AUTHOR SURVEY: PART TWO
Thanks for joining us for the second part of our Friday Blog on the indieBRAG Survey- Robert
In this Blog I will conclude my summary of key findings from the indieBRAG 2014 Author Survey.
Type of Social Media Used.
Observations:
• As in 2013, virtually all of our authors use social media to promote their SP books and this is done across a broad range of social media types.
• Having a website, Facebook page and being on Goodreads continue to be the most commonly used types of social media.
• The usage of Twitter while still strong at 72%, dropped from 79% a year ago.
• The percentage of authors having a Pinterest page jumped dramatically to 49% versus 36% last year.
• Conversely, the number of authors who write a blog dropped markedly from 86% last year to 68% this year.
Types of Reviews Read
Observations:
• All respondents say they read book reviews on amazon.com and over 60% say these reviews can Always or Usually be trusted.
• Almost as many authors read reviews on Goodreads but the percentage who trust them is a little lower 51%.
• Two thirds of the authors read reviews on Barnes and Noble but nearly 40% believe that these are rarely trustworthy.
• Only four out of ten respondents read paid reviews and among this group, 70% do not believe they can be trusted. The results for reviews in the New York Times Sunday Review are not much better.
Advice to Other Self-Published Authors
Survey respondents were asked if there was one piece of advice that they could give to other self-published authors what would it be?
• Edit, edit, edit…then edit some more!
• Take your time. Don’t rush into production
• Write a great book and get a great cover
• Join a writers’ group
• Use experienced beta readers
• Get tough-love critique
• Draw up a financial plan and stick to it
• Never give up!
This concludes my review of the significant findings of the 2014 indieBRAG Author Survey. In my next Blog I will share with you similar results from the Reader Survey.
Be sure to join us on February 13, 2015 For Part 3 of our survey blog.
A strong bias against paid reviews, something I would never subject myself to. The trouble is, do we really know which reviews have been paid for. There is, of course, a difference between a review and a commissioned opinion? Comments welcome
I know that reviews are important but paying, often large sums, may not be the best use of a writers money. The are often suspect which makes them a waste but the truth is you can get some pretty worthwhile reviews from dedicated reviewers without the big outlay of money. Many of these “expert” reviewers concentrate only on the mechanics and don’t give as much value to the creativity and artistry required to make a really good book. This is why the final questions we ask our readers is ” is this book one they would recommend to their best friend”. I myself, have read acclaimed books that are technically perfect, amazingly researched, praised by the elite and they are boring, boring, boring!