Have you heard about book summary apps like Blinkist, Instaread and GetAbstract? No? Then you might be surprised to see how large these apps has become over the course of the last 10 years, and how they are fueling book sales for non-fiction authors around the world.
Today, the world is full of distractions. We spend more and more time in front of screens, and with the growth of social media, YouTube, and other medias we have less and less time left for one of the oldest form of entertainment… books. At some point about 10 years ago, a few smart people understood this, and paved the way for the impact book summaries have had on people’s way to consume books. Today, book summary apps like Blinkist has over 17 million (!) users consuming books in a summarized format.
Why would anyone read a summary instead of the full book?
Naturally, this becomes the next question. I looked into some of the data on the matter, and it appears like a lot of the people that start reading a summary, actually move on and get the full book if they like the short version format. According to GetAbstract, about 10% of the reads of a summarized version ends up leading to a purchase of the full version. Moreover, almost 20% of book purchases are triggered because of a read summary.
What’s in it for me?
If you are an author, specifically in the non-fiction field, then I believe it is an essential part of your book marketing and sales strategy to craft a summary of your book. As mentioned above, there are operators like Blinkist, GetAbstract, and Instraread which can publish your summary, and apart from that there are several smaller operators that happily would accept it as well. Think of it as a free way to get more eyes on your book, and ultimately generating more interested readers and buzz around it.
I hope this post could spark some interest and inspiration in crafting a summary of your book and integrating it into your book marketing strategy. Best of luck!
Erik Nilsson is the Swedish blogger behind BookSummaryClub.com. He spent the last two years writing over 140 book summaries from some of the most famous books in self-help, business, marketing, and psychology. Moreover, the website provides readers with insightful guidance to different reading apps, such as his review of blinkist and the guide to the best book summary websites.
