Readers Don’t Buy Books—Consumers Do. Here’s Why That Matters

Most authors think they’re selling to readers. That’s the first mistake.

Because readers and book consumers are not the same—and confusing the two is one of the biggest reasons books don’t sell.

In this episode, we break down the critical difference between someone who loves to read and someone who actually buys books, and why that gap quietly derails even the most well-intentioned marketing plans. If you’ve been showing up, posting, running ads, pitching podcasts—and still watching your sales stall—this is the missing piece.

We get into the real psychology behind book buying. A consumer isn’t just browsing—they’re evaluating risk. Is this worth my time? Will I enjoy it? Does it deliver what I want right now? That’s why someone will wait weeks for a library copy instead of spending money (or even an Audible credit) on an unknown author. It’s not about price—it’s about certainty.

And that’s where most books fall apart.

We walk through what your Amazon retail page is actually responsible for—and why it’s not just “information,” it’s conversion. From your cover thumbnail to your title, categories, keywords, and especially your book description, every element needs to answer one question fast: why this book, right now?

You’ll get specific, actionable fixes:

• Why fiction needs to sell an experience, not a plot summary
• Why nonfiction must clearly define the outcome, not just the topic
• How weak positioning shows up instantly in your description (and how to fix it)
• Why “well-written” copy often underperforms—and what works instead

We also connect this directly to your broader marketing: ads, influencer outreach, publicity. Because none of that matters if your retail page can’t convert the traffic you’re sending.

This is the shift most authors never make—and it changes everything.

If your book isn’t selling the way you expected, start here.

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Transcript

Welcome And Today’s Big Idea

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome back to the book marketing tips and authors accepted podcast. This is Penny Spencer and Amy Cornell. And this is the show idea is something. Amy. You came up with this idea and you presented it to me. Presented it to me, and the first thing that I said was then I write no. I was like, oh my gosh. Why haven't we talked about this before? Do you wanna just intro kind of give us a little overview of what we're talking about today?

The Disconnect Hurting Sales

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Yeah, so I mean, this really came from I would honestly say it comes from the fact that we've talked to a lot of authors that are really trying to put in the work, you know, and they mean well and they're trying to do all the right things, but there's that slight disconnect that really puts them at a disadvantage. And one of them that comes up over and over again, whether you're fiction or nonfiction, is really understanding how modern book buying behavior really works versus understanding who your readers are. Both are important, but they operate very differently from a brand building marketing, kind of getting yourself out there perspective, especially if you're a relatively new author, or even if you've been doing this for a while but really haven't done a lot in terms of visibility and marketing and you're kind of ramping that up. But making sure that you think about who you're trying to reach as both a consumer and as a reader is pretty critical because if you leave one or the other out, things can fall flat and you're missing a lot of opportunities, and there's a lot of disconnect for your buyer funnel as well.

unknown 1:45

Yeah.

