Hey bookish folks, I'd love your help! How do you find new-to-you books to read?
I'm trying to figure out where to advertise my books now that I have a fourth book out ( https://buy.bookfunnel.com/vxvlyi6b0v ). I'm rather unknown so can't spend big $$ but it's hard to know where is best to find readers. And yet, it's hard to have a budget without readers, too!
FWIW as reviewer and reader, as others have said, I discover books on Netgalley and Edelweiss Plus. I also have various book-ish sources I follow on my RSS reader. I do some Bookbub too.
In addition, as librarian, I have access to other professional review sources (but that may be another story).
Thank you, this is helpful. The RSS feeds-- are those from like book bloggers mainly?
Actually I'm interested in the librarian professional review sources too if you want to delve into that! Partly simply curiosity, and partly I have worked hard to make sure my books are easily available to libraries if by chance they want to have them, and I'm always interested in what else I can do to make things easy. Libraries were my haven growing up.
On RSS, I follow some book bloggers (that has diminished over time as blogs overall have but some persevere) and then things like Book Riot, The Mary Sue, etc. I also get newsletters from some publishers, and thus at times review copies.
Professionally, we have access to CHOICE reviews, plus we also check some academic journals (I am an academic librarian), but my public library brethren mostly like also check things like Publishers Weekly. (c)
Libraries in general may be a bit of a challenge for new or not as known authors to break in depending on collection development policies. For instance, some libraries may outright not purchase self-published books (for reasons), though if a local author a bit more likely. It can really vary. (e)
Oh absolutely. And that's fair-- there's only so much space, after all. Most of the libraries that I've seen have my books in their catalogue only have the digital version, which makes total sense.
Book Riot New Releases/Giveaways (high number of users, not sure of cost to do giveaway promo).
Goodreads Giveaways (not sure how much this costs, but you get a lot of views for your money, and every entry is added to the reader's TBR, for further visibility to all their friends). At the very least, check and make sure your book comes up under both title and author in the search bar.
NetGalley (perhaps more expense than it's worth, and that's probably why publishers, rather than authors, use this for promotion).
Bookstodon (no, really! It's free, and there are so many avid readers here. I've discovered some of my all-time favorite books here, recommended by friends). You might have to selectively give away a digital copy or two to interested readers who regularly review books. Remember to tag the hell out of your promotional posting, for maximum visibility. #books#BooksWorthReading , everything along that line.
On Twitter, use the hashtag BookTwitter. Honestly, I've had more productive book rec exchanges on this platform. Bookstagram used to be popular, but not sure about now. BookTok is a long shot.
I'm not sure how you get your book added to sites like these last ones I listed by website address, but some are very friendly to authors.
I love Bookstodon--I've gotten so many amazing recommendations just as a reader from here! My books are on some of those sites (Goodreads, Storygraph, BookBub) already but I will check the others and see if I can get on there too.
@skaeth@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy I get digital review copies from Net Galley and Edelweiss, although I believe the publisher or author have to pay for that privilege. I also follow a lot of authors, and a few editors, so get exposed to many upcoming books.
Yes, NetGalley is pricey, but it's worth it for a lot of people because it's so much easier to get their books in the hands of readers in return for a review.
Do you follow authors and editors through their blogs, social media, or like on BookBub or Amazon? Or multiple ways?
@skaeth@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy Mainly on SM, including FB, Twitter, Bluesky, as well as Mastodon. Also newsletters and blogs, but I'm way behind on those, usually just skim headlines and first few paragraphs. As for review copies, I got greedy with those when I first started, but now limit myself to one per month, but I still check frequently, and get an email from Edelweiss weekly, so I have a very long Word doc of titles to get from library, or maybe ebook sales.
Look at the 'now available' section in the Libby app, and scroll until something resonates with me
Read random 'top 10 in this genre' or 'if you liked this book, check out...' lists online. Google seems to recommend them to me sometimes. I'll go through and add a bunch to my to-read list.
If I'm in the mood for something specific, I'll google 'books like ...' with a title of a book I liked.
Forgive me if you're doing this already, but I'd recommend focusing your energy on your email list. Your readers are your best advertisers. I'll often read a book because someone says they liked it. All I can say definitively is don't buy facebook ads. They broke those years ago. If you've got the money, you can buy a Kirkus review that will help you stand out, but only if it's good.
@bhalpin@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy
No forgiveness necessary! It's good to cover all the bases. I am indeed working on building up my newsletter list but I'm nearing the cap, after which it'll get expensive-- far more than I make monthly/yearly.
With Kirkus reviews, I know that people like them & this is pretty common advice that I've never followed, so I don't know. Do they also help with discovery (sharing well-reviewed books to a platform or whatnot)? Or is it more a seal of approval?
@skaeth@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy I think it's more of a seal of approval. Also, the free account at emailictopus goes up to 2500 subscribers.(I have no monetary interest in that, or, for that matter any, company 😁)
@skaeth@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy I listen to many podcasts that recommend books monthly and watch a lot of youtube videos of readers. I avoid advertising.
