfiction print sales (with CreateSpace) outstrip Ebook sales with audio nonfiction sales about equal to Ebooks on a couple of my most popular titles. (But I don't have nearly the # of fiction titles yet that you have *s*). I've just started with IngramSpark to bring special hardcover nonfiction editions out in time for the holidays since many readers "gift" pet care books at this time of year. Also, libraries prefer hardcover for reference titles like mine. Paws crossed, it's successful.

  • Great to hear you're ramping up for the Christmas season, Amy! I'm just doing the same thing and intend to do some hardbacks in 2018 for the gifting market.

• I guess I will have to be the different one on this post. I have a Kindle Paperwhite and have quite a few books on it. I like reading on my Kindle but, I still read books primarily. Paperbacks and Hardbacks. It does not matter which one. I still like the feel a physical book in my hand and turning those pages does something to me. Plus I don't like starting at a screen all the time and reading physical books gives me a break from that.

  I primarily read fiction. Mostly science fiction, fantasy, and literary fiction. However, I have just discovered Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache mystery novels (Reading my third one currently!) and have become a fan! I tend to get recommendations from Goodreads, Book Podcasts (What Should I Read Next as an example and Coode St. Podcast for SF/Fantasy), and soclal media.

  Books are still the cheapest form of entertainment and I don't mind taking a risk on a new or unknown author. Plus, if I don't like the book, I can give it someone else or trade it in at a used book shop. LOL!! This is an interesting topic and as a former bookseller I have always been fascinated what people read. Thanks Joanna.