How do readers find e-books they want to read?

juniper · Dec 5, 2010

Ok, this is probably a silly question. Maybe everyone else in the world, or at least on this forum, knows the answer. :Shrug:

Short version of question added here: How do owners of ereaders know how to find the epublishers, to buy the ebooks from? If someone is used to browsing through a bookstore or buying onine from Amazon, Borders or B&N, why would they suddenly start looking for publishing companies instead of retail outlets - especially the small epublishers that might not have an advertising budget?
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This is the original wordy version of question below:

Let's play pretend. Pretend I get a shiny new e-reader of some sort (iPad? Kindle? Sony? Nook? Something else?) for my birthday. I'm all excited. I want to download some books.

How do I know where to go, other than the usual Amazon, Borders, B&N? Now *I* know about some other e-publishers because I hang out here at AW.

But if I didn't hang out here, how would I know that I could buy books on the publishers' sites themselves? That seems foreign to someone who's used to buying paper books from a retail store (online or brick) and not from the publisher. I don't go to HarperCollins or Random House to buy their books. Why would I think about doing that for e-books?

I guess maybe I'd do a google search for e-books and then find some publishers that way, but honestly, if I didn't know anything about e-books at al, I'd probably just go to Amazon or Borders and see what they have. And that would leave out a lot of e-books that are available only from e-publishers.

And if I did somehow stumble on to an e-publisher, the file formats would be confusing. Which one do I want? What works with the particular e-reader I have?

And how would I ever find the small e-publishers? The bigger ones might have some marketing budget, but the small ones? How do they let the world know they're out there waiting to sell e-books?

Obviously, I don't have an e-reader of any kind. I am a total noob on this. I can see how I'll have one in a year or two, just for travel convenience if nothing else. But even at $4 or $5 a pop, I don't know how I'd decide what to download. Now I go to a store or library and just browse, unless I'm looking for a specific author. I pick up a book, leaf through it, read a couple of passages. Sometimes I look at reviews.

Okay, so a lot of questions here. I need a lightning bolt or something to show me the way into e-books ... if I get a book e-pubbed, how will anyone ever find it?

Amadan · Dec 5, 2010

juniper said:
Okay, so a lot of questions here. I need a lightning bolt or something to show me the way into e-books ... if I get a book e-pubbed, how will anyone ever find it?

Frankly, why would anyone go anywhere other than Amazon, Borders, B&N, or one of the other big sites (iBooks, Kobo, Diesel, Sony, etc.)?

Amazon allows you to read excerpts from most books online, and others are following suit.

I'm a huge fan of ebooks, I know all about the big and small publishers, and I am very unlikely to buy an e-book available only from an e-publisher.

juniper · Dec 5, 2010

Are all e-books available on Amazon etc? I thought some weren't - only available from the e-publisher.

Maybe I'm more confused than I thought I was.

Captcha · Dec 5, 2010

I think most of the significant e-book publishers have their books available at all the regular retail outlets, so, yeah, you could just buy them there.

However, if you care where your money goes, you might want to consider tracking the book down at the publisher site. The author gets a significantly larger royalty payment from that site, since there's no cut going to the retailer. And I think most of the e-publishers have excerpts, etc. available as well.

If you know the genre you want to read, you could try review sites to figure out what sound good. Or Goodreads, or a similar site.

I agree, though, it's a lot harder to effectively browse e-books compared to book store books. And you don't have the pre-screening part being done for you, so you have to be a bit more careful to ensure that you get something worth reading.

scarletpeaches · Dec 5, 2010

I buy directly from Carnal Passions, Lyrical and Samhain. Unfortunately Loose Id doesn't take PayPal and I don't have plastic, so I need to wait until their books go third party.

All Romance Ebooks is the only third-party site I use.

As for Amazon? They can whistle for a penny of my money.

JanDarby · Dec 5, 2010

The non-writing readers I know just go to the big distibutors, like Amazon. They don't generally consider going straight to the publisher, and aren't aware that for digital-first books, the author gets more money if the reader buys from the publisher.

The non-writing readers I know may have, just barely, heard of Ellora's Cave, and maybe Samhain, but none of the other digital-first publishers.

I believe the majority of people who want digital books are going to the same source that they'd go to for paper books. Why would they go anywhere else when there are THOUSANDS of books available at the major distributors, and the majority of readers aren't looking for more than a couple a month? There used to be more of a reason to look for small publishers, because there were some voracious readers of niche markets (e.g., erotica and paranormal) that weren't available elsewhere then, but are now.