@mizerek@skaeth@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy I do something similar but a bit more expensive, I create 1st chapter booklets w/ "where to buy" info to hand out at events (sff conventions, in my case). Those also go into any product I ship. (I run a small bookstore, but this applies even if you're mailing your own books.) Depending on how you produce the booklets, it can be cost effective over time. Sometimes I give a discount on the full book if people bring back the booklet in good shape!
@skaeth@fantasy@bookstodon@sffbookclub i have read books when i’ve seen their authors on tiktok or elsewhere on social media talking about/recommending other books. if i know we share taste generally i’m more likely to give something a shot sight unseen.
@skaeth@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy Just in general, really, but mostly store fronts and libraries. Libraries were my go-to when I was a kid too, but it's easier these days with the apps.
Should also note that I mostly read horror and sci-fi, but I don't rely on a specific channel to find new reads.
@skaeth@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy honestly, we talk to friends about books in private social spaces that disallow advertising. we recognize this is not useful to you, but it's the truth.
@skaeth@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy I've added a few books of authors to my TBR who promo'd their own books by recommending them like it was a great book they found on TikTok.
Tbh it feels a bit tacky, but it's not really like they're lying, they're not saying it isn't their book, and while they obviously like the book they're well equipped to tell me what sets the book apart.
So basically enthousiastic version of the blurb or tropes as video
@skaeth@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy also, I see you have several related books. You could consider giving the first part away on a Stuff your Kindle day for your genre. For me this is a risk free way to try new unknown authors. I just add some books purely by vibes, and if I like it I might read some more books.
@skaeth@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy to be fair, it kind of feels like a burden on authors, to give books away for free. But it is how I found books (but I only did this recently, so don't know yet if any will lead to a purchase)
It's remarkably not very hard! I have a BookFunnel page set up for each of my books that includes all the store links for paperback and ebook (including direct from me) and also offers a preview. That preview I have set to the first chapter. I have also in the past package the first chapter of my Stone Age epic fantasy separately to give away, but then I want to make absolutely sure people are aware it's a sample, not the full chapter.
@mark@skaeth@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy Of course different people will view this differently, but personally, I consider it at least a bit shady if I see an author promoting their own book without acknowledging that it is their book, or if it feels like they are trying to give the impression that the promoter and author are not the same person, or even if the promotional post is constructed in a way that distracts readers from thinking about whether the book's author and the post's author are the same. This can be enough to make me decide not to read a book that I otherwise might have been interested in.
@skaeth@mark@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy Mostly here on Mastodon, honestly. I also get some recommendations from assorted other websites I follow, none of which are focused on books, but they have some conversation about arbitrary topics which occasionally includes books.
I also get a fair number of them from the free book deals on Barnes & Noble either "Free Friday" or the one free ebook per month that members get (although now that's restricted to only premium members, so a smaller audience). I will say, the fact that I can download a free sample from B&N and read it is a huge benefit; there is no better way to determine whether I'm likely to enjoy a book than getting to read part of it. So I almost never actually buy a book these days without reading at least a sample of it.
Mastodon has fantastic recommendations, honestly. So far I've found something to love every time I've asked for recommendations.
B&N Free Friday is a great resource to check out-- thank you!
And definitely-- I use the free sample feature a lot myself, as a reader. It's great to give me an indication of if it actually feels like it's what I'm looking for at the moment (I tend to be a mood reader much of the time).
@mark@skaeth@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy Being outright misleading isn't the only thing a person can do that seems shady to me, though. As I see it, any time a book author hopes to benefit from someone having the mistaken impression that the person promoting the book is not the person who wrote the book, that's a problem. Acknowledging that the book is theirs is a pretty reliable way to head that off.
In a general sense: any time someone is promoting something, has a conflict of interest, and doesn't proactively disclose it, it reflects badly on them, as far as I'm concerned.
authors doing their own book promo aren't any icky, they're just on a budget
the cost of sending advance copies out to be reviewed & the cost of hiring popular Bookstagrammers or Booktokers to talk up a book can run into real money
in any case, the author or promoter has seconds to sell a book before i scroll away-- give me the trope, hook, & book title!!!
sell me a good book, then i'll care about your name
@peachfront@mark@skaeth@bookstodon@sffbookclub@fantasy We're not talking about authors doing their own book promo, though. We're talking about authors misleading people about the fact that they're doing their own promotion. (Or at least I am)
But to me saying "that's why i wrote..." instead of "then I remembered there is ..." would give me as a viewer a better feeling. But I mean, it is TikTok, I understand why the format was chosen
i promise authors would LOVE to talk your ear off all day long about why they wrote what they wrote BUT...
TikTok & Reel algorithms reward videos that are all hook, no extraneous chitchat
once the reader is hooked, they can find out more about the author lots of ways-- i recommend buying her book, reading it, & if you like it, join her newsletter or YouTube so she can tell you ALL her long-winded origin stories