So I now have a kindle. It's an older version - 3.4, I think. I have actually had it for some time, but I like physical books. I love to go into a bookstore and scan the tables and shelves to see what catches my eye.
I love looking and buying. And at some point I became one of those people that bought a book twice because I forgot I bought it (and sometimes read it) already. The cool thing about a bookstore - there is also an end! You can conceivably look at every book in a bookstore.
But not when you are in the kindle store.
I spent probably more than an hour the other day looking at the kindle store. So much so that my eyes were watery and I started to get a headache*. And I could have kept looking for hours upon hours - because the offerings are seemingly unlimited. So here is where I ask for help - how do you find new authors on Amazon? If you look at bestseller lists, they generally are the names of authors I know. If I search by category, you still are getting the top sellers. And I am scared to buy anything under $5 because... well... most of the covers are god-awful and I assume the writing matches the cover.
To me, part of book buying is physical - the cover catching my eye, the feel and heft of a book. I don't know how to translate that into ebook buying.
I suspect that my kindle usage will go more toward reading manuscripts than buying books. And perhaps grabbing novellas and short stories that I can't get in print form. But if you have some ideas - on how to find the hidden gems on Amazon, please let me know!
* for the record, I have had one migraine since my surgery on July 7th. I got it before bedtime on a day where I did most of my work on the computer. While I do believe that my surgery has been a tremendous help in lowering my migraines, I have to remember that I still have to be aware of my triggers.
One trick is to search for books you really like, then look at the "other people who bought this book also bought...". I often find books of similar type that sound interesting. This also works if your search is specifically in "New Arrivals". Say you search for "Louise Penny" in mystery, books, new arrivals, you should see other books people also looked at/bought.
I have 98% physical books, but when I need to read something, an ebook works. I have a lot of 99 cent books, there's nothing wrong with then if I know the author writes well. I buy cheap books if the library doesn't have it and I want a cheap copy. Good luck!
Posted by: Richard R. | August 27, 2015 at 05:24 PM
Try subscribing to one of the Kindle "deal of the day" email lists, Twitter feeds, etc. -- a lot of times they have books by traditionally published authors marked down in one-day sales. I picked up "The Rosie Project" for $1.99 that way (it usually costs around $11).
Posted by: Sue T. | August 27, 2015 at 10:46 PM