How Do You Choose A Book?

  

While visiting an indie book store in Minneapolis, one with a cafe and wide aisles for patrons to browse with their dogs, I walked across thousands of books with no particular intention but to find a book that would speak to me. Which book would stick out to get my attention — and which one could survive my evaluation?

Shopping in a bookstore is like the dating scene, where one’s looks or a book’s appearance can draw you in —but it is the words conveyed that dictate if there is a match.

A book holds great promise for you, the reader.  It offers something in its existence, perhaps to entertain or enlighten, or to inform or inspire. Some books can even change lives.

Sure, we judge whether to buy a book based on a checklist of surface items, such as the:

·         What genre it is in

·         How long it is

·         What the price is

·         The book’s format.

·         Book Cover

·         Title and sub-title

·         Packaging/Layout/Feel/Smell

·         Who blurbed or reviewed it

 

Sometimes we buy because a friend recommended it or a savvy store clerk whispers about it.

We also look to see who the author is, what that person looks like, and if they are connected to anything or anyone whom we feel a fondness for.

I usually randomly flip through a book to see if I can find a few things that grab me or that I agree with. If it doesn’t feel right, back it goes to the shelf, to remain an orphan until someone else, with different tastes and needs comes along and embraces it.

Many times I browse the sections of the bookstore where my reading interests lay, such as Books About Books, Business, Self-Help, Philosophy, and Psychology. Most books are facing spine out so I crane my neck to read them. I don’t always make it to the bottom shelf unless I plop down on the floor to investigate.

Sometimes just looking at books — without buying one — is fulfilling. You got to date so many subjects, lives, and events but didn’t get married to anything. It is usually more satisfying to take home a book or two to add to the pile of unread books, but just the act of catching snippets of other books that I will never get to read in full provides me a feeling of accomplishment.

I ended up making a purchase after evaluating it over a cappuccino. It was a book I remember skimming in a bookstore previously. I am not sure why I did not buy it the first time around, but I was glad I plunked down 30 bucks this time. It was one of the best books I had ever read on the art of persuasion.

The psychology of how we buy anything has been studied for a long time. Many factors go into what drives the purchase of anything. But when it comes to books I know that not all purchases are predictable or practical. The human impulses to know, to own, or to seek can lead us on a surprising book journey.

Go to the bookstore and see what you take home. 

 

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over 4.4 million pageviews. With 5,300+ posts over the past 14 years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs  by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum