Books without readers: a discoverability problem
“The reading of books is growing arithmetically; the writing of books is growing exponentially.” ― Gabriel Zaid
A piquant observation made in Zaid’s 2003 work, “So Many Books: Reading and Publishing in an Age of Abundance”.
How prophetic he was.
Fast-forward 12 years, and we’re witnessing an alarming asymmetry between reader growth and book numbers. Across key formats, the number of new books released per year is not matched by a commensurate increase in readers. The result? More books are competing for fewer reader eyeballs. Readers feel swamped by digital noise, creating a paradox of choice. Authors are deafened by this same noise, widening the gap between talent and opportunity. Millions of books are left undiscovered. Both ends of the publishing spectrum suffer.
If an overabundance of books weren’t enough, other factors have exacerbated this discoverability problem:
a) A scarcity of attention. Mobile and tablet readers are more time-squeezed than ever, so unknown authors have less time to capture and maintain reader interest.
b) Saturated genre categories. Many book categories have a surplus of books on every topic, particularly in the case of non-fiction. The resulting overlap makes it harder for individual books to stand out.
c) Poor user-experience. Annoying file downloads, restrictive DRM and awkward page navigation deters many readers from sampling books online. Unless readers can try before they buy, the likelihood of an impulse purchase drops significantly.
Recent attempts to tackle this book discoverability problem are missing the mark:
1At one end of the spectrum, we have “set and forget” book promotion platforms. These are largely devoid of interactive features, preventing regular and worthy engagement between authors and readers. Browsing these glorified databases in the hope of discovering a new book is about as absorbing as perusing a telephone directory. Do they make books “searchable”? Yes. After all, the simplest metadata can make a book searchable in seconds … if the buyer already knows of its existence. Do they make books “discoverable”? A resounding no. If a buyer wants to surrender to the tides of serendipity ― to chance upon an unknown book by an unknown author, bookshop-style ― display sites are not the answer.
2At the other end of the spectrum, we have social media networks. No shortage of real-time engagement, but for self-publishing authors, the outcome is often unsatisfying. Posts are transient, with a half-life of several hours in the case of Facebook, to several minutes in the case of Twitter. The result? Valuable writing time is spent topping up live feeds. If Facebook’s algorithms display a post to around 16% of fans, paying to reach the other 84% becomes an unsustainable necessity. More insidious, perhaps, is the way generalised social networks fail to target actual book buyers. Page-views don’t buy books; engaged readers do. One can imagine a near future in which all tech-savvy authors are connected to one another, each talking up the virtues of their latest release, while sweetening the deal with feline photos. Unless the cat is the author, serious book sales are unlikely.
3Then we have specialist “book review” sites. These platforms are inherently skewed towards traditionally published authors, financed by a well-oiled PR and marketing machine. Self-published authors appear several clicks away from the Homepage ― far too far ― and are often rendered anonymous by a bloated interface. Comment boards aren’t deactivatable at the author’s end, so fake and abusive reviews present serious credibility issues. Then the broader question: do reviews sell books? Do they matter to book buyers? Not unless the reviewer is a thought leader in their field, and the review page is generating a slew of visitors.
4Finally, we have “incentivised discovery” platforms. The process of rewarding book advocates with free or discounted copies may seem attractive, but its artificiality makes it self-limiting. Are readers really going to invest time in recruiting a dozen friends to buy a $4.99 book just to get it 30% cheaper? If so, would they do it again? And will their interest ― and their subsequent book review ― be truly sincere?
So what should the ideal book discoverability platform do? What form should it take?
If the ultimate aim is to connect authors and readers with ruthless efficiency, books, not clutter, should take centre-stage. In UX terms: all signal, no noise. Clunky toolbars, bloated menus and intrusive banner ads not only reduce dwell-time, but engagement quality. A clean, image-centric interface that recreates the serendipity of the bookstore would be appealing in its simplicity; a virtual rendering of a time-honoured discovery process.
Book analytics? Check. Mobile-optimisation? Check. Global appeal? Check. But there needs to be something more.
Genre-driven discovery is no longer enough. Gaps are left, subtle layers missed. A book discoverability platform that allows users to curate books by theme, not just genre, would fill these gaps. “Books that lay bare the human condition”, “novels with a deeply flawed protagonist”, “fiction written in the first person singular” ― the possibilities are endless. If book themes were entirely user-generated, discovery would be truly democratic. Smart use of seeded sorting would ensure that “Most liked” or “Most followed” themes remained at the top. More prominent, more shareable, more discoverable.
A platform that simultaneously allows authors to create an interactive book sample would serve many functions. Authors could showcase an enticing excerpt of their book, controlled from an intuitive dashboard. If the sample were embeddable, it could travel to any site or blog, maximising author discoverability. Retail links in the body of the expanded sample would drive the impulse purchase, completing the “Browse-Sample-Buy” discovery funnel. Readers could try before they buy, decreasing their inbuilt risk aversion to a new book by an unknown author.
A platform like this, with a critical mass of avid readers and brand-savvy authors, balanced in a golden ratio, would acquire a deep cultural resonance. The unbreakable author-reader bonds it created would make the platform’s whole far greater than the sum of its parts.
“The author and reader ‘know’ each other: they meet on the bridge of words” ― Madeleine L’Engle
Adam Kolczynski is the Founder of iAuthor, the London-based book discovery startup. He’s been fortunate to work at both ends of the publishing spectrum: first as an author, then as a publisher. Between 2010 and 2013, he ran Polybius Books. The company provided a specialist editorial and branding service to self-publishing authors from the Anglosphere. While forging links with industry advisors, he asked them to identify the publishing industry’s greatest challenge. Almost unanimously, the reply was “book discoverability”. The seeds of iAuthor were sown.
Kolczynski is an annual visitor to the London Book Fair’s Tech Zone, and an active participant in the BookMachine network.
Author, publisher or reader? You can learn more about iAuthor at www.iauthor.uk.com
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