I’m a data nerd. I’m a spreadsheet and chart nerd. Therefore, I could have made this lede a bit shorter and simply said “I’m a nerd.” Recently, I conducted a very unscientific poll on Twitter and Facebook, asking a general group of readers how they decide what to read when choosing a book.
While this is an admittedly small poll with a slight slant toward people I know, even if tangentially (they are connected to me via Facebook and Twitter in some way), I feel the findings are still valid, at least as part of a possible larger survey. If anyone has the resources to conduct a larger poll, contact me. I’d love to see the data.
Here are the results:
Observations:
- It has long been said that word of mouth is the best advertising for books, so it is slightly surprising to see “Recommendations” appear 3rd on the list.
- “Author” being so high on the list is not surprising. We live in egotistical times. And with the embrace of ego comes the worship of ego.
- I didn’t think that “Cover/Title/Synopsis” would have been so important. It is especially interesting that this option was a voter submitted option.
- “Price” is very far down on the list. In a world of so much free content, seeing that people are still willing to pay for perceived value is encouraging.