Why Consumers Fear Trying You

SPEAKER_00 1:46

Well, uh right. No, I and I think and that's what when I was when we were sort of discussing this show in the green room, that's that's the thing that really kind of a lot of authors get so focused on I wrote the book, I know there's an audience, that's all I need to do. And they focus too much on the book itself as opposed to on the consumer. And I think most authors think that they're that they're marketing to readers, but they're really, they're really not. Like they're they're missing, they're missing what readers are looking for. And you know, we talked about this too, right? So I I don't know as authors that we spend enough time really realizing what it is for a consumer to take a chance on a new author, right? Yes. And I've said this to you before. So I listen to a lot of audiobooks, I do a mix of print and audiobook reading. But when I get when I'm when I'm looking at an audiobook for an author that I've never tried, and I have an Audible subscription, you get like 12 credits a year, as opposed to burning a credit on Audible. I will, I am willing to wait like 16 weeks on the Libby Library app, which by the way, if you've never used it, it's great. You can get all kinds of stuff there, even not just audiobooks. But I will wait 16 weeks for a book as opposed to using a credit on Audible because you know, I I've gotten burned. Like I and I and sometimes I'll get a book off of Libby for a new author and I'll get 15 minutes into it, and I'm like, this is not, I'm not vibing with this book, and I'll give it back to the library. So I don't really think that we spend enough time, and this this episode is not meant to depress y'all, but I don't think that we spend enough time really realizing how difficult it is to win new readers over. We think that, okay, we wrote this book, we're super in love with it, everything's great. I'm gonna put it up on Amazon. And I see this on Reddit. So I I don't spend a lot of time on Reddit because sometimes some of these discussion groups are a little depressing because these authors are right, they're like nine seconds. Yeah, it gets really dark, right? Like, oh, I just I worked so hard, I worked so hard, I worked so hard. But I think that a lot of authors, unfortunately, they live in an echo chamber, right? So we we you know, we attend writers' groups, which I I I think it's a great idea. Like writers' groups, talk to other writers, you get ideas, you feel like you're not alone because writing is very isolating. And we and we give the book to family and friends, and everybody says, your book is wonderful, we love it, your cover is great, even you know, if it's not. And they we live in, and you know, authors who live in an echo chamber, it gets problematic. So I got kicked out of, and I've actually left a couple of Facebookers too, with there were their authors, like they're author-supporting authors, right? And so if somebody puts up their book cover and everybody comments, and the book cover is literally hideous, like it's just the worst, like it hurts my eyes. I need brain bleach, it's that bad. And and everybody's like, Oh, your cover is really awesome. And I hop in there and I'm like, this cover needs a lot of work. And people jumped on me and just like, you're so mean. I'm like, Well, okay. Like, if you just want people to tell you that everything is great, then I'm not gonna, I don't, then you don't need to don't ask people about what you know what I mean. Like apparently you're in the right group because everybody thought that I was just uh beyond for you know.

Readers Vs Consumers Explained

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Well, and I think to your point, the you know that the the difference is to some degree, like as we start talking about it, I hopefully all you listening will go, okay, I get it now. But it can feel very nuanced at first. But I think the difference, one of the easiest ways to try to explain it is that the readers are the ones that are actually reading the book. They've already taken that leap. Those are the people you want to keep in your funnel to come back for your next book. You treat those people, so readers, that's who you build your book for. You make a great book. You know what I mean? You have to give your readers what they're looking for, give them something that's unique, but also matches, like hits all those notes. And then the readers are the ones that we've done tons of shows on this, but that you want to keep in your funnel, that you want them to keep coming back to you. But book consumers are the people that are finding you for the first time. Yes. And so the focus is so different on, you know, when your focus is on readers, that's important, but that's for a very specific part of what you're doing as an author. Whereas when you're focusing on book consumers, that is that those are the people we're talking about when you're trying to get those conversions or trying to get Penny to not wait for your book on the Libby app.

Your Amazon Page Must Close

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Right, right. And, you know, and the thing about it is is that established authors can focus on readers all day long. Right. But the majority, I think, of folks who listen to us need to focus more on their book, the book consumers. And what, you know, and what what are they going to get out of the book? What is you know, what's the emotional driver? And when you think about like I did a class for ASJA a couple of weeks ago, and it was super fun. And we talked about the Amazon retail page. And I said in the class, I said, you know, your Amazon retail page is literally your sales presentation, your sales team, your sales department. Like it's it's everything all in one. And for the majority of us, it is the only place. I mean, obviously, other than your author website, but it's the only place where you get the opportunity to both invite the deal, present the deal, and hopefully close the deal all in one page. And we're not spending enough time really realizing how important it is.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Right. And I love breaking it down. Like we have these in our notes. So I have to read these because I thought this is really great. When someone is deciding whether to buy a book, they're asking, does this feel like something I'll enjoy? Is it worth my time? Does this match what I'm in the mood for? They are not saying things like, is this beautifully written? Is it technically impressive? You know what I mean? Those are reader qualities that they decide later. Believe it or not, like it's those first ones that really get them in the door. And like Penny said, make the sale. And then the beautifully written, technically impressive, honestly, that's where you start getting great reviews and when you start getting return buyers. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 8:38

Yes. That's a and that's a great way. That that really is a great way to put it because a lot of, you know, a lot of times authors do focus on, is it, you know, is it beautifully written? Again, they're focused on this creation, which is wonderful. Like writing a book is an amazing thing. I'm in the middle of finishing five-minute book marketing for authors, and it's like birthing an elephant, right? It's a huge undertaking. So if that's awesome. But that's not the thing that's going to get a reader to click buy on Amazon.

