Book authors rejoice. There are several new digital publishing startups that will be feeding you the information you desperately need to write best sellers: the habits of readers.
For the first time ever, authors will be able to find out:
1) How long did it take most people to read your book?
2) What percentage of people actually read an entire book?
3) Did people read some chapters quicker than others?
4) How many folks skipped to the back of the book to find out whodunit?
Two of the most active new digital publishers are Scribd and Oyster. Spokesmen from both companies claim that all of their subscribers know that their data is going to be shared. Not their names, just the data.
Scribd and Oyster charge readers about $10 a month for a library of approximately 100,000 books. Fans can read as many books as they want.
Now that authors have more ammunition, they are more able to easily interact with their fans on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. The digital experience is taking market research to a whole new level.
Scribd just revealed some interesting analysis:
“The longer a mystery novel is, the more likely readers are to jump to the end to see who done it. People are more likely to finish biographies than business titles, but a chapter of a yoga book is all they need. They speed through romances faster than religious titles, and erotica fastest of all.”
Oyster claims its top book, “What Women Want,” is read cover to cover. “Everyone who starts it finishes it. On the other hand, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.’s “The Cycles of American History” blows no minds: fewer than 1 percent of the readers who start it get to the end.”
DigiDame 