This fun feature is a mini workshop. We look at book covers just from their thumbnail pictures at online selling book sites and make quick fire buying decisions. We look from a READERS Point of View and this exercise is very EYE OPENING.
From the book cover we will browse the book description, price and some of the reviews BUT we only have 5 MINUTES.
WE PLAY POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS
Join in and see where it leads.
Grab a coffee and spend 5 Minutes on this exercise.
In today’s online shopping age, readers often base their buying decisions from small postage stamp size book covers (Thumb-nails), a quick glance at the book description and the review. How much time do they really spend making that buying decision?
AUTHORS – You often only have seconds to get a reader to buy your book, is your book cover and book bio up to it?
My Friday Five Challenge is this….. IN ONLY FIVE MINUTES….
1) Go to any online book supplier,
2) Randomly choose a category,
3) Speed through the book covers, choose one which has instantly appealed to your eye,
4) Read the book Bio/ Description for this book,
5) If there are reviews, check out a couple,
6) Make an instant decision, would you BUY or PASS?
(then write a little analysis about your decision)
Share your post, use #FridayFiveChallenge @rosieamber1 and I’ll help share all relevant posts.
Recently I’ve been stretching my genre reading to cover new areas, today I bravely searched for HORROR.
Book Description
Cherry blossom lipstick: check
Smokey eyes: check
Skinny jeans: check
Dead kid in the mirror: check
For sixteen year old Mattie Hathaway, this is her normal everyday routine. She’s been able to see ghosts since her mother tried to murder her when she was five years old. No way does she want anyone to know she can talk to spooks. Being a foster kid is hard enough without being labeled a freak too.
Normally, she just ignores the ghosts and they go away. That is until she see’s the ghost of her foster sister… Sally.
Everyone thinks Sally’s just another runaway, but Mattie knows the truth—she’s dead. Murdered. Mattie feels like she has to help Sally, but she can’t do it alone. Against her better judgment, she teams up with a young policeman, Officer Dan, and together they set out to discover the real truth behind Sally’s disappearance.
Only to find out she’s dealing with a much bigger problem, a serial killer, and she may be the next victim…
Will Mattie be able to find out the truth before the killer finds her?
Number of pages; 284
Price; FREE on Kindle – aha it’s those nifty YA genres again which have book #1 of a series free
Number of reviews; 456 Amazon Uk, 1141 Amazon.com
Would I BUY or PASS… BUY and I have just downloaded it.
Analysis
I chose the book from the cover and the book title, I like ghosts stories and mediums, the book description didn’t frighten me too much, hopefully it’s strong on the ghost side rather than the gruesome murders. I hadn’t spotted it was a #YA even with the teenager man character. Not until I saw the price and that it was one of a series and then I realised it was #YA. So for me this is a great introduction to horror, the #YA genre should keep the horror light enough for me to sleep at night. This genre of authors have book series sales down to a T, they offer the first book free to haul in the readers, get them hooked and then get them to pay for the subsequent books. I’ve downloaded my copy. Now I’ve seen the smaller tagline this series is “soon to be a movie” and as this book was published in 2013 it has probably already been made into a movie, I rarely match movies, so you’ll have to tell me readers if you know of it.
Other bloggers taking part in today’s #FridayFiveChallenge
Barb wants you to vote on book covers that differ for UK and US versions – vote here
Liz has found a book set in the tropics. The Separation by Dinah Jefferies
Shelley is looking at A Rick Riordan Book Big Red Tequila
Cathy has found Historical Romance Tame The Wild Wind by Roseanne Bittner
Megan has joined us this week and she’s looked at My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
Paula found a “Sugary” adult children’s book Liquor, Drugs and Sugar
Rosie Amber 