What Teens Like by Patty Blount

Interviewing teen readers is getting tougher for authors like me. My children are no longer teens and when they hang out with friends, it's no longer in my house where I can hear the things that worry them or entertain them.

So...I did the next best thing....I reached out via Instagram to readers interested in helping me write this post. I didn't get too many responses, but that's okay.

I asked some questions and got 5 responses. Katie, Blasi, Jennaca, Nicole, and Louisa.

The first thing I asked is how teens like to read their books -- physical book, e-Reader, computer, listen to audio?

All 5 were unanimous that they prefer physical books, though one did say she reads on an eReader, too. They prefer not having to charge another device and they really like bookmarks!

I asked these teens if they follow authors online and if so, how? Twitter and Instagram are their preferred follow methods but some also said they are frequent visitors to their favorite authors' websites.

When asked how they learn about new books they'd like to read, my little sample group was split between Book Store Displays (40%) and Social Media (40%), with 20% saying School Librarian.

Here's one that surprised me. I asked my readers if they enjoy book trailer videos and only 2 said yes! The others said they use the back cover copy IF they'd like to know more about the story but a few said they like to just dive into reading a book without knowing much about it.

Oh, and if you're an author thinking about running a contest, the best prize to offer is --- BOOKS! At least according to my readers. T-shirts and bookmarks were also mentioned.

Their favorite sub-genre was romance, followed by paranormal and tough issues.



There you have it! Some interesting insight from a few of my readers.