What Inspires One To Purchase A Book?

I have been asking myself a lot lately what is it that inspires one to purchase a book,
Is it the cover, the blurb, word of mouth, the author's blog, website, what is it...
These days, for me it is mostly word of mouth and continually purchasing those writers I have always loved...
I check out websites, I read a few blogs, and I can honestly say that alone has never inspired me to purchase a book, not even the newest thing which is trailers, I view them, find some of them very entertaining, others less so, but to date I have yet to purchase a book based on that,
Then I pondered what used to inspire me,
And truthfully I purchase a lot less books than I used to,
Mostly because I review books and that makes up for a lot of what I am reading....
But before that I was pretty much inspired by the same things,
Word of mouth and purchasing books by authors I knew,
The word of mouth made up for the new authors,
I can remember when black authors started to fill the bookstore shelves,
It was the early nineties and I would go to the Waldenbooks in Millilan, HI and fill my arms with whatever books that came out by Black authors, during those times it was Terry MacMillan, E Lynn Harris, Connie Briscoe, Gwendolyn Parker, Sheneska Jackson. Eric Jerome Dickey, J. California Cooper...and the list goes on...
We didn't know what a webpage, blog or any of that stuff was, but man did I love books...
Today I asked a friend at work, (nonAA) what inspires her book purchases,
She told me, referrals and authors she has always loved, she also told me she browsed bookstores, used and new ones, looking for jewels...she also told me that other than my blog, and only because I tell her when I post it, she never looks at stuff online about her favorite authors and I tell you she has a lot of them, this woman purchases 10-12 hardcovers a month!
Then a bulb went off in my head, I thought about all the bookstores, particularly Black bookstores that are closing and I wondered if our desire for technology and bells and whistles is what led to their demise...because it is certainly easier to check out something on line and stay on line to purchase it....hmmm...
As an author we also wonder what it is that inspires people to purchase our books...
Is it the website, the blurb, the blog, the cover or is it old-fashioned word of mouth, or continued support of your work by those who have read it before....For me it's mostly the latter, word of mouth and continued support...and referring my work to others...I guess that makes me an old school bookseller in an everchanging world...I can live with that!

Blessings,
angelia

On and On and On...

I often wonder what it’s like to be ON all the time,
Sometimes I watch comedians and think,
They must be real quiet at home,
I can’t imagine what that must be like to have to turn it up to full volume,
All the time,
I can remember in my youth, I would have friends who had to be the life of the party,
They always had on the shiniest clothing,
Laughed the loudest,
Danced the wildest,
I would often wonder,
‘Does it take all that to have a good time?’
I see it nowadays with folks who are always selling themselves,
Not necessarily when they have a product,
But just constantly selling,
Telling the world how wonderful they are,
Seeming not to realize that usually that can be seen,
And doesn’t have to be told,
That’s the same crowd who never stop chattering,
Talking incessantly,
Cutting off anyone who is speaking,
Or sending all their emails in HUGE, bold letters,
Where does that come from?
This past weekend I was sitting with a couple of people and the conversation,
Never ended,
It was as though there couldn’t be any down time,
As soon as there was a pause,
One or the other would fill the air with words,
Whew,
I was a tired sister when I rolled up out of there,
Some of my best times are with folks,
Who can converse with the best of them…
But know how to take a pause and allow the beautiful quiet to roll around them,
Many of the young people I talk to are like that,
They can allow no down time,
It’s as if there is a hurricane of words in their bellies,
And if they don’t spew them out they will implode or explode,
Gotta get heard, be seen, make a point, prove something...
That’s one of the biggest challenges, telling them they can get the same or usually,
Better results if they simmer down, slow down, listen to what’s being said,
Roll it around inside, allowing it to make sense, then responding….
It’s amazing how many good decisions are made under those conditions,
There will also be less apologies to make, because a well thought out response or reaction, will usually have a greater impact…with a lot fewer casualties…
So I tell them turn it off sometimes,
Take it easy,
Chill,
All the good stuff takes time…

Blessings,
Angelia

http://www.angeliavmenchan.com/