Comments on: Why online book discovery is broken (and how to fix it)

By: Laura Hazard Owen

Laura Hazard Owen — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 19:28:07 +0000

Hey all, I just wrote a follow-up to this post: http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/15/heres-the-problem-with-publishers-book-discovery-problem/

By: mattmaldre

mattmaldre — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:10:26 +0000

Laura, after reading and commenting on your recent post, “Here’s the problem with book publishers’ discovery problem” I thought to come here and read the comments to see what people say about goodreads.

You bring up a good point about comparing the books on your shelf with other’s. That would be handy. The primary way I use Goodreads is that I bookmark the homepage and check the stream of what books my friends are reading. Part of the problem with that is 95% of the books I’m not really interested in. So it could be more efficient. But I’m find with wading through the stream every day. Plus, it’s fun to hear people’s comments about other’s posts and books.

By: AJ

AJ — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:05:05 +0000

It has been fascinating following this discussion and this validates that there is definitely a problem/issue in the discover-ability of books/ebooks – that need to be solved. few months back, We started working on a small initiative to help solve this problem of discovery. Here is our initial attempt at it.:

boikeno.com

I have already got lot of interesting ideas from this thread but if you have any very specific suggestions please feel free to write to us. Thanks!

By: Bill Colburn

Bill Colburn — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 20:53:17 +0000

I hear about books from friends and from organizations I associate with. I then go to Amazon to read reviews. I post my own reviews there as well and post what I’m reading on Goodreads. My preferred social media is Twitter. If a book title catches my eye there I check it out.

By: cmmarcum

cmmarcum — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:34:56 +0000

Case in point: I just when to Zola for the first time, and what flashed in my face? Same old, same old. If I wanted a big name author and a $10 digital book, I’d have no trouble finding it on Amazon. What’s revolutionary about recommending the same thing everyone else is recommending?

By: Peggy OKane

Peggy OKane — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:23:59 +0000

As a librarian I find that I get most of my personal reading suggestions from genre specific blogs like Smart Bitches Trashy Books and Book Smugglers or from my colleagues.
Word of mouth still works best, Tje trick is to identify the mouths to listen to.

By: Hunter Shea

Hunter Shea — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 01:26:48 +0000

I hear my daughter, who is an enormous reader, complain about this all the time as she casts her Kindle aside and asks to be taken to the bookstore.

By: Suzanna B. Stinnett

Suzanna B. Stinnett — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:35:56 +0000

Very interesting article. Hildick-Smith states that publishers are not doing enough to protect bookstores, and I fervently agree. I have some ideas about how indie author/publishers can collaborate with indie bookstores, keeping the bookstores close to the cultural heart of book buying, while giving indie authors the exposure they need in their community. At Copperfield’s yesterday I picked up the flyer they had with a display of Kobo, which they call “The independent bookstore’s answer to Kindle.” Or something like that. This imaginary fight with Amazon probably just bleeds energy from real solutions in which indie authors and indie booksellers thrive. However, in the background of this picture, I see a black dress fluttering on a clothesline. Will the future unfold an author’s reality that snugs up to beloved community bookstores and leaves Amazon completely out of the picture? It’s entirely possible, and might be a rich route to book discovery.

Also of interest is the comment from Hildick-Smith that “entering digital book retail is very, very expensive.” Knowing first hand that for authors, entering digital book retail is very, very cheap, I think this strange continuum is worth examining.

And finally, the need for “more powerful reviewers” to drive book sales shows me that publishers trying to make digital work are still missing the point of our social-driven online world. Reviews aren’t working, Amazon and Yelp have seen to that. Reviews give a certain kind of information when there are lots of them, but in general, they hurt the sellers.

By: suelange

suelange — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 08:45:46 +0000

This is interesting: “What I do think is that the metadata could be constructed for any and all searches for the actual experience offered by the book —”

This is what I wish they would do with movie taglines. So often a tagline tells me nothing about whether or not I will enjoy the movie experience. Because what the story is about is not what’s important. The feel of the movie, the theme of the movie, who directed it, or how it was directed is more important. Am I going to be insulted by puerile or misogynistic ideas? Is this something truly new and well put together? Or is it just regular Hollywood schlock? Instead of adult content rating can we get a schlock rating?

A book’s metadata should be able to do that. Can we get a schlock rating system for books? Who’s going to be the judge?

By: William

William — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 06:08:09 +0000

Won’t it be good if book stores fail because people will be forced online to find book instead of going to a book store? This helps independent publishers and self-published authors. Libraries would probably take their place to a degree I suppose.