Have you ever heard of a book horoscope before? I hadn’t. But somehow I got signed up for a mailing list from a site called Read it Forward that sends me ideas of things to read. I love books, I love to read, win-win, right?
Wrong.
Just like any horoscope, I’ve practically convinced myself that I need to read these books. But there’s no way.
All of them sound very interesting (though some sound like books I already have in my TBR pile, and honestly, I rather read the books I’ve already bought). All of them are things I would LOVE to read…But if I tried to read even a fraction of what interested me, I would never get any work done.
I mean, this site is really, truly brilliant at getting people to buy books. Look at this, they have a BOOK APOTHECARY. And it’s usually spot-on!
There are three things keeping this site from bankrupting me. Realistically, I shouldn’t say what they are because the evil geniuses behind Read it Forward might find this post and use the information, but what the heck, I’m nobody, right:
- Have me set up a user page with my book vendor of choice in my profile (e.g. Amazon, iBooks, etc)
- Include an “Add all the books in this list to your _DEFAULT VENDOR_ wishlist/shopping cart button.”
- Offer a book valet service and a discount on books bought through them. I imagine a wishlist would be made in Read it Forward, who keeps my CC on file and then has staff who buy and deliver my books, in my preferred or indicated format (paper, ebook, etc.) like magic.
If any of those things find their way into this company’s business model, you heard it here first.
What do you think?