Poll: What do you look for when buying a novel?

[Racecar1994]

When spending two weeks of work experience in a library, it understandably struck me just how many books there are in the world; there are absolutely thousands (most of them written by Danielle Steele -.-) and yet I've never really heard about many of them. As a novice writer myself, this completely terrifies me. How on Earth is someone meant to make their book not only stand out from the crowd, but in a way that makes it hard to ignore?

Now let me back up here. I'm not talking about quality of writing, or annoying methods for forcing adverts down everybody's throats. What I'm saying is that I wonder just how books from authors like Stephanie Meyer, Dan Brown and Stieg Larsson become the massive towering successes they are now while other, equally (or in Meyer's case, better) written novels fall into obscurity. As an example, I recently was completely captivated by a book known as 'Breaking the Silence' by Diane Chamberlain, yet it was only a random purchase with another, crappier book. I had never heard any recommendations of it, or even any mention of the book anywhere, but it was actually really quite well written.

The point I'm trying to get at here, is just what compells you as a consumer to buy the novels you do. Do you wait for the truly staggering infection of popular opinion, or do you give a second glance, read the blurb, and decide on that?

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I only buy novels by authors I already know and like.

For new authors, I usually hit the library and see what I fancy. I've actually found whole new authors that way (and then proceeded to buy every single book they've written). Other times, I read a few by an author, get bored, and move on. Other times I get through two chapters before taking the book back cause it sucks. To the library I mean.

Lois McMaster Bujold and Jacqueline Carey are the two authors whose books I buy as soon as they are released, no questions asked. I have never been disappointed.

Edit: Wow. Was not expecting first. Come on Escapists, don't you people read books anymore? ^^

 

[Gxas]

snip

What sells me on a book? Simple. Premise. If you can think up an excellent premise for a book, no matter if it's well written or not, I'll pick it up.

Oh, and I will find the book if it has a good premise. I promise you that.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I typically read the little blurb that's on the book. I don't really go for the popular ones since by then I have made up my mind about it, and most of the time it's a pass for me. I will buy books from authors that I like and sometimes then if it's not interesting to me it's a pass, I've done that to a few Stephen King books.

I normally go by my favorite genre first and then branch out from there and see where I end up. The last book I found when I did that I ended up loving it, Dante's Club by Matthew Pearl was the best risk I took with a book and I don't regret it.

 

[Necator15]

Honestly? The cover. That is the first thing that provokes any interest in a book for me. Following that, if the back flap looks like the story will be decent, I'll get it. If not, I'll find another, but the cover remains important.

I'm actually a little surprised at the quality of some covers. I mean, it's the first thing people see when they're browsing for books. It's the thing that's meant to grab people's attention, but I think a lot of people get caught up in the "Don't judge a book by its cover" thing to pay enough attention to it.

Oh, and one thing that immediately turns me off from a book:
Woman holding a weapon and staring angrily somewhere. I've read enough of those to know exactly where that's going and want no part of it.

 

[Nyrad01]

If it's written by an author I already like, or an author that my Dad, who reads everything I read, has recommended. For authors that I've never heard of though? It's the cover that sells it to me. I rarely pick up a fantasy novel when the front cover doesn't catch my eye. I know they say never to judge a book by it's cover, but hey ho I do it anyway...

 

[Hosker]

I normally just browse, read what the story is about, then read some reviews.

 

[noodles loves you]

I have an admittedly flawed method, one that I apply to novels, games, comics and so forth.

Does the cover look good?
Does the title sound interesting?

If the answer's yes to both of these I'll probably give it a try without question. It hasn't let me down yet, which is... weird

 

[Tilted_Logic]

I tend to stick to the sci-fi genre and I've found a lot of times the authors I already like will do a book with another author I've never heard of. If I end up liking that book enough I'll go check out the co-author and I generally end up loving them too.

That and my father use to absolutely love reading sci-fi so he has this box of 40 year old paperbacks by Andre Norton, Robert A. Heinlein etc that I've plundered into.

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

Authors i already like, recommendations from friends i trust, blurbs/recommendations from authors i already like. For me to continue reading, it has to be well written. This is a fairly recent development, though, as i used to read a ton of R.A. Salvatore crap, till i realized what a hack he is.

 

[lee1287]

if it has gears ofwar, in the title, i buy. =]

 

[Racecar1994]

Hmm. I'm a little perplexed as to why some people pick their books because of their covers. I mean, sure, it's important to have something that catches the eye and it does give some notion of what the story will be like, but it doesn't really say anything about the quality of the book, just how good the artist who designed the cover is.

I would personally pick the blurb, because that's how I got interested in buying Breaking the Silence; nevertheless I still pay attention to popular opinion and recommendations.

 

[thylasos]

I tend not to read an enormous amount of fiction, to be honest. But I tend to go with vaguely philosophical works, works from comedy writers I enjoy, or Russian classics.

 

[acklumos]

I tend to stick to series/ authors I know, but if a friend recommends it (which isn't very often) I usually give it a shot.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

Cover art mostly. That's how I found the Night Angel Trilogy. I took one look at the dude on the spine and just knew it would be a book I'd enjoy.

 

[Baneat]

you can spend your entire life reading only classics and not finish them,

So I go for classics.

 

[Kitteh]

Usually when looking for a novel, I often inquire the sales clerk if their inventory includes any wares that contain pornographic material.

 

[Outright Villainy]

Recommendations, generally. Which are easy to come by since my girlfriend is an English major. Last book I got was recommended by a friend as well. I took my own initiative on finding a book maybe once in the past 5 years or more.