But, really, for the most typical reader, who buys, say, a book a week -- consider how many millions of options that person has, just at Amazon or B&N or Powells. Why go elsewhere?

veinglory · Dec 5, 2010

juniper said:
Are all e-books available on Amazon etc? I thought some weren't - only available from the e-publisher.

Maybe I'm more confused than I thought I was.

I would gently suggest that you are. Kindle is by Amazon, they guide people to Amazon to buy Kindle editions. Nook is by Barnes and Noble, and likewise. iPad is by Apple and linked to the ibookstore app. Borders also sells ebooks. Most people will probably go there, most epublishers will be selling there. Early adoptors and more expert users, especially for romance and erotica, may buy direct from an epublisher.

Shadow_Ferret · Dec 5, 2010

Why would a reader care who the publisher was? Wouldn't they just search for their favorite authors or genres the same way they always have? Shouldn't matter if the book is a pBook or an eBook.

juniper · Dec 5, 2010

JanDarby said:
I believe the majority of people who want digital books are going to the same source that they'd go to for paper books. Why would they go anywhere else when there are THOUSANDS of books available at the major distributors, and the majority of readers aren't looking for more than a couple a month?

That's my thought too, that people will go to their standard places to buy ebooks. So that's why I'm confused by the ebooks that aren't offered at those "regular" places but only at the epublisher's site.

And then, how many people "browse" through Amazon or Borders online to *find* books to read? Don't most people who buy books online already know what they want?

Not like browsing the shelves at a RL bookstore and picking up something, putting it down, picking up another etc. I wonder how effective are those banners that say "customers who looked at this book also viewed these other ones?"

So maybe it goes back to marketing your ebook on your own, so people are searching for it at Amazon.

juniper · Dec 5, 2010

Shadow_Ferret said:
Why would a reader care who the publisher was? Wouldn't they just search for their favorite authors or genres the same way they always have? Shouldn't matter if the book is a pBook or an eBook.

I've found some new favorite authors at the bookstore or library by browsing the shelves for an hour. It's hard to do that online. Can't flip through it, read some passages at random.

If you're just looking for authors you already know, then a google search will bring that info up.

I'm wondering about the whole idea of "get an ebook published and people will find you." How will they find you if they don't know to look for you?

it's not like seeing your book as part of the "new books" table at Borders. Or looking through the genre section and seeing a cover you like and just picking it up.

Amadan · Dec 5, 2010

juniper said:
I'm wondering about the whole idea of "get an ebook published and people will find you." How will they find you if they don't know to look for you?

They won't. That's why I said I'd be unlikely to buy an ebook published only by e-publishers. Going the e-publishing-only route is very unlikely to be a successful move unless you're already an established author or are in the romance/erotica niche. In other genres, quite frankly, I have yet to see an e-published-only book that was worth paying for.

nkkingston · Dec 5, 2010

I wonder how effective are those banners that say "customers who looked at this book also viewed these other ones?"

Anecdotally, they're not bad, but it's a bit like seeing the same in a bookshop. You might look, you might not. That's the disadvantage of readers defaulting to the be etailers; if you buy by publisher, you're more likely take a chance on another of their books.

veinglory · Dec 5, 2010

Shadow_Ferret said:
Why would a reader care who the publisher was? Wouldn't they just search for their favorite authors or genres the same way they always have? Shouldn't matter if the book is a pBook or an eBook.

Whether or not the 'should', readers clearly do have preferences for publishers (esp. in romance genre) and for specific formats.

veinglory · Dec 5, 2010

juniper said:
That's my thought too, that people will go to their standard places to buy ebooks. So that's why I'm confused by the ebooks that aren't offered at those "regular" places but only at the epublisher's site.

And then, how many people "browse" through Amazon or Borders online to *find* books to read? Don't most people who buy books online already know what they want?

Not like browsing the shelves at a RL bookstore and picking up something, putting it down, picking up another etc. I wonder how effective are those banners that say "customers who looked at this book also viewed these other ones?"

So maybe it goes back to marketing your ebook on your own, so people are searching for it at Amazon.

I can't speak for anyone else but I certainly do use Amazon recommendations and lists. I also just browse by keyword and look around in genre areas. I often look up a book I love and seasrch for other books bought by people who bought that book.

And the reason an epublisher would sell there might be lack of ability or lack of a priving model that can afford to give Amazon a 50% cut.

veinglory · Dec 5, 2010

Amadan said:
I have yet to see an e-published-only book that was worth paying for.

How many have you read and who were they published by?

Shadow_Ferret · Dec 5, 2010

veinglory said:
Whether or not the 'should', readers clearly do have preferences for publishers (esp. in romance genre) and for specific formats.

