Katiebabs has a post on author blurbs and their selling power. In light of the comments made by two Avon editors in an interview at All About Romance, there has been some discussion on what influences the decision to buy a book. According to editor May Chen:
As far as I know, we still don’t include online reviews on our books, but that can certainly change if we see them start making a difference. Right now, the best endorsements for us still seem to be from NYT bestselling authors and from major traditional print reviewers.
Does a cover quote from an NYT bestselling author encourage you to buy a book by an unknown writer? Or do you share my cynicism? Spending as much time scouring author websites as I do, I’m familiar with which romance authors write for which publisher and – in some cases – which of them share the same agent. So when I see a glowing recommendation from Author X on the cover of Author Y’s book, I do check to see if they have a professional connection. An endorsement from an author with no obvious association to the book, its writer or its publisher carries more weight for me. Also, Jennifer Crusie’s post entitled ‘Confessions of a Reformed Quote Whore’ certainly gave me pause for thought. I’ve regarded cover quotes with a healthy dose of skepticism ever since.
In general, though, I tend to base my buying decisions on other criteria. A well-written blurb is essential to capture my interest. Although I’m loath to admit it, a pretty cover does attract my attention. When it comes to man titty, less is definitely more. In the case of a new-to-me author, an excerpt is extremely helpful. It gives me a chance to sample the author’s voice and decide whether or not it appeals to me. (A note regarding excerpts: Amazon’s ‘Look Inside’ feature provides the first few pages, which does not always showcase a book in its best light. In my opinion, a well-chosen scene is the most effective sort of excerpt. Lisa Kleypas excels at this. She always provides sneak peeks of her upcoming novels in the form of a cherry-picked scene.)
As for Ms Chen’s preference for traditional print reviewers over online reviewers: I don’t agree with this. I prefer more personal recommendations from people whose tastes I share and whose opinions I trust. Therefore, I rely more on suggestions from friends and from online review sites and blogs who have traditionally shared my taste in books.
I realise that I’m an atypical customer as I’m 100% reliant on the internet for information on English language books. Nonetheless, I was equally unswayed by author quotes when I lived in an English speaking country and had the opportunity to peruse brick-and-mortar bookstores.
How do you decide which books to purchase? Do you read reviews before buying a particular book, or do you base your decision on author endorsements/covers/blurbs?
{ 8 comments }
I’ve never been induced to buy a book because of an author endorsement. I’m too skeptical to believe that the author really means it. I figure they’re friends or there is some other obligation.
If I’m standing in a book aisle, the first thing I am drawn to is the cover or spine. My attraction to that is a combination of artwork/design and actual title. I don’t think I’ve ever bought a Harlequin or series title new and very few used. I just can’t get past the incredibly stupid titles. If the cover as a whole is intriguing, I read the back cover/dust jacket blurb. Then I flip open the book and read a bit.
In the past couple of years, I’ve been reading on-line reviews and blogs like this. This has helped me find new authors, some of whom I love (like Julia Spencer-Fleming and Elizabeth Hoyt), but it also sometimes muddles me. An author’s name or a book title will jump out at me and I can’t remember if it’s because it was good or bad! Then I wait until I get home to re-check the reviews.
When I order online, it’s because I know exactly what I want. I don’t read Amazon reviews or glance through the first chapter. I save my perusing for a bricks-and-mortar store or online review sites.
I can safely blame Amazon. Their recommendations are spookily accurate (when I ignore the romance novels they keep suggesting because of that one time I bought that Kelley Armstrong book)
When I’m in a bookstore, I’ll often be drawn to certain covers. Not even because of what’s on them, but because of the material used. Strange, I know.
Blurbs definitely also help, and being able to scan a few random pages is a definite plus.
@Mary Beth I also find many of the Harlequin titles ridiculous, especially the Harlequin Presents. They’re all a variation on ‘The Sheikh’s Virginal Pregnant Mistress’, or some such nonsense.
I’m a fickle book reader. I only purchase or check out books from the library with a recommendation from someone I know, with a recommendation from this site or Librarything.com, after having read the author before, or if I am traveling somewhere and want to read fiction from that area. It is rare that I make an impulse buy on a book. There are too many books on my TBR list for me to just pick something up casually.
Funny enough, sometime I do feel like I am missing out on book browsing at the shops since internet came to play. I only go to bookshops now if I have time to kill at the airport or such. I grow nostalgic about the times I could spend an hour in a bookshop, make my selection, and go home anxious to start reading a new book. But then I remember all the times I chose based on cover, title or back blurb and was disappointed. I could list out those titles for you.
So I don’t pay much attention to author recommendations either, and enjoyed reading Jennifer Crusie’s blog on that topic.
@Christian You can always pass on the romance recs to me!
@Andrea I’m occasionally nostalgic for a regular bookstore. When I have the opportunity to visit one, I find myself frustrated by the fact they don’t have all the books in a particular series in stock. Online stores spoil you!
Blurbs and exerpts have always been the way for me, I have never paid any attention to author quotes, and was put off reviews by RT a while ago. Though do pay a bit more attention to online reviews, but normally look at a couple rather than one.
The problem I have with blurbs from fellow authors is not the “logrolling in our time” problem (i.e., one author blurbs for another knowing the compliment will be repaid), but rather that even if my favorite author loved a book, maybe I wouldn’t. I particularly don’t assume that Famous Author Whose Books I Love likes to read books at all like his/her own. So if FAWBIL says, “Best Book Ever,” I’m skeptical.
I used to read a lot of romances, but I stopped buying new authors along the line, and totally lost track of who was any good. As all my favorite authors from the early 90s are aging out, so to speak, I was thrilled when I discovered that very smart people are thinking about romances and writing on the Internet. (Present company included!) I got everything that the Smart Women/Trashy Book crew rated as an A (hence my reading In the Bleak Midwinter) and discovered some things I wouldn’t ever have seen otherwise. Can’t say I agreed with the grade on every book, but none of it has been bad.
There’s an element of personal taste that’s pretty unavoidable. It’s almost exclusive in popular music (Springsteen & U2 may be musical geniuses, but if I just don’t like that sort of music, their genius is wasted on my ears), and far less so with movies & TV. Books seem right in the middle — I can trust a reviewer, but they may like some aspect of the book I personally don’t care about. And I may value some things that the reviewer isn’t looking for. Luckily books aren’t too expensive to experiment with.
@Edie I pay no attention to RT reviews. They give every crappy book at least 4 stars, as long as its author is traditionally on the NYT bestseller list. I see it more as a promo site/magazine than a source of serious reviews.
@Magdalen I rely heavily on book reviews and recommendations. There are certain reviewers whose tastes are similar to mine, and I tend to trust their opinion. That said, I’ve also bought (and enjoyed) books on the basis of negative reviews. Sometimes a reviewer dislikes a certain aspect of a book which I know is likely to appeal to me.