Millions of books are published and purchased every year, but the ones that succeed are the ones with authors who understand their audience and understand what compels a reader to buy. This chapter will help you gain a better understanding of why people buy books and how they make purchasing decisions. Understanding what motivates readers helps inform your book marketing strategies by addressing both a reader’s emotional and logical impulses in order to form a connection, leave an impression, and, ultimately, capture the sale.
We buy groceries to feed ourselves, clothes to wear, and furniture to sit on. Why we choose to buy what we buy in each of these categories is generally personal preference, but the fact remains that we purchase things to meet a need.
Books are no different. People buy books to meet a need they have in their life. That need is usually for entertainment (fiction and biography/memoir books) or to learn something (nonfiction books). It might be that a person wants to lose weight, improve a relationship, or learn a new skill. Books provide both entertainment and education.
When you honestly consider how often people think about your book specifically versus how often people think about personal challenges they’re facing, you will probably agree that people think more about how they can solve their own problems, learn something, improve themselves or be entertained than they do about your book. However, if you can show them how reading your book helps them achieve these things, you are likely to increase your book sales and revenue. Your promotional efforts should highlight the need your book addresses. Point the need out to your potential reader and assure them that your book provides a solution to that need. What does your book offer readers? A stress-free life? Knowledge to be a better parent? A great romance story? Make sure your readers know how your book fills a specific need in their lives.
Giving gifts is a common practice. We give gifts at all important milestones and celebrations, and books make great gifts. In fact, people buy books, lots of them, to give as gifts.
Consider what kind of gift your book is best suited for. A child’s birthday? A house-warming/graduation/Father’s Day/Grandparent’s Day/Christmas/teacher gift?
Books make great gifts and one book marketing strategy is to encourage readers to purchase your book for that reason. Remind your readers why books are the perfect gifts, including the fact that they never go out of style and leave a lasting impression.
Impulse buying is a spur-of-the-moment, unplanned decision to buy. Research suggests that emotions play a large role in triggering an impulse purchase.
A consumer sees the book and decides to buy it. What draws them in? Most likely, it’s the book’s cover. The cover is one of your book’s top marketing tools. Make sure your book has a cover that draws people’s attention and makes them want to own it, and that it includes strong back cover copy and a good title. That way, whether they are browsing online or in a physical store, your book catches their attention, tugs at their emotions, and creates the urge to buy now.
We know people on many different levels. Some people we know personally, others we know from following them on social media, still others are influencers or famous personalities with whom we are familiar. The same is true with authors. The number one reason that readers buy books is because they know the author. This does not always mean that the reader is a personal friend of the author. The reader may know the author because they have:
If knowing the author is a top reason why people buy books, don’t be shy. Help people get to know you. Take advantage of radio and television interviews, blog and podcast interviews, and social media. Show people that you are likeable and that they can trust you. When people feel a positive connection to you, book sales follow.
The second biggest factor driving book purchasing decisions is recommendations. When a friend, family member, or coworker recommends a book, people take note. However, books can be recommended by trusted resources in a number of ways:
Bottom line here: word of mouth sells books. No matter how many times you say your book is amazing, unless you’re close to your readers or you're a tastemaker in the book publishing industry, readers probably won't just accept your word for it. They’ll need a bit more proof before they purchase, and if you can get someone they do know and trust to like your book, you're that much closer to getting them to like it too. Spend time getting your book in front of the influencers who are most likely to enjoy and recommend your book to others. Ask your readers and fans to write a review of your book or to share it with their friends on social media. The more positive reviews you garner, the more readers will trust your book and make a purchase.
People discover books through browsing. Research has shown that people discover and purchase books from simply looking at books in both physical and online stores. For this reason alone, you should dedicate some time to promoting your book onto the shelves of stores, libraries, and online retailers. Having good book metadata is especially helpful with online browsing because the BISAC codes and keywords you enter for your book's metadata will help display your book as a result for users searching for particular subject matter.
When it comes to purchasing something, people fear what they might lose more than what they will gain. In purchasing a book, people fear they will lose money if they don’t like the book. Allowing readers to read a portion of a book helps them see what they will gain and helps convince them that the book is worth their investment. People often decide to buy a book once they know they'll like what's inside, either from reading just a portion (or the first book in a series) for free. This may seem counterintuitive since most authors have the goal of achieving book sales, not giving their book (or parts of it) away for free, but this is one of the quickest ways to introduce and build a new audience for your book, because it lowers a reader’s financial risk.
Allowing readers to experience your story without the fear of losing something is powerful. Give readers a chance to read part of your book (or the first in a series) for free. Doing so can help drive sales. You can provide readers access to one or more chapters of your book on your author website. The subject of free content will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 7 of this online course. Knowing what drives readers’ book purchasing decisions helps you make strides to market your book more effectively and capture your audience.
This chapter was compiled from the following posts on the IngramSpark blog:
“Tips on How to Target Your Book’s Audience” by Brian Jud, Executive Director of the Association of Publishers for Special Sales
“Three Reasons People Buy Books” by Sarah Bolme, Director of Christian Small Publishers Association
“How Readers Buy Books” by Sarah Bolme
“Facts About Readers: What People Read and How” by Amy Collins, President of New Shelves Books
