Five Ways to Find New Books (that aren't perusing Amazon)

written by Betsy Flak on 2017-03-14

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

1. 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 (and why it gets the coveted #1 spot).
   • 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.


2. 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.
   • Examples: Thieves' World (which I read and enjoyed) and Dark Humanity (which I've bought but have not yet started).


3. 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.
   • Examples: Adventures in YA (a lot of super brief reviews per episode, more like a survey) and YA Today Podcast (focuses on a single book per episode). There are many more options, so feel free to find your own (and then tell me about it so I can check them out too).


4. Email lists
   • Have deals delivered straight to your inbox.
   • I'm going to separate options into three categories:
     • Author email lists: Like 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! Personally, I don't recommend any books that I don't want to read myself or have read and enjoyed. (There is one exception to this rule: free books.) You can join my email list here.
     • Instafreebie: Authors of all genres post giveaways of anything ranging from a sample of one of their books to entire novels. To stay up to date with the giveaways, you can search Instafreebie itself, sign up for regular emails from Instafreebie (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 (similar to Instafreebie). There are a ton of these around. Here are some examples (note: I'm not signed up for any of them, but I do plan to use some of them to promote The Impossible Creation): Free Booksy, Bargain Booksy, Digital Book Spot, The Fussy Librarian, BookBarbarian, and Romancing the Dragon.


5. Also Bought's on Amazon
   • Ok, 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 Academia of the Beast. Side note: I got this free from instaFreebie and I'm reading it right now. It's pretty good, would recommend. :)

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

Side note for curious souls: I do not get any kickback for these recommendations. I just want to help you find new books and authors!