I’m a reader as well as a writer. While I love to support other indie authors as much as I can, I’ve become a little pickier with what I read. Sometimes we may wonder why people choose certain books over others when presented with reading options. Keep in mind that most of these reasons are subjective.

#1. E-book price is too high.

This is honestly one of my top pet peeves. Yes, authors should charge a fair price for their books, but the purpose of e-books is to entice a reader to buy them since they’re more affordable and quick to download. It’s 100% the author’s choice if they want to charge $8 for their e-book, but how many people are going to buy it at that price unless that author is well-known? Unless I know the author personally, I’m not going to spend more than $6 on an e-book. I think $2.99 to $4.99 is a fair price range for e-books (Statistically they sell better at this price as well). I’ve been at this for ten years and I still gasp when I see someone charging so much for an e-book, even as a fellow author. That’s just my opinion, so if you disagree it’s okay.

#2. I don’t like the cover.

The book cover hints at what’s going on inside of the story. I generally read the description in addition to the book cover, because sometimes you’ll stumble upon a true gem of a story that has a bland cover. With that being said, if I don’t like the cover at all (Something about it offends me, looks cheesy, or it’s not my style), I won’t even click on the description. You can’t please everyone.

#3. The storyline doesn’t seem interesting.

Sometimes I’m looking for a particular story or mood and if the book’s description doesn’t jump out at me, I likely won’t buy it. Other times it’s simply a storyline I can’t relate to (Or don’t want to relate to). I don’t feel that the poems/story fit who I am as a reader, so I set it aside. It doesn’t mean the poems/story isn’t amazing, it’s just not my cup of tea at the moment.

#4. It’s part of a series.

I prefer standalone books and not to get too wrapped up in a series. There will be the odd series that hooks me, but it’s rare. This is another thing that’s just personal preference and it’s not something the author can control.

#5. It’s the wrong genre.

I’m a multi-genre author and also read in various genres, but I don’t like erotica, rom-coms, or romance. It’s a preference of mine to read a book where romance is more of a subplot rather than the whole point of the story. There’s been a few cases where I’ll buy a romance book to support an author I like personally (This is the benefit of networking!), but unless the premise sounds really interesting, it’s very rare to see me reading anything in that genre.

#6. I’ve found too many other books that are exactly what I’m looking for.

Sometimes I’ll find a bunch of books that seem so cool and are exactly what I’ve been searching for. Other books I may have otherwise bought fly under the radar in this case. It happens. I might end up buying them at a later time.