How to Navigate a Publishers Website

Last week we gave you a quick guide on how to navigate an unfamiliar bookstore, so this week we will go into how to find your way in an online publisher's website. We all love ebooks right? So at some point or another you have probably wandered onto a publisher's e-store and wondered how in the world you were going to find the book you wanted. The good news: you have already completed the easiest step by making it to the publisher's home page. The bad news: the next few steps can be a little tricky. Looking at three different e-stores; eTreasures Publishing, Entangled Publishing, and Black Lyon Publishing; we will go through how to find your way through the store and to the checkout, and hopefully provide some insight into the ever-changing world of e-publishing. 

1. Take a look around.
This seems similar to last week! It should because looking around is always important folks. How on earth are you going to know what to do if you haven't even had a proper look at anything? 

On this publisher's webpage you will probably see some sort of menu either at the top or down the left side. This will be your most important tool later. On the eTreasures website you can see the menu on the left. Entangled's menu is at the top, and Black Lyon's is on both the top and the left. 

2. Locate the search box.
If you have a book in mind that you are really wanting, you might not want to search through the website to find it. Luckily, most publishers know this and have included a search box somewhere on their website. eTreasures has theirs at the top left of the page, and Entangled's is on the top right. Black Lyon's is a little difficult to find on the far right, and halfway down the page. 

Type the title of the book you want to find in the search box and click search/press enter. Your book will appear on the next page, and all you have to do is select "Add to Cart". If this is all you want, skip the next few steps and go to the section on checking out.

3. Keep looking.
If you like one book from this publisher, chances are that you will like more. Why not stick around a little longer and see what else you can add to your reading device or bookshelf. Keep in mind, for some reason some publishers have decided to sell mainly through other vendors versus their own store. You may have to go to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or another website to buy the book, but you can still get ideas for your booklist from the publisher's website. 

This is where that menu comes in handy. Often, a publisher will sort their book by genre. This is usually the easiest way to search because you only need to select your favorite. A list of books will pop up and you can scroll through to find something interesting. For now, if you like a book, add it to your cart. Worry about if you will buy it or not later. This will help you avoid that horrible moment where you knew you wanted to read a book but you can't remember what it was or where you saw it. Click on all of your favorite genres, or if you have a favorite author, you can find them as well.

Publishers will list their authors and the books they currently have with them. You can usually find this list somewhere in the menu or nearby. Just click on the name of your favorite author, and all of their books will be right in front of your eyes. 

4. Time for checkout!
You have your books, you've found more than you thought, and now you want to buy just a few. Good news is that you won't forget the books you want to buy later. Now you have them right there to write on your to-be-read list. Once you have written them down, you can delete them from your cart. For a publisher who has chosen to only sell through other vendors this maybe be easy, all you have to do is go to that vendor's website, which will more than likely be one of the big names that you have bought a few (*cough* hundred *cough*) from before. Others, like eTreasures, will have you check out through them. 

Find the link in their menu that says something about a cart, or whatever the website you are on calls it, and click it. This is your cart. From here you can checkout and receive your brand new book.