SPEAKER_01 9:13

Right. Exactly. They're buying what the book is, and like Penny said, that's how it's presented.

unknown 9:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

That's the promise. That's like, what is your promise to them? That's what really gets them. And when you get too focused on the internal workings of your book, unfortunately, you get too in the weeds, and that's too far disconnected from what somebody's thinking about and what they're focused on when they're first introduced to you. And I think that's where a lot of a lot of authors unfortunately spend a lot of time that doesn't convert for them, is that they're kind of focused on things that are a few steps ahead of where a lot of the people are when they first find out about your work.

Sell The Experience Or Result

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Yeah, that's a really good way to put it. Because, you know, for in fiction, readers are buying an experience. And I don't care what that experience is, whether it's it's a cozy mystery or it's a, you know, um women's fiction, thrillers, whatever, you're buying an experience. Don't stop. And I think if you're not clear on what that experience is to the reader, then you know, to the book consumer rather, you've already lost them. Nonfiction, and this is, you know, it's tricky for both genres, truly. But I do see, because I do read a lot of nonfiction, where I and I will read book descriptions where there is no clear outcome. Like I get the title of the book. So the title of the book and and potentially also the book cover got me to click on the retail page. Now the book description, right, has to tell me what what are you gonna help me, what are you gonna help me do? Because there are nine billion other books out there, unfortunately, right, on the same topic. You know what I mean? And so how how is your, you know, because I'm buying, you know, as a non nonfiction buyers are buying a result, right? So what is that result and and the lack of clarity, I think this is probably one of the biggest deal breakers um is that that there's oftentimes there's a lack of clarity because for you know, it it's it's difficult to do stuff on your own sometimes, right? So there's no reason, I mean, and again, this is something you and I talked about in the green room. The best athletes in the world and even the best business people in the world, they have coaches, right? So reach out to somebody who is outside of your echo chamber and get them to give you some feedback if you feel like you're struggling, right? Like, I feel like, you know, if you're saying to yourself, I feel like I've done everything that I can possibly do, reach out to somebody and give you some feedback. And Amy, I've said this to you before. Like my editor who I've worked with for a long time, and I love her, she's great. But in the middle of my editing my book, she would make me crazy, right? She will make like, I want to throw my book up against the wall. I'm I'm texting Amy. I'm like, oh my gosh, I hate my editor. And I think if you've never really had that experience with somebody, like if you if somebody hasn't pushed you, if somebody that you're working with that you had worked with in the developmental process of your book and they haven't pushed you to the point where you're just so mad, and I'm not talking about like somebody who's not doing their job or something like that. But somebody who's really pushing you to be better, then they're not doing their job.

unknown 12:41

Full.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

Yeah, absolutely. 100%.

Fix Descriptions That Don’t Sell

SPEAKER_00 12:46

Um okay, so where Amy, why don't you take us into the next segment?

