I’ve been pondering my reading habits lately. Because the author in me wants to know what makes the reader in me buy books. I’ve been desensitized to the book blurb, because writing queries makes my brain bleed. Reviews read like templates. people either like it or they don’t.

So what’s motivating me to buy and read the books I do? I’ve had to ask myself that over and over.

The first answer is easy. There are the authors I already know and love, and their contemporaries. The big downside to this is those authors aren’t putting out a lot of new books. Kurt Vonnegut? Supposedly this slacker hasn’t put out a new book in decades. What the hell? Some of my other favorites are still writing: Neil Gaiman, Chuck Palahnuik, William Gibson…

But aren’t exactly mass producers. It takes me an average of 3 days to finish a book. Sometimes as long as week if things are busy. I don’t go through as many books as some people, but my Kindle tells me it’s been almost 70 in the last 9 months. To be fair, some of those are novellas and a couple are short story collections.

So, what else is on there? What else am I reading? There are a handful of books on there that I never made it past chapter 1. Oddly enough, every single one of them I picked up because someone in the book industry said “this is a favorite (non-client/friend) author of mine, and the book is on sale for $.99 or less”

It looks like the only one of those I read was the first ‘Succubus’ book, by Richelle Mead. I also, consequently, read the next five as well. Awesome books.

99% of the remaining books are books I picked up because I follow the author on Twitter and/or Facebook. Does that mean social media works to sell books? I’ve been thinking about this and analyzing it.

Of that remainder, a lot of them were free. But I don’t always even pick up the free books. Genre is rarely an issue. If the other factors I look for apply, I ignore genre, because I’ll read anything well-written. If the other factors don’t apply, genre becomes a factor.

If I’m on the edge about a book, even a free one, I’ll pass it up. Cover can deter me. Blurb can deter me. It’s rare for either one to pursuade me. I guess I’m a snob like that.

But the #1 factor? Do I like the face the author presents online?

It’s as simple as that, and also as complex as that. If all I ever see from you are links to your books, no, I probably won’t buy.

If I see you saying things that entertain or amuse me, that helps. I think “Oh, this individual has a similar thinking method to me, maybe they’ll also write things that are interesting to me.”

When I see how you interract with other people, myself or any random person, that’s what seals the deal. Which is probably not good for me, because I’m a recluse and don’t interract with other people 😉

But yeah, my level of respect for an author, and interest in their books, increases tenfold when I see that they’re nice people.

The thing is, I might not feel that way if this method of book-buying had burned me. But so far, the books have all been fantastic. Sometimes these authors mention their writing methods, sometimes they put up links to their books, or to reviews of their books. They never avoid these things. But overall, they just present a pleasant face when they interact with the rest of the world.

That also means those are the people I’m recomending to friends and colleagues. “Go read this book, and while you’re at it, follow @awesomesnessincarnateredange1 on Twitter”

Am I the only one who buys this way? Would you/have you ever bought a book by an author just because you liked their twitter feed? Or do you prefer to rely on the tried and true of book blurbs and reviews?