Really? Interesting, because I couldn't tell you who the publishers of most of the novels I read are.

Adam · Dec 5, 2010

Practically everything I read is via recommendations, whether print or e-book. When I do browse though, I mostly use Fictionwise, as my reader isn't a Kindle.

veinglory · Dec 5, 2010

Shadow_Ferret said:
Really? Interesting, because I couldn't tell you who the publishers of most of the novels I read are.

I am sure it varies by genre and format amongst other things. But the ebook data I have shows that publisher has a bigger effect on sales than author. So people do buy 'Samhain' more than they buy 'Smith'.

Amadan · Dec 5, 2010

veinglory said:
How many have you read and who were they published by?

Probably about half a dozen (and skimmed many more, or read the excerpts posted online). Samhain, Double Dragon Publishing, and Liquid Silver are the publishers I recall. (Not counting self-publishers, one-person operations, and the "open" publishers like Smashwords and CreateSpace.)

I was specifically looking for non-romance (which seems to be pretty hard to find, except at Double Dragon).

I have yet to find anything that was actually professional quality writing. I'm sure there are a few gems out there, but it's kind of like wading through fanfiction.net (a handful of good stories in an ocean of crap), and I can do that for free.

Shadow_Ferret said:
Really? Interesting, because I couldn't tell you who the publishers of most of the novels I read are.

You might not know the specific publisher for each book you read, but I'm sure you recognize and trust names like Baen, Daw, Simon & Schuster, etc.

thothguard51 · Dec 5, 2010

You have to remember, most of us here are writers, and we understand where to go and look for new authors, be it paperback or e-books.

I have several non writer friends and they mostly shop on line by the device they bought. They rarely venture to small pub sites, even if I tell them about it. Why? Familiarity.

I have one friend who was excited when she first got her Kindle a year ago. She bought a lot of books in the first three months from Amazon. Then she started slowing down to maybe two a month. Now its down to only when someone recommends a new book to her. She told me she loves her Kindle, but browsing Amazon is more time consuming than going to her local book store.

Another friends buy a lot of non-fiction books. He does not have the problem of browsing because he knows what he is looking for in non-fiction. But he says his fiction searches are a nightmare and he generally sticks with the writers he knows as they are easy to find.

For a small e-pub or writer doing it on their own, getting your name out there where even a small majority of readers shop - is a problem. And even if you do, getting that small majority to buy the book is another problem as there is very large competition for this small majority. Too much competition compared to the big publishers who really are not worried by this...

But if selling 200 books satisfies the writer and or publisher, then it really won't matter where they post their work, those type of numbers are not hard to come by.

Of course all of this is just my humble opinion based on my observations...

PortableHal · Dec 5, 2010

veinglory said:
I can't speak for anyone else but I certainly do use Amazon recommendations and lists. I also just browse by keyword and look around in genre areas. I often look up a book I love and search for other books bought by people who bought that book.

This is pretty much how I find my reading options, too.

Nightmelody · Dec 5, 2010

I buy most books from Fictionwise (I read on a pda not a dedicated ereader.) I read reviews at romance review sites like Dear Author, Amazon and also Good reads.

Many romance epublishers have certain 'lines,' so if I liked the book I might go directly to the epub and search through the line. I prefer Fictionwise though because of the club deals and paypal.

Kate Thornton · Dec 5, 2010

I have a Kindle, so I shop Amazon for books. I buy a lot from the people on these boards as I am always looking for new stuff to read.

I belong to Sisters in Crime and recieve several reading newslatters as as well as reading Facebook, blogs and online lists like DorothyL, Short Mystery Fiction Society and Crime & Suspense. I get a lot of recommendations through these venues, then look for the books on Amazon in Kindle format or in paperback/hardcover at B&N, etc.

I know other folks have other kinds of eReaders, so I make sure my own book is available in as many formats as possible and is easy to find and buy.

.

nitaworm · Dec 10, 2010

I go to any site that has the books for the cheapest. I shop the big sites, smashwords, ebooks.com, fictionwise and bookstrand

FOTSGreg · Dec 11, 2010

I have an iPad with multiple ereader aps installed. I shop iBooks, iTunes, Amazon, and B&N though, to be honest, I buy more from Amazon than anyone else. They just have a larger selection, or so it seems, and provide a more comfortable buying and browsing experience for me.

All my ereader aps were free. Obviously, my iPad was not. The individual ereader aps guide you to their specific publishers or distributors. You can website for additional publishers to find additional books. I don't see the problem.

How do readers find e-books they want to read?

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