SPEAKER_01 12:53

Okay, so I think I mean we have kind of covered this already, but I do want to hit these very clearly though, because obviously we want y'all to walk away from this with some very clear, like, don't do this, do that. This is how I can improve. You know, so the most common mistakes focusing too much on what the book is instead of what it does, and that is both for fiction and nonfiction, honestly. You know, writing descriptions that summarize instead of sell is probably one of the most common mistakes that I see across the board because you can actually have a very well-written description that is still mostly a summary, but it's it sounds pretty. And you should be proud of that. Like we've worked with a couple of clients very recently, actually, where I was actually really impressed with how they summarize the book, and that can absolutely be used in other ways, but it's not appropriate for the Amazon retail page. You know what I mean? So they weren't selling, and again, that's a fiction and a nonfiction thing, like selling the experience, selling what the outcome is, selling what they're looking for. Like that is 100% what your book description is supposed to do, and that's missed a lot. And then this is another one, and Penny, you and I talk about this offline a lot too when we're going through um proposals and working with new clients and doing coaching, assuming readers will figure it out. Oh my gosh. You know, that's that's a that's a tough one because and I get it, you know, you've put a lot of time and energy into this book, and we hear this a lot again, both with fiction and nonfiction for different reasons. Fiction, they'll say, well, once they get into the book, they'll understand why I want to make this the title. Or once they get into the book, they're gonna understand why I talk about that character so much. And it's like in the description, it's like you can't, like we talked about before, you can't skip those steps and make those assumptions. And the same thing with nonfiction. I think it's kind of when you see nonfiction books leaning too much into overused language that a lot of other nonfiction books are using to describe what their book is, instead of really leaning into what makes your book unique. You know, the readers aren't going to take a chance and then hopefully figure it out. Like if you're not super clear about what makes your book stand out, they will move on.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

You know, that's a that's a very good point. I think that we and and we have this conversation a lot that um, well, you have to really read the first five chapters to understand what the title is about. Wrong answer. Wrong answer. You know what I mean? Um, and things like buzzy words, right? So buzzy words, and and I always I always tell authors, especially when I teach classes, save your five-dollar words for another time. As impressive as that is, um write your book description from an eighth grade reading level. And this is not to say that Americans are stupid and we can't read, but book description. So Jeff Bezos' letters to his board of directors are very famous because he wrote them at an eighth grade uh level. And this doesn't mean that it sounds like you're writing to an eighth grader at all. That's terrifying, honestly. I have an eighth grader, so right. But no, and that's not what I'm saying. But what I'm saying is is that the writing is very palatable, right? It's something that you don't because if you if you make somebody, and this is really this is why I always tell authors, read your book descriptions out loud, and you will be it's sometimes horrified. I mean, I know I was when I first were, I was like, how am I even allowed to go outside? And when I read I read my book description out loud. We we we there has to be so much clarity in this description and easy to read. And when you make somebody pause, you've already lost them. And that's where vague, like you were saying, overly literary, um, you know, gen reusing generic topics buzzwords. Yeah, we have and I just want to make sure y'all we have done a ton of shows on this, so we're not gonna go too far down the rabbit hole, but just know that this is a lot of times where the you where the shopping experience stops and starts, you know, or starts and stops, I guess is what I should say. Yes. Um, because they're not gonna spend the time think, you know, and and I talked to an author, I don't know, maybe a month ago, and this author said was writing for the literary fiction genre. And the cover that this person liked, they loved it, loved it, loved it. And I said this cover is all wrong for the genre. I don't care, I love it anyway. And okay. Well, but yeah, and that and so there is no I like I can't have, you know, but I don't care, I love it anyway, is not gonna, you're not gonna sell books. Right. You're gonna sell five books to your immediate family, what maybe you have more people in your immediate family who will buy your books, whatever. And that's gonna be the end of that story.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Right. That's the kind of language you use for a passion project.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

That's exactly right. And look, you know, if your book is a passion project and you don't care how many books you're gonna sell, and I'll tell you something, and I and I guarantee you, I have talked to so many authors and they're like, this book is a passion project. I don't care how many books I sell. But the minute that the book goes up on Amazon, that whole mindset changes because you're like, Oh, my book is up on Amazon. Now I actually do, actually, I do want to sell books. Wait, I do want to sell books. I do want to sell books. I do, I do, I do. So yeah, so you can say maybe it is really a passion project, then trust me, don't put it up on Amazon. Just print off a bunch of copies and give it to family and you know, be done with it.

