Five ways to find new books (that aren't perusing Amazon)

written by Betsy Flak on 2019-02-11

If you have a hard time finding new books to read, know that you're not alone. That's why I bring you my top five ways to find new books—that aren't searching Amazon for hours at a time.

Note: This was originally posted on March 14th, 2017, but I've since updated it. See the original post here.

1. Anthologies and Box Sets
   • Neat way for authors to team up and showcase their work to readers. Lengths can range anywhere from flash fiction to full novels, although they're typically on the shorter side. As a reader, I prefer short stories and flash fiction, since both give enough of a taste for me to decide whether I like the author without a huge time investment on my part.
   • Example: Thieves' World. I read it and recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading fantasy short stories.


2. Book Review Podcasts
   • If you like podcasts, this might be perfect for you. Just find a podcast focused on book reviews! You'll get a bunch of results just by searching "book review" in iTunes.
   • Example: Adventures in YA, which has several brief reviews per episode, almost like a survey of the latest young adult fiction books. There are many more podcasts out there, so feel free to find your own (and then tell me so I can check them out too!).


3. Email lists
   • Have deals delivered straight to your inbox.
   • I'm going to separate options into three categories:
     • Author email lists: Like in most careers, authors get to know one another, and from time to time, we'll promote each other's books. So, if you want to find new authors, jump onto your favorite author's email list! If you're not on it already, you can join my email list here.
     • Prolific Works (formerly Instafreebie): Authors of all genres post giveaways of anything ranging from a sample of one of their books to entire novels and sometimes even boxed sets. To stay up to date with the giveaways, you can search Prolific Works itself, sign up for regular emails from Prolific Works (curated based on your genre preferences), or follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
     • Other email lists: You can also sign up for email lists where authors pay to have their books featured. There are a ton of these around. Here are some examples: Free Booksy, Bargain Booksy, Book Rebel, Book Raid, Book Sends, and Read Freely. If all those names and links overwhelm you, head over to my blog post comparing and contrasting fifteen different email lists you can join to find free and deeply discounted e-books!


4. iAuthor, the Pinterest for books
   • Website where not only can your browse by genre, but you can also browse by theme. Example themes are: Love stories that aren't romance novels; Novels with lots of interior monologue; Books straddling multiple genres; Novels with a deeply flawed protagonist; and Books with a fiendishly clever twist. Obviously, there are a ton more themes, but you get the idea. Readers can even create their own themes! In addition to the cool theme feature—which you can tell I'm really into—most books have samples and links to their sales websites posted. You can even opt-in for a weekly email tailored to your tastes. All in all, pretty cool. Unfortunately, there aren't a ton of books on it (yet), but it does have a lot of potential.
   • How to use it: Browse themes (or genres). Click on the books that look interesting and check out their blurb and/or sample. If interested, sign up for the weekly email to have books curated to your tastes delivered straight to your inbox.


5. Also Bought's on Amazon
   • Okay, this one is a bit of a cheat, but it's still a good one. If you go to your favorite book on Amazon and scroll down, you should see a section entitled "Customers who bought this item also bought" (see example below). Essentially, Amazon pays attention to what its customers buy and groups similar items together. It's a fair bet that if you liked one book, you'll like the others listed in that book's Also Bought's.
   • Example shown below: Also Bought's (located in green rectangle) for A Brush with Vampires (The Clan-Vampire Clash: Book One).

And of course, you can always go to your local library. So that's it: five ways to find books that aren't wandering around Amazon. What about you? Do you have any amazing strategies to find new books and authors? If so, let me know over on Twitter, Facebook, or email me at betsy@betsyflak.com.