Monday, July 9, 2012

The Truth About Teens Buying Books

Okay, not the WHOLE truth, but I have a 13-year-old sister, and watching her and her friends choose books has been a very enlightening experience. As far as I've seen, there are two major factors, and everything else doesn't seem to matter much.

1. Cover, cover, cover. It's all about a cool cover. How each person deems a cover "cool" is subjective, of course, but it seems that "pretty" covers go over very well for the teen girls. Yes, we may be sick of them as people in the business, but the truth of the matter is that they WIN when it comes to the target audience.

And what's interesting is that the cover often has more sway than other people's opinions! I will say a book is good, and the first question is, "What does the cover look like?" If I show my sister and she likes it—she'll probably read the book. If not? She won't.

2. Word of mouth. If all her friends are reading a book, my sister will usually want to read that book more. She also trusts my opinion as a writer, and my mom's since she is a voracious reader of YA and MG (works in a school, constantly giving me recommendations). Then comes the opinions of some of her favorite authors. But again, still has to have a cool cover.

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There's a lot we stress about as writers that doesn't reach our target audience at all. This is both good and bad. Many teens don't check reviews, I think, instead trusting in peers. But they also don't see the majority of online promo. The only time I have seen my sister look up an author is after she read and loved the book, and even then it has only been for her very favorite books, not all of them.

For me, it's a reminder not to stress too much over all the finer details of this publishing thing. My job is to put a great story between the covers, and I have a great publisher to put an awesome, marketable image on the outside. The rest is really up to the readers. AKA: I can't control everything, and that's okay. I'll just keep writing the words behind the cover and hope for the best.

15 comments:

  1. Among my friends, it's largely word of mouth and what the book's about. My one friend will basically read whatever I give her. Another will read some of what I recommend, but she likes contemporary that's Sarah Dessen-esque or John Green-esque.

    I'll also admit that I've been blogging for 2 and a half years, but a pretty cover can be enough to sway me if I'm on the fence of a book. For my friends? Not so much.

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    1. Yeah, Julie, definitely not saying ALL teens are alike, but I was surprised by how much the cover seems to play a part in the choices.

      And go you for blogging! I'd love to see more teen bloggers:)

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  2. "Many teens don't check reviews, I think, instead trusting in peers. But they also don't see the majority of online promo." Such a great piece of advice. Really, mainly the adult readers are checking the reviews and visiting some of the blogs. Thanks for posting this.

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  3. So, you have an awesome cover, right?! :D

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  4. Such a good post! I'm thankful in that I love my publisher's covers. Word-of-mouth just seems like one of those concepts that's so hard to crack, though. But I love your point that as an author, the most important thing is to create the best story possible. :)

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  5. I hear ya! My tween and I were at the library today and I'd pull out a book and suggest it and she'd either nod, or shake her head by looking at it. If the front cover passed that test, then the back cover got a glance. Once it passed that, it was golden. And if her friends suggest a book, she is on the hunt for that title! She has been loving Firelight and Vanish, so she was on the search for dragon books with female leads. And a friend told her Hex Hall was great, so that was in her pile too. :)

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  6. This does not surprise me at all, as I've seen this many times with my preteen boy and the kids at the elementary school where I work. I can't blame them. I love great covers! In truth, I have to admit that a great cover is often what initially draws me to a book. If the cover "speaks" somehow, I will pick up the book. Of course, the title is important too.

    There was this fifth grade boy who read almost anything he could and was always asking me for recommendations. But he kept resisting reading A Wrinkle in Time because he said the cover "looked weird." Eventually he read it, though, so I guess my recommendations did mean something.

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  7. I struggle keeping enough books in my house for my 8 yo (he reads up) so if your mom's recommended any amazing MG boy books I would LOVE to hear about it.

    Also, I mainly choose my books the same way-covers and personal recommendations:)

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    1. I couldn't help myself. . .this is Natalie's Mom and Yes, I do have a couple recommendations for you. I love, love, love, The Deltora Quest Series by Emily Rodda. The first series has 8 books and Series Two has 3 books and Series Three has four books that finish off the story. It's a great series for 3rd to 4th graders. Another series that I love is called Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This series is so powerful, suspenseful, and exciting but the subject matter is probably more for a 4th to 5th grade level. For more information you can look up both series or authors on google or amazon.

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    2. My son (9-yrs) likes the Jack Blank Adventures by Matt Myklusch (the first is The Accidental Hero). He raves about them. And they're pretty decent sized (500 pgs) so they keep him reading for a long while.

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    3. Kim and Heather, Thanks so much for responding. I came to check back, not expecting that I'd actually get any advise. Thank you! Series books are great for my son, then at least we know the next few that will work. Right now 8 yo is reading the Guardians of Ga'hoole (I think that's how you spell it)

      Thanks again!

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  8. I love this. I had no idea cover was all (or almost all). Oddly, there are some very successful books with not-so-great covers. Well, I just hope I'm lucky enough to have a "pretty" one some day. :-)

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  9. I'm a 30+yo, and I judge books by covers (initially) Sounds waaaay too shallow - but I do appreciate the aesthetic beauty of packaging, and if the cover is unattractive or embarrassing to hold in public, I won't be drawn to it. Just like I wouldn't have been drawn to it as a teen. Yes, I do have moments where I look at pretty-covered books and say, "why, oh why, couldn't you have been as wonderful as your cover?" but such is life.

    Also, I have many moments where the word of mouth convinces me to look past the covers. But if the covers are ugly, I usually hide them at the back of my bookshelf.

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  10. Interesting about teens trusting the word of their peers over the reviews.

    Maybe it explains the Bieber Pestilence currently plaguing the world...

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