Wednesday's Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHICH BOOK TO BUY?

By: Belinda Boring

I've taken to stalking the lists over at Amazon - both the Top 100 paid and free - for my Kindle. Heaven knows, I don't need any more books, but I'm addicted and I'm planning for the apocalypse where I'll need to bunker down and wait it out. I'm determined to be prepared and if I have a full Kindle, I'll be entertained *shakes head* Yeah, my husband didn't buy that either.

I caught myself doing something, and made me wonder whether I was the only one. How do other readers decide what to gets - especially amongst the free? You would assume a free ebook means you automatically click, but I know that's not the case for me. Don't get me wrong, when I first got my Kindle I went "click" happy. I would get everything in the romance section and surprise, surprise, I either haven't read some of them, or deleted them. So it got me thinking - what influences me?

Here's what I noticed about myself:

Top influencer - The Cover

This is the very first thing I look at. I am a complete cover whore. Plain and simple. I am almost positive I'm missing out on some phenomenal reading simply because the cover doesn't pull me. I will skim lists and my eyes gloss over the books that don't attract. Does that make me fickle? No. It means I like what I like. I'm the same whether I go to a bookstore or shop online. The cover has to appeal. It has to catch my eye. The same amount of time that went into the story and perfecting needs to go into having the best cover. I've bought books JUST for the cover. Sometimes they are just as convincing as the blurb and if both are amazing, there's no stopping the purchase.

Second Influencer - The Blurb

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Read the full article HERE!

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If you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are again:

1. Author, Jody Hedlund: Do Agents Still Hold the Gatekeeper Key to Getting Published? http://ow.ly/HeQ6N
2. How are you measuring social media in 2015? Do you know which metrics to watch? Read this post: http://ow.ly/HeQe1
3. 10 Simple Hacks That Will Increase Your Blog Traffic: @ProBlogger http://ow.ly/HeQJq
4. The Best Place To Put Social Media Buttons On Your Blog http://ow.ly/HeRYa
5. Writability: Vlog: How to Edit: The CP Trade http://ow.ly/HeXuQ
6. 7 Ways to Use Pinterest to Promote Your Business - Plus Infographic http://ow.ly/HeZY4
7. Word-of-Mouth - Why Social Is the New Word-of-Mouth Marketing, and What That Means: MarketingProfs Article http://ow.ly/Hf0j5
8. The Kill Zone: Getting Started With Scrivener http://ow.ly/Hf4f3
9. Craft of Writing: Dealing with Pacing Problems by Jake Kerr http://ow.ly/Hf4qc
10. Four Tips on What NOT to Say (or Pitch or Do) to Get Your Book Reviewed: Tip #34 of 52 Ways to Market Your Book | http://ow.ly/Hf4wS
11. The Writers Alley: How to Nail Your Character's Personality http://ow.ly/Hf4DC
12. Pub Hub: 10 Thoughts: Writing About Sex in YA Fiction & Otherwise, Part I http://ow.ly/Hf5aI
13. Column D: Writing Your Main Character - Have You Seen This Man? - Script Magazine http://ow.ly/Hf5kg
14. How to Make Good Grammar Part of Your Daily Life | Writing Forward http://ow.ly/Hf5Cn
15. Why spunky heroines need to fight back. - Venture Galleries http://ow.ly/Hf5N3
16. Unpublished writers, here's a lesson from Larry the Cable Guy http://ow.ly/Hf5Tz
17. Overcome Your Book Doubts By Asking WHY - WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™WRITERS HELPING WRITERS™ http://ow.ly/Hf6en
18. 11 Ways to Become a Better Writer (Without Writing) - Books & Such Literary Management http://ow.ly/Hf6tm
19. Online Presence: Pros, Perils and Possibilities - The Writing Platform http://ow.ly/Hf7cC
20. Guest Post: The Four Hidden Habit Skills - SFWA http://ow.ly/Hf7Ge
21. Haven’t Finished Reading that Bestseller? You’re Not Alone http://ow.ly/Hf8o7
22. The Write Conversation: Social Media Monday—How Facebook Changes for 2015 Could Affect Authors http://ow.ly/Hf8Kf
23. Facebook for Authors: Getting Started Guide | Jane Friedman http://ow.ly/Hf9r0
24. Six top tips for writing historical fiction : Women Writers, Women's Books http://ow.ly/Hf9z6
25. 5 Tips for Writing Action-Packed Fight Scenes http://ow.ly/Hf9Lp
26. A New Architecture Of Algorithms: Could Trajectory Make Books ‘Discoverable’ At Last? | Thought Catalog http://ow.ly/HfcmS
27. Indie Authors: Dealing with Reviews, the Good and Bad http://ow.ly/HfcSB
28. How Many Women Does It Take to Make the Perfect Sex Scene? http://t.co/rYJfqggFQX  @ELLEmagazine @Outlander_Starz RT @TianaHartwood
29. Belinda Boring Author: Recycled Post: How Do You Decide Which Book To Buy? http://ow.ly/HfvWI

Happy writing and running, Kathy