"People are very convenience-motivated,"

[Mel Hopkins]

says, Jeff Bezos in the CNBC article How Amazon founder Jeff Bezos went from the son of a teen mom to the world's richest person 
 

I'd agree. We want someone to make and serve up something to us even before we know we want it.

 

Just the other day, I was wondering how to get a server that's cheap and easy to operate.  I don't want to worry about a platform like Myspace deleting all the blog postings.   

 

I have a Google alert set for black philosophers.   Or how about a catalog of business books written by black authors? 

 

Bottom line: I need a personal shopper who will cater to my consumer whims minus unsolicited pitches.  Junk mail is annoying because the proprietor sends me what s/he has which may or may not have anything to do with my desires.  I want someone to take the time to know what I like and offer a curated selection.
 

Bezos intuited that we have thousands of thoughts like this in a day.  He built an online business to offer whatever comes to mind. 

 

What I find exciting is we also pay for his research and development.  Bezos says, in the article, he's not afraid to be wrong.      

 

You can't beat a fearless man. 

 

There's a saying:

 

Quote

"if you can't beat them join them." 

 

The quote, in this context, doesn't mean work with or for Amazon.  Or sell your books on the website.  It means to emulate the competition.  And from And from Bezos own words, he runs a customer-centric business.

 

Everything Amazon does serve the whims of the customer.   

 

Amazon has access to every book in print.  If it's not in the warehouse, they will print-on-demand and send it to you and waive the shipping and handling fee.

If they can't print it, they'll send a digital version to your Kindle (if you own one) or your PC. It will be lickety-split at a price that's easy on the wallet.  

 

So, how can we as independent authors, self-publishers, engineers, etc., become the reader's advocate?  

How can we become reader-centric booksellers? How can we help them help us help them?   Can we make it easy for book lovers to acquire our books?   

Please post your suggestions, ideas and comments.

Update:  I wrote an article to discuss this post in detail.  Link:  melhopkinsdotcom: 5 STEPS TO FINDING A COMMUNITY FOR YOUR BOOK

Edited February 1, 2018 by Mel Hopkins
Add a link to the article that expands on this post

[Troy]

I have not written the reply to this message yet because it is so meaty and so thought-provoking. I feel like a off-the-top-of-my-head response would not do the subject justice, so I have not replied.  When I get a minute I'll just reply to one aspect of what you've shared here.

[Mel Hopkins]

11 hours ago, Troy said:

I'll just reply to one aspect of what you've shared here.

 

@Troy  Thank you!  Sharing thoughts with each other is the only way we are going to get the best into action!