I spent some time this weekend surrounded by the cats, with my nose glued to the computer working on the new Black Velvet Seductions Website which has taken a back seat as I’ve finished edits on two projects that will be coming out soon. (More about them in an upcoming post – I promise!)
We decided quite some time back that when we rolled out the new website we would no longer sell books from the site. Instead the site would be a place where readers could learn about books and authors and where authors could learn about our guidelines before submitting manuscripts.
Once the decision not to sell books on the site was made the next decision became which sites do we link to for sales.
It’ll come as no surprise to those of you who read the blog regularly that I am an Amazon Kindle Fan. I buy 95% of the books I buy from Amazon. Most of the remaining 5% I buy from Audible, which is owned by Amazon. So of course I’d include an Amazon link. 
Nook is another big player in the world of ebooks. Our sales through Barnes & Noble increase constantly. So it made sense to link to Barnes & Noble for our customers who buy books for their Nooks.
At that point my decision became a little more muddy. Smashwords? Kobo? Fictionwise? All Romance Ebooks? Somewhere else?
For now I elected to link to Smashwords and Kobo in addition to Amazon and Barnes & Noble. My decision was based primarily upon the fact that Smashwords carries a large number of formats so most readers would be able to find a format that works for them. I chose Kobo because I generally like their site and because they sell internationally and we want our books to be available to readers worldwide.
So…would you have made the same decision? A different one? Which book sites would you link to and why? Where do you prefer to buy books and what makes those sites your preferred places to shop for books?
photo credit: Pen Waggener via photo pin cc (Kindle Image)
I am not a big buyer from Amazon or Barnes and Noble. I generally go to the publishers sites. I do buy from ARE and places like Ellora’s Cave, Pink Petal Books and others.
I sometimes buy from publishers’ sites too, though most often it’s when I can’t find their book on another site. That’s less the case now because everyone has easy access to get their books on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and most take advantage of that.
What I like about Amazon is the ease of searching. I also like the tags there as often those put me onto books I might not have heard of.
I also really like 1 click purchasing at Amazon…and I hate having to have a password to log in at some of the other sites.
What do you like about buying from publisher’s sites Gabrielle? What do you most like about ARE?
I enjoy supporting the small companies and for me it is just as easy to find books by certain authors since I have accounts on the publishers sites and I am usually looking for a certain book not browsing. I do not do a lot of browsing. I know which book I want and most of the time the author has a link to the publishers site as well. Most sites that I go to are the ones that publish the authors that I follow and the stories that I enjoy.
I buy most of my books from Amazon, too. I always wait until I have enough purchases to qualify for the free shipping. I also buy digital books from Fictionwise and All Romance Ebooks, especially when there’s a coupon code.
Coupon Codes are sales?
How much do coupon codes impact how many books you buy? Are you more likely to buy more books when the price is lower or do you simply pocket the savings?
As I usually don’t have cash for books I tend to use GC from Amazon to buy my books.
If I do get some cash I decide, on either a bricks&mortar store or online store, by which book I want the most (or have wanted the longest).
I’m assuming you win GC’s or are given them as gifts?
Do you use any of the ebook lending sites? I noticed a blog post at AAR about lending sites.
I frankly didn’t know such a thing existed till reading the post…but I think it’s a great idea.
A lot of libraries are adding ebook collections as well. I think most people think this is probably going to continue and in fact grow. I think it’s a great thing as it allows more readers to try books by authors they don’t yet know.
I buy the majority of my books from THE BOOK DEPOSITORY. The prices are fabulous & free shipping is a must. I don’t buy e-books. I still prefer a tree book.
Free shipping is a great benefit for sure, especially if you’re talking about paper books. There are cases anymore when shipping costs more than a book. Crazy.
I’m very much a fan of audio and ebooks. I like audio because I can listen to more than I will ever have time to sit down and read.