We had a wonderful meetup this month at the Strawberry Hills hotel, where one of the topics of discussion was the Reader’s Journey – or, in marketing speak, the “path to purchase”.
We used a self-quiz to help writers think about how they ended up discovering the last book they read: was it a personal recommendation? Did they spot it in a bookshop? Was it at the library? Then what made them decide to buy it, and how/where they did so: buying a physical copy, getting in on their Kindle or finding a second-hand copy?
All these are important to understand how a reader might find your book, and how they might acquire it. Because if it’s a second hand copy or the were leant it by a friends, you won’t realise an actual purchase. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because they may seek out and buy other works you’ve published. But it is reminder that overnight riches isn’t likely for most authors!
Also importantly, the quiz asked what people did after reading the book. Did they rate it? Review it? Give it away or recommend it to a friend? These actions can be critical to help a book (and author) gain exposure to readers. If we’re not doing them ourselves with books we love, why should we imagine readers will?
If you’d like to try this quiz yourself to get thinking about how you might market your book and reach readers, you can download a printable pdf here.