Paul White
If you love reading you will, from time to time, need to search for new books and often you will need to find new authors too, because your ‘favourite authors’ will still be writing their next book, the one you really, really must read!
So, what are you to do in the meantime?
Simple, you go to Amazon or Goodreads and select a book from there; after all, they have thousands and thousands to choose from, don’t they?
Therein lies the difficulty.
There are so many books, from so many authors, which, why and how do you choose the books you know you will enjoy?
Reviews… but these are not always what they seem. You see, there are ‘professional’ reviewers, people who have built businesses saying nice things about authors books, but only the authors who have paid them to say nice things about their books that is.
Then, many authors ‘swap’ reviews with other authors, you say something wonderful about my book and I’ll do the same for yours… of course these are never biased… are they?
That’s pretty much how some marketing agencies work, promoting someone’s book with the aid of contracted or ‘in-house’ reviews.
This all stems from the belief that, the more reviews a book has the more likely people will buy it.
It is a method major publishing companies have used for years.
They give pre-release copies away to professional journalists and other authors from the same publishing house, who write ‘glowing reviews’ for newspapers, magazines, the back cover ‘blurb’ and so forth.
This is how you can by a ‘Brand new book’ on the day it is released only to find it already has a long list of illustrious appraisals and is boasting a ‘bestselling’ status… is all utter tosh, of course.
Not one of the above forms of ‘reviews’ can be classed as genuine and unbiased. Therefore, they should be discounted totally.
Amazon itself is so concerned about this; which could be classed as ‘cheating’, not only by possibly damaging other authors sales and readership potentials, but such untrue reporting can leave genuine readers with sub-standard books and damage the entire reputation of the indie publishing world; that they (Amazon) have frequent scourges of unfair reviews and are constantly changing their rules in attempt to control this deception.
Free… Oh please. Come on….
Why someone would want to give away well over a year’s worth of hard work, one which often carries a large financial debt, (payment for editing, formatting, cover design etc.)
To me, it shows the desperation of the author for someone, anyone, to read their book.
You have to ask yourself why? Is it so bad no one is willing to pay for it, not even a measly .99 for an eBook version?
Or, is the author is so misinformed and disillusioned they think it will encourage people to buy their other books, their full-priced works?
Once upon a time… when indie publishing was in its infancy, it may have worked that way. But now, with three new books being uploaded to Amazon every minute, twenty-four hours a day and with over two and a half million of these ‘Free’ books currently available… I don’t think so.
Furthermore, the facts and figures from the publishing industry and their monitoring services confirm free no longer works.
BUT… what really makes me gasp is when I find there are authors who pay other people to give their books away… Free is one thing, but this is basically like paying someone to read your book. Who, in their right mind wants to do that?
I don’t pay my boss or my company to let me work for them, and I don’t pay for their family vacations either, which is what giving and paying to give free is akin too.
So, this all leads to one thing.
Recommendation.
Word of mouth is best if the person recommending the book knows exactly what you like reading. There is no better way.
However, there are other forms of recommendation. One I would like to put forward, one I think you should take time browsing is ‘The LIST’.
The LIST is a catalogue of books commended by CQI Magazine.
If you do not know of CQI Magazine you are missing a real treat. CQI Magazine promotes writers, poets, and authors along with artists of every walk of life, from sculptures to painters, musicians to songwriters, creatives and artisans to a global audience in 90 countries.
Believe me, CQI Magazine knows what makes a good book.
You can read ‘The LIST’ by clicking HERE
What I like about The LIST is that it is in no particular order, Children’s books sit next to romance, followed by a book about crime or an emotional drama.
The LIST is a well-presented profession catalogue which I am certain will have more than one book you will want to read.
Recently another option has entered the book marketing place… one I am in love as much, if not more than The LIST… if that is possible.
Enter… Electric Eclectic books.
Electric Eclectic books are not your run-of-the-mill books, oh no, they are far from it.
Firstly, they are published as Kindle books, available from Amazon. HERE
Hence the ‘Electric’ in their title.
Secondly, they are written by several different authors and cover the whole plethora of genres.
Hence the ‘Eclectic’ in the title.
Take a look at the whole range of Electric Eclectic books on their website HERE
Each Electric Eclectic book is a novelette, (ranging from around six thousand words up to twenty thousand).
The reason being, they are written as introductory books, allowing you, the avid reader, bookworm, bibliophile, to ‘get a feel’ for the author’s style, their narration and prose.
Thus, allowing you to ‘sample’ each Electric Eclectic author’s writing, the perfect way to find your next ‘favourite author’.
At just 1.00 (Pound/Dollar/Euro) each, Electric Eclectic books are an easily affordable way to find great authors and fantastic stories.
What’s more, all Electric Eclectic books and authors are assessed for their storytelling skills and abilities, so you can rest assured with an Electric Eclectic book you have purchased a quality read.
Make choosing your next books less of a lottery and more of a pleasure. Grab a recommended book from The LIST or ElectricEclectic.
WOW! Never heard of either of these resources. Good to know!
I know the feeling, like a fish out of water.
Awesome Paul, I find that I focus on specific authors, read everything they have published and move on to the next one!