How do ebook readers choose which books to buy?
The results, while not necessarily reliable, fall pretty much in line with what we know about print books: “Others said it was great” and “I’ve enjoyed this author’s work before.” That’s why reviews are so important for writers when they’re just starting out.
Comment #2000? :)
Word of mouth. It works, bitches.
::blows horn::
::throws confetti::
You have the two thousandth comment.
And yeah, word of mouth.
I like to read interviews of my favorite authors and hear what they are reading. So, yeah, word of mouth.
I actually find a lot of my books by going to the bookstore and walking around with my head tilted to the side reading spines and checking out the art on the books. Don’t get me wrong, I check all my favorite authors too, but that’s how I find new books. Anything from the title, to the artwork, to the name of the author sounding familiar will cause me to pick up the book, read the blurb on the jacket or the back cover and make a decision based on if it sounds interesting or not.
Don’t get me wrong, word of mouth can get things done too, but a lot of times the people I know recommend stuff to me that just isn’t really my speed. For instance I have an aunt who is always recommending books that fall just on the other side of the narrow line separating romance novels from actual good fiction. Not to say that I haven’t been surprised by her recommendations before, but generally I find them lackluster.
Or of course there is the other end of the spectrum, my friends recommend books to me that I read in high school over a decade ago and they are just now discovering because they are helping their kids with their homework or just reading to them because they finally figured out that books are more than just a stack of paper that you have to concentrate on.
I find a lot of books through goodreads/amazon lists, and the rest through reading authors’ blogs and coming across book recommendations. I’ll buy e-books/e-short stories if I can’t get them (i.e., borrow them from the library) in ink-and-woodpulp form. I don’t actually have a portable e-book device, so I’m suck reading them on my laptop. Ehh, there are worse things in life.
I also check up on the Hugo, Nebula, and other award winners.
It’s not always easy finding good books. And if a book sucks, I’ll toss it to the side after the first 50 pages.