Dreamspinner Press discussion

I've taken longer than many to get onthe Kindle bandwagon, not because the kindle isn't great and easy on my eyes and a breeze to use, but because I still don't have the knack of browsing in an online bookstore.
One of my greastest pleasures, my whole life, I think, was roaming for hours, looking at books, reading blurbs and looking at covers, trying out the first few pages of a new author.

Buying ebooks is easy, so easy my budget is screaming- but that's assuming I already know the book I want. There isn't any browsing. Using tags to try and find something gives me too many choices, and I only look at the first couple of pages.

So how does one browse in an online book store? Or do we depend more heavily on ratings and reviews?

You actually can "browse" Dreamspinner's web site. Every title (with the exception of anthologies) has an excerpt you can click on and read before you buy, just as you would in a bookstore. You can browse by length, genre, or author, pretty much as you could in a brick-and-mortar store.

Browsing ebookstores is not "hard," but there is a wicked learning curve since you have to learn the system and terminology for each publisher/ebookstore. Every pub uses different categories, different names for story length, different navigation. To be honest, I'm still confused between Naps, Daydreams, etc!

Don't get me wrong - I'm thrilled epublishers offer books at a click. It's so cool to me that publishers like Dreamspinner make books available that we would never have seen in our local bookstores 10 years ago. But I did have to learn a new way of browsing!

I tend to shop based on my Goodreads friends who are constantly recommending great stuff to me.

BarkLessWagMore wrote: "I tend to shop based on my Goodreads friends who are constantly recommending great stuff to me."

I have a feeling I'm going to depend more on those sorts of recommendations, because after looking at a page or two, my neck gets stiff- so that leavs out all the older stuff, if they are filed by publication date, or everything after the letter H if in abc order! This means marketing is even more critical than I thought! (sob!)

kel wrote: "Browsing ebookstores is not "hard," but there is a wicked learning curve since you have to learn the system and terminology for each publisher/ebookstore. Every pub uses different categories, diffe..."

All of Dreamspinner's classifications are determined by length. Daydreams are up to 7500 words. Nap-size dreams are 7500-15000 words. Novellas are 15000-60000 and novels are over 60000.

Hope that helps.

I shop by goodreads. What ever my friends are reading or recommendations. I don't think I've ever browsed in an ebook store. I usually go there looking and comparing prices for something I already want.

Also, the Lists here on GR have been helpful and discovering new to me authors

I'm the same way Heather! Although whenever i hear someone's got a sale I try to check their inventory with my TBR list.

Yeah I do that too. But only stuff I know I will read soon. I try not to buy until I'm about to read, otherwise I go outrageous!!

I do like Heather and AshleyAlexis. I always know what I want to buy when I enter an online bookstore, unlike when I enter a physical bookstore, because I let my attention be drawn to what I see.

On publishers' sites I usually browse their authors' directory to see if there's a name I recognize and I liked.

Emanuela ~Zstyx~ wrote: "I do like Heather and AshleyAlexis. I always know what I want to buy when I enter an online bookstore, unlike when I enter a physical bookstore, because I let my attention be drawn to what I see.
..."

Ditto for me.

For m/m books, I tend to shop based on authors I like. I already have a set of authors that are part of my auto-buy list (which is formed after extensive reading of their works AND Goodreads help). For new authors, I tend to shop by the summary or the works, whether it's intriguing or not. I don't find it too hard to shop online though, since for m/m I just go with the newest titles. I don't do a lot of browsing on back-titles

For more mainstream titles, like at Amazon.com, I have shopped there for YEARS, so I have no problem. Usually, I shop based on genres of the books I like, and again based on a set of authors I already know. I tend to do browsing more at Goodreads OR at physical bookstore

BarkLessWagMore wrote: "I tend to shop based on my Goodreads friends who are constantly recommending great stuff to me."

yep. I'm in the quarterly gang bang on the m/m group and I find books off the shelves of my friends - and after the challenge is over I can see what they're ratings are and pick up a few more suggestions.

It's not the same browsing online vs a store but there are a few sites that make it very easy with clear links. I hate when it's just all jumbled like FW is - kinda like a bargain bin LOL

Goodreads (and the m/m romance group) helped a lot in choosing the right books for me. At first I let Amazon do the recommendations and I wasn't very satisfied :)

I think a good system of recommendation on a site is very useful, especially when there are sales and discounts, because you are more likely to be carried away by your shopping.

First I search out writers whose stories I have enjoyed. I tend to read everything written by a writer once I discover them. So anything written by a writer I already Like gets purchased First.

I also check every couple weeks to see whats New and whats coming. I add what I would like to read to my wish list. When I have money for books I buy off my wish list.

The wish list is one of the best features on Dreamsprinner Press.

I buy mostly directly from the publishers. So I have all this sites bookmarked. I tend only to look at the "new releases" part. There I pick what I want to read. And since I know from most publishers when they put their new books on (eg dsp mon & fri, LI,Samhain, on tue) I look only on those days.
I seldom put things on my wishlist.

I rely heavily on reviews written on Good Reads. I follow a few people who regularly review and go surfing starting with what they comment on that looks good. It's far from a foolproof system!

But I am probably one of the few people who prefer browsing online over bookstores. I have super bad allergies and every bookstore I've ever entered has made me sick. I endured it for years, but now I don't have to.

Discounts play a big factor in my bulk purchases. That's when I start my ebooks spree.

That's why I like resellers websites ( Kobobooks,ARe,rainbow,fictionwise) wish list. I can put all the ebooks I want there until promotion pops up for me to grab everything.

Samhain and Amber Allure has great discounts and promotion for the new releases. These are the titles I would buy without waiting for resellers promotion. There will be a few misses since no earlier reviews/ratings but it is a risk I normally take.

I buy an overwhelming majority of my books on Amazon because I don't have to synch with iTunes to get it onto my iPad. Because of that, I get great recommendations from Amazon. I also see what my friends are reading and go through the books they like. Reviews (on Amazon and Goodreads) are a factor.

Finally, if I find an author that I love - I'll get all of their books. For some - that's an undertaking. :)

Dreamspinner wrote: "kel wrote: "Browsing ebookstores is not "hard," but there is a wicked learning curve since you have to learn the system and terminology for each publisher/ebookstore. Every pub uses different categ..."

That really doess help and thank you for explaning.

I don't really browse.. I would love to, but I have a precise budget, so I already now which book I will buy. But when there are discounts, I make an exception, the books I want then I find on goodreads and blogs :)

Shopping for ebooks for me is like a weekly journey lol....first i go to each site and see what the new releases are I think this week I bought 5 ebooks from dreamspinner, and of course the other way I buy books is what people on my friends list say is good then I go searching for that one. Its great that the books have the links to where to buy the books on goodreads. I have about 6 sites I go to and find my books. Someday when I am bored I go and search about 10 other sites just to see if I am missing something.

I tend to visit my regular publishers on a fairly regular basis, every couple of weeks at the most so I usually just check the "new releases" section. I usually buy based on a combinations of things: a book I knew was coming and waiting for; an author I know and am pretty sure I'll enjoy; a blurb/cover that catches my eye; someone recommended a book and I see it or go specifically to look for it.

I sometimes hit resellers and again, sort by most recently added and go from there scanning down for something that catches my eye for any of the reasons above.

I don't usually go back in time more than a couple of weeks unless there's a sale on and then maybe I'll look for something that was on my "maybe" list weeks ago and now I'll get it because of the price.