#FollowReader: What Readers Want Publishers to Know

image courtesy of despair.com

Oh, the #FollowReader Twitchat last week was AWESOME. The topic? What you, as readers, want publishers to know.

There was an incredible turnout with readers and publishers well represented. Ideas were flying around furiously. Among some of the most agreed upon and/or interesting:

• Book covers matter a lot to readers. Readers want the cover to accurately represent the content of the book, and blurbs are not as appreciated as is a good summary and description of the book. Oh, and don’t give away too much of the plot on the jacket copy.
• Readers are interested in ebooks, but don’t want to have to figure out what format goes with what device, etc. They want it simple — either one format that works everywhere OR bundle those formats and make them all available for one price. And, ebook readers don’t want to be punished for reading ebooks — let them have new releases at the same time as paper book readers, please (and don’t make them pay a premium for it).
• And about the price…readers don’t think ebooks should cost as much as paper/printed books. Though, if there are some special features (multimedia, interactive content) some readers would consider paying a higher price than the increasingly accepted norm of $9.99.
• Romance readers suggested they’d like to see an industry-accepted “heat” rating system for books in the genre.
• Series book readers like the trend of releasing the books closer together so they don’t have to wait so long between reads.
• Readers like that publishers are digitizing backlist titles.

There are a lot more wonderful comments and suggestions, so I would highly encourage you to take the time to read the whole transcript (you can find it by clicking here). It’s long, but there are some great nuggets in there for publishers and readers alike.

I’d also like to thank HarperStudio’s intern for blogging about the #FollowReader twitchat. We are honored. Read an excerpt from the post below:

It was a great discussion, lively with a broad range of posts. Issues with e-readers were voiced, from pricing to formats, as well as misleading blurbs and book covers. It wasn’t an hour set aside for simply complaining about publishers though; Kat made sure to ask what publishers were doing right. I would say it was a very encouraging chat, because the feedback from readers and publishers let us know what we should continue to do and what we need to work on. The best part for me though, was that I was immersed in a passionate group of people that could not stop talking about books (in a good way!). Kat is moderating from 4 – 5 pm on Thursdays, but the hashtag is used all week long to bring excellent ideas and discussions to the table.

Thanks to everyone who joined in the conversation. It was fantastic! And, look forward to “seeing” you all this Thursday for another #FollowReader session. 4pm EST!