Comments on: Book Marketing Survey

By: Ian@ Book Marketing

Ian@ Book Marketing — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 23:03:12 +0000

For me…if I’m in a store it goes like this:

Cool Cover Art (Book in hand now)
catchy title
explanatory subtitle
(Flip book over) Look for testimonials
Back cover copy (read to see if it’s something I’m really interested in.
(Open book) Read a couple of lines to see if I’m riveted to the page.

Great question!

By: Pop Culture Nerd

Pop Culture Nerd — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:37:19 +0000

Yes, absolutely! I do that, too. If the cover’s a mess, I probably wouldn’t give it a second glance.

By: Amy Jacobs

Amy Jacobs — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:22:58 +0000

I hate to say it but if the cover art doesn’t look good then I wouldn’t buy it. I want it to tell me with just a look what I would be reading about. Does that make sense?!LOL

By: Cara Powers

Cara Powers — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:46:37 +0000

Cover art, cover art, cover art. I don’t care what anyone else has to say about the book. I want a good ACCURATE synopsis.

By: Bailey

Bailey — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:28:10 +0000

If there are immediate paperback versions or audio cds of the book…(to me) it is an indication that the book is popular and successful. Call it “The Bandwagon” effect, but popularity ratings are nothing to be sneezed at.

By: Eddy

Eddy — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:32:56 +0000

For authors new to me:

Friend recommendations/word-of-mouth.

Author interviews on NPR or other media

Comparisons to other authors. For instance, I picked up my first Robert Crais book because his works were favorably compared to Gregory Mcdonald’s Fletch series. (The books, not the movies.)

Title/cover. This doesn’t always work well for me. A couple of books that I picked up years ago, but I’ve yet to read: “Nibbled to Death by Ducks” by Robert Campbell, and “Killed in the Ratings” that had an image of a TV anchorman slumped over a news desk. Sounded clever.

Books that are set in the region where I live. Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi.

By: BIZMAN5

BIZMAN5 — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:52:05 +0000

I am always looking for something worth chasing down the movie rights to. It has to grab me. Title or story is what drives me. Sometimes a title is so good it will give me an idea for a story I want to write even though it has nothing to do with what the book is actually about. Books are an all around creative outlet. Bookstores are still the candy stores of my youth.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:02:50 +0000

The main grabber for me is a big fat sticker of any award(s) the author has won, even if the person was only a finalist. If it’s won the Pulitzer or the National Book Award, chances are very high I’ll buy the book and will continue to buy that author in the future. I’d take a look at a book even if it’s only been blurbed by an award-winning writer or a well-respected one, not necessarily a bestselling one, which means nothing to me.

And I hate to say it but size matters. If it’s small enough to fit in my bag, it has a better chance of making it into my bag. If it’s big, thick and unwieldy, I don’t want to sit down with it. I’m not saying I can’t handle a 1000-page tome, just make the paper thinnner and the font smaller.

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:35:26 +0000

Everybody’s pretty much covered how I choose my books so I’ll just address the last part of your question.

If it’s got James Patterson’s name on it anywhere, as the author or in a blurb, I ain’t reading it.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:28:22 +0000

The cover has to be awesome. Make it beautiful, non-generic and relevant to the book. I hate just seeing a city skyline that you know somebody just grabbed from some photographer’s stock portfolio. Don’t be lazy; be creative!

But that’s just the beginning. After the cover grabs my attention, the writing has to deliver on the promise. First paragraph, first few pages have to make it impossible for me to put the book back on the shelf.

And here’s a weird quirk I have which no one else mentioned. How the words look on the pages is important to me. The font the book uses and the spacing have to be pleasing to the eye. If it’s a distracting font or if the size is too small or the text is too crowded because there’s not enough spacing between paragraphs and in the margins, I won’t read it because I don’t want the eye strain.