I ordered this new book Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver today--isn't the cover beautiful?? Can't wait to read it.
1. Someone recommends the book, can be blog or friend
2. It's by a favorite author
3. The cover looks nice, and I like how the book description sounds.
I don't care about blurbs, personally.
How do you pick your books?
Interesting. I was just talking with Jenny about this the other day.
ReplyDeleteRecommendations mean a lot. Friends and NPR have cost me a lot of money.
Covers are big for me, as are titles. If a book has an interesting cover and a cool title? I'm sunk. Which could lead to a discussion about the importance of having a really good artist do your cover if you're self-publishing. Also about how that could be different with online booksellers as opposed to in a brick and mortar store.
Blurbs don't mean much to me either. I get the feeling sometimes that whatever author has just "Made It Big" is obliged to blurb any promising writer in the same genre (or at the same publishing house). Is that cynical? If the blurber is more established (thinking King, Grisham, Gaiman, Atwood established), then I might take notice.
Blurbing seems more like politics--or maybe that's just from a writer's perspective.
ReplyDeleteYou're right: e-book purchasing changes things. I've seen some cheap-looking covers, both online and print, that make me walk away.
Good reviews in newspapers. I like the writer's previous work. The subject. Word of mouth. I have come not to trust Amazon at all.
ReplyDeleteAmazon has too many cranky crazy people reviewing...
ReplyDelete