My to-be-read pile is scary. Seriously scary. Like I-might-need-to-check-into-a-program-soon scary.
In the past year, I’ve accumulated over 100 print books. And just since Christmas, when I received my Kindle, I’ve downloaded about 20…er, maybe 30…hmm, possibly more…Kindle books.
Honestly, most of those books I got for free, either from giveaways or contests. I’m a book slut that way. But a sizable number of those books I did buy.
Yet even with all that, there are still more books I want to get. There are as many options for books as there are color shades in a paint store. So how do I decide which ones I’ll buy?
Step One: Get Me to Consider Buying a Book
There are three main ways to get me to click on a link and check out a book:
- I know the author in some way and want to support them.
- The story sounds interesting.
- The price is right—free or 99 cents.
Step Two: Get Me to Click “Buy”
Those same three methods that get me to consider buying a book apply here, but it’s the combination of two or more of them working together that will get me to commit. For example, if I clicked on the link because I know the author, and the story sounds interesting, I’ll buy it if the price isn’t too much.
On the other hand, if the story doesn’t sound interesting, I won’t download it even if it’s free. I don’t have time to read things I’m not interested in, as I have too many books to choose from already. Scary TBR pile, remember?
And that “the price is right” bullet point in Step One isn’t to say that I don’t buy books for more than 99 cents. Heh. My wallet wishes. A cheap price is one way to get me to check out a book’s link, but that’s not the only way to get my attention. Note the other two bullet points.
The question is whether the other two bullet points are strong enough to pay the price, no matter what that price is. That’s why committing to purchasing a book takes two or more reasons working together.
Why Is This Important?
Last week, we talked about how we choose blog topics in response to a post by Kristen Lamb. My comment section turned into a great conversation about some of the different topics we discuss on our blogs.
Then on Monday, Roni Loren posted an article wondering if the successful author blog was a myth. She did a quick survey of some of her followers and discovered that most people’s favorite authors blogged only about their tour schedule and new releases. So she asked an intelligent question:
Are we all stressing ourselves out over something that nobody else is doing well either?
I think it’s too early to tell. Many of the best blogs out there are written by debut or relatively new authors. Just because they haven’t been around long enough to fall into the multi-published, successful-author category yet doesn’t mean they won’t be there five years from now.
So to answer the “what should we blog about” question, I think it comes back to those three bullet points above. Yes, our blogs can let readers know about our stories and announce pricing and release information, but that could just as easily be shared on a static website. The real power of blogs is with that first bullet point: letting others get to know us.
Q. What should we blog about?
A. Whatever will allow us to create relationships with others.
Period. That’s it. There’s no secret blogging formula for success. We succeed every time we connect with others.
If we allow others to feel that they know us, we’re tapping into that first bullet point. Any form of social media—blogging, Twitter, Facebook, etc.—can meet this goal. And just as every friendship is different because the two parties form a unique connection, every writer will have to find their own path to creating those relationships.
As writers, if we can make a two-headed snorglepus from planet XYZ-157 relatable to readers, then we definitely should be able to make our love of chocolate or TV shows or RPG games relatable to our readers. So no matter what topic we choose, it all comes down to this: If we make it relatable to others, we can use it to connect with others.
What do you think of my theory? Do you agree or disagree? Do you have other reasons for buying a book? How does your TBR pile compare to mine? *smile*
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