7 Things That Make Me Buy Books

Coming up with a title for this post was hard, you guys! I found these really great Twitter threads on book marketing and PR by Margot Wood a while ago and it’s been on my mind ever since. I went back to college last year mainly because of my interest in marketing and books, so I love it when people in the field talk about it online. It got me thinking of all the reasons I buy books and I thought it be fun to devote a blog post to it! These reasons aren’t really marketing, but I wanted to share them anyway.

Movies & TV Shows

I didn’t really know where to start as there’s many reasons I buy books, but years ago, when I wasn’t as big of a bookworm as I am now, my main reasons for buying books were movies and TV shows. The first time I remember buying a book because of a movie, it was New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. Only the first Twilight movie was out at that point, and I needed to know what came next! I also bought The Hunger Games trilogy, the Divergent trilogy and the Beautiful Creatures series because of their movies (and probably more I can’t even remember?) I also bought The Vampire Diaries series because I loved the TV show.

“The Hype Made Me Do It”

I’m not even sure if I can name specific books with this reason for buying books but like… If a book is spoken about a lot on Twitter, Goodreads and blogs, there’s a huge chance I’ll pick it up. Thinking about it, I actually think I picked up The Wicked King by Holly Black because everyone was so hyped about The Cruel Prince. I personally didn’t like it all that much (IT’S IN THE PAST, PEOPLE!) I also think this is a big reason why I picked up the Grisha books by Leigh Bardugo and The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater.

Beautiful Covers

Let’s be real here; we’ve all been at a point in our lives where we bought a book without caring what it was really about because of its cover, yes? My self-restraint is actually quite well when it comes to book buying, but I definitely got A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Grey because of it’s stunning cover. And what caught my attention on the upcoming Crier’s War by Nina Verela? You got it: the cover! (plus I’m genuinely interested in the plot as well.) And if a book has different covers, I don’t mind paying a little extra to get the prettiest cover, hehe.

Auto-Buy Authors & Book Series

I don’t have many auto-buy authors and with the few I do have, I still don’t think I buy every single book. When it comes to series though… I’ve literally said “I’m not buying any more Shadowhunter books!” only to buy the latest instalment as soon as it’s available. As long as I like the books my favourite authors are releasing and I keep enjoying the series, I’ll be buying the books.

Book Shops & Sales

I don’t often buy books in stores because most of the time, they simply don’t sell what I’m looking for, or it’s really pricey. If I do run into a book I really want in a shop, though, there’s a big chance I’ll buy it simply because of how good it makes me feel to find it in a store? This totally happened to me recently in a pop-up bookshop in a city close to where I live. I found a first edition of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows and even though I don’t even like this particular edition all that much, it’s currently hanging out in my bookshelf. And that self-restraint I talked about earlier? It flies out the door when it comes to sales. I got a 10% discount on Book Depository last week and ordered two books without even really thinking about it. And when I find discounted/”damaged” books in gardening stores and such, I will buy every one of them if I like them, obviously. Also, price drops on Book Depository are my FAVE. I got nearly all Selection series books for below €10 because of it, yay!

Synopsis, Cliche’s & Tropes

Obviously, I’m often genuinely interested in the synopsis of a book. I wouldn’t read them if I wasn’t! And to be honest, I’m a sucker for cliche’s. If they’re done well, that is. And what about haters to lovers? Oh my goodness I can talk about this aaaaaalll day. Once I get even a whiff of “this book has *insert trope I love*” I will LOSE it and immediately need the book cause like… oh my god it has my favourite trope! YES PLEASE!

Friends’ Recommendations

I didn’t want to exclude this one from the list, but I also have to say I don’t very often buy books because friends have recommended them to me. I’m suuuuper picky when it comes to the books I pick up. I did read the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas because of my best friend’s recommendation, though! And ya’ll probably know how obsessed I am with that series! I also read Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff because of that same friend (I LOVED IT!!) It does always take me quite a while before I pick up a book someone has recommended to me… But I usually do, eventually!

What makes you go and buy a book? Is there any specific reason? Or do you buy books without really having a reason at all?