Make Messaging Consistent Everywhere

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Right. Um, exactly. And I know we've talked about Amazon a lot, which is very important. Yes, but I wanted to plug in here too that what we're talking about also, you should take it into everything else that you do.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

Because again, until unless we're talking about your newsletter that's already going to super fans, then there we go. That's your point to start talking to them as readers, right? But anything that you're putting out there that is designed to draw in new potential readers and buyers, that consistency matters. So everything on Amazon, that should reflect who the consumers are: your description, your cover, your keywords and categories, your social content, the messaging when you're pitching your book to influencers or thought layers or for media placements, things like that. Everything needs to follow that same pattern and be focusing on who consumers are. Especially, you know, and again, we don't want to get too far down this because we've done tons of media shows, but we talk about very similar concepts when it comes to pitching yourself for any sort of coverage is that you really have to be focusing on who the shared consumers are between you and who you're pitching, because that should be the main focus. What are those consumers looking for? What gets them excited? What makes them engage? What makes them click, read, listen, all that stuff? Because whoever you're pitching to, that's all they care about. If you can help them do that, then you have a chance of getting a yes.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Exactly. And you know, the thing about it is, and this is the oh, I'm gonna steal this line. It's in the show notes, but I just love it so much. Clarity makes your marketing work, confusion makes it invisible. And I I can't emphasize enough for both, and I can I know that I can speak to for Amy here too. Oh, yeah, how much, how many times that an author comes to us in confusion, which is fine. That's why you're coming to us. We're gonna help you get, you know, clarify your message and do all the things, but that clarity is so important, and you will only get that by doing your due diligence.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Absolutely. Like your outreach becomes more targeted, your content becomes more engaging. Absolutely. Retail page converts better, your ads perform better because we've done ad shows before, and we emphasize so much that ads can send traffic, but once they get there, what are you telling them? You know what I mean? An ad is not going to sell your book on its own. What they get when they land on your page has to close the sale. Like you, you know, Penny used that term earlier. That's so perfect. Your retail page has to close the sale. So that's how you end up spending way too much on ads that aren't going anywhere as well. A lot of times it comes down to the fact that you're not focusing enough on who your consumers are. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 21:43

Exactly. Yeah, I mean, there has to be, there has to be a match. And if you're if you're feeling, if you're listening to this and you're thinking, well, I've been struggling and I wonder, there's a really good chance if you've been struggling, that it has nothing to do with your cover. Uh but it has everything to do with how your book is being presented to you to the consumer. And and why that conversion from consumer to reader is not happening, right? So the it's very likely that the you I mean, except for the author that I mentioned who has a cover that doesn't match the genre, you, the listener, probably don't need to change anything uh in your book, right? I mean, there's a good chance that the only thing that really the only the only thing that you really need to look at doing is changing how you present it. So changing how this book is offered up to the to the consumer and making sure that there's a match. And I would say also, like, when was the last time that you really did that you went down the rabbit hole in your genre to see how other successful books in your genre are being presented to the consumer? Because you can really, you know, success leaves clues and you could really learn a lot from looking at how how what other people are doing, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:08

Yes, 100%.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

So um and I think I I think we covered all the points. Did I miss anything, Amy, before we before we sign off today?

SPEAKER_01 23:18

No, we we covered it all. And again, you know, I sorry, but I hope y'all do listen to some of our previous episodes. So if any of this stood out to you, go looking for those. And if if y'all can't ever find anything, shoot us an email, you know. Yeah, we're more than happy to point you in the right direction. If you if you can't find the exact episode that we're referencing, let us know. Always happy to do that because obviously we we create a lot of content. We love the fact that a lot of you go back and listen to shows very strategically based on where you're at. And we want to support that.

Listener Text Line And Reviews

SPEAKER_00 23:49

Absolutely. And we also want to hear from you. So text the word podcast to 888-402-8940, and you can communicate with us, give us your show ideas, your show feedback, your questions. We love questions and leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts. In fact, we um we were just going through and responding to a bunch of our reviews on Spotify, which is so cool. I you can't do that on i on on Apple Podcasts, which is unfortunate. But we love reviews and we love that you listen to this show. So thank you so much and share the show with somebody um who could also benefit from it. We'll see you next time. Bye bye.