When I want a surprise read, I hold my three-year old daughter over the Costco book table and let her pick out a few books. (recent picks: Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook, Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Marilynne Robinson’sHome, and Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge.) Or—I do a reverse pin-the-tail on the donkey in airport and train station book sections. I close my eyes, spin around, and then buy whatever book I grab. (recent pick: Wm. Paul Young’s The Shack). Some rock, others stink—all are a surprise.

When I buy my niece the Barnes & Noble gift cards she loves, I grab them off the gift card stand in the grocery store.

And when I’m looking for a specific book for myself or my kids, I log into Amazon.com.

The only time I go into a bookstore is when I’m attending an author signing—or killing time waiting for someone.

So when the events coordinator at an indy bookstore, in a market in which Steve has a large number of readers, told me he’s not interested in doing a signing with Steve, because the store doesn’t sell many of his books, I wondered how Steve’s readers buy books.

Read the full article on Steve Pressfield’s site.