Why do you buy a particular book over another.

[Stephen Drake]

I was thinking about why I by a particular book over another of the same genre. For me, it used to be the author until such time as I had all of a particular authors work. Then it changed to reading the "hook" and with the cover art being last. Don't get me wrong, cover art is the coolest, but the buying a book just because the cover is cool doesn't quite work. It is a factor, though. So, what do you think?

 

[Jason Byrne]

While I will read anything, I will be out specifically to get H.P. Lovecraft... or Arthur Machen... or Franz Kafka... or Robert Bloch — I'm looking for a specific author — usually a specific book. The Hill of Dreams, for example. I will search it out and pick it up, probably peruse for a couple minutes until a particular cover grabs my interest, read the sleeve and put it back, and end up with the one I wanted as well as a couple extra that sound promising. Mission accomplished.

 

[Jennifer Stone]

For me, an eye-catching cover, get caught on the hook and then the author, last. I'll read anything I find interesting, but an appealing cover helps to catch my attention, in the first place.

 

[Karen Gray]

Ok... This is a tough one for me because I'm far from normal, and buying a book in a bookshop is part of a well oiled point perfect routine that if the book doesn't fit in to then I leave empty handed (the last time I bought a book in a bookshop was 4 years ago) which is very often the case.

I imagine that a normal person would possibly have - cover catches the eye, blurb looks good... I'll have that one... job done.

Me on the other hand...

1. The cover and title have to catch my eye... HAVE TO
2. The cover has to feel nice... I particularly like ones with raised lettering/symbols etc
3. The paper has to feel nice
4. The smell... yes, that's a thing and sometimes the glue can smell funny or the paper can smell nice but the smell is a biggie.
5. The font has to be the right size and not out of this world.
6. The blurb on the back
7. The first page
8. The middle page
9. I pick a series book over a stand alone
10. I prefer series and the covers have to match... HAVE TO

'Wow, she's pretty persnickety ain't she?' I hear you say... Yes... Yes I am... Dyspraxic, can't help it.

I get locked into a routine and that's me and each and every thing on this list is important to me. I'm the kind of person who loves her books so much none have creases on the spine despite being read all the time.

As far as ebooks go... Title and blurb and that's that lol

 

[Emurelda]

Recommendation. That's all I got.

I just made my Amazon orders....

Boundless
Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters
Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse

 

[Emurelda]

I don't care what the covers look like. My imagination is wild I get lost into a book quite quickly...I just love the feel of all new and second hand books. There's something...something...tangible about it in an abstract world.

 

[Jason Byrne]

Ok... This is a tough one for me because I'm far from normal, and buying a book in a bookshop is part of a well oiled point perfect routine that if the book doesn't fit in to then I leave empty handed (the last time I bought a book in a bookshop was 4 years ago) which is very often the case.

I imagine that a normal person would possibly have - cover catches the eye, blurb looks good... I'll have that one... job done.

Me on the other hand...

1. The cover and title have to catch my eye... HAVE TO
2. The cover has to feel nice... I particularly like ones with raised lettering/symbols etc
3. The paper has to feel nice
4. The smell... yes, that's a thing and sometimes the glue can smell funny or the paper can smell nice but the smell is a biggie.
5. The font has to be the right size and not out of this world.
6. The blurb on the back
7. The first page
8. The middle page
9. I pick a series book over a stand alone
10. I prefer series and the covers have to match... HAVE TO

'Wow, she's pretty persnickety ain't she?' I hear you say... Yes... Yes I am... Dyspraxic, can't help it.

I get locked into a routine and that's me and each and every thing on this list is important to me. I'm the kind of person who loves her books so much none have creases on the spine despite being read all the time.

As far as ebooks go... Title and blurb and that's that lol

Fascinating — dyspraxia is very rare in females, Karen. How are you with keeping track of belongings, trinkets and such? Coordination?

 

[Karen Gray]

REALLY BAD lol Short term memory is a tough one. It's almost like sometimes I can't remember something literally as soon as I'm told, other times you could tell me something and I will forget it until years later. But generally short term memory is poor, where as I have crystal clear memory of when I was around 8 months old.
I write with my right hand but do everything else left handed.
I like specific things just so and organised, but I can't keep a house to save myself. When my brain is a muddle... so is the house lol
I stutter when I get stressed and frequently forget words I would use in every day sentences (when speaking)
Very very clumsy. Sometimes I get knee jerk physical reactions to things and It's like oops, maybe a touch OTT but it just happens.
Spelling and Grammar I have struggled with all my life though that was never helped by poor teachers until 5th year.
Was always poor at maths and I struggle even now with time telling if it's not got numbers on the dial, even then it takes a moment to work out. 24hr clock is the same. I've just never grasped it like I should.
On the flip side I am almost over the top on creativity and the old 'thinking outside the box.'

My Granda, all 3 of his sons, and their 2 sons plus my brother and me all have dyspraxia to some degree or another. My mum was told when she asked the doctor about me, gosh I must have been really young, not sure what age exactly, but she was told I didn't have it because 'girls can't get it.'
Girls cant get it my backside!

I'm lucky, it has helped more than hindered me, but it does make me... particular at times. It's also the reason I just can't read some stuff. I can't even force my way through it. Like Harry Potter. I quite literally couldn't get past the first chapter.

 

[Stephen Drake]

Ok... This is a tough one for me because I'm far from normal, and buying a book in a bookshop is part of a well oiled point perfect routine that if the book doesn't fit in to then I leave empty handed (the last time I bought a book in a bookshop was 4 years ago) which is very often the case.

I imagine that a normal person would possibly have - cover catches the eye, blurb looks good... I'll have that one... job done.

Me on the other hand...

1. The cover and title have to catch my eye... HAVE TO
2. The cover has to feel nice... I particularly like ones with raised lettering/symbols etc
3. The paper has to feel nice
4. The smell... yes, that's a thing and sometimes the glue can smell funny or the paper can smell nice but the smell is a biggie.
5. The font has to be the right size and not out of this world.
6. The blurb on the back
7. The first page
8. The middle page
9. I pick a series book over a stand alone
10. I prefer series and the covers have to match... HAVE TO

'Wow, she's pretty persnickety ain't she?' I hear you say... Yes... Yes I am... Dyspraxic, can't help it.

I get locked into a routine and that's me and each and every thing on this list is important to me. I'm the kind of person who loves her books so much none have creases on the spine despite being read all the time.

As far as ebooks go... Title and blurb and that's that lol

And here I thought I was "strange"! I love the smell of books! The smell doesn't help me to buy it, but once I open it and get the smell wafting up at me I tend to delay turning a page a second or two for the smell. Love the smell of bookstores, too. Too bad e-books are becoming so popular. People who only see e-books are going to be lacking in the experience of a book.

 

[Karen Gray]

And here I thought I was "strange"! I love the smell of books! The smell doesn't help me to buy it, but once I open it and get the smell wafting up at me I tend to delay turning a page a second or two for the smell. Love the smell of bookstores, too. Too bad e-books are becoming so popular. People who only see e-books are going to be lacking in the experience of a book.

I think it's more about putting it down if it 'smells bad' if you know what I mean.

 

[Stephen Drake]

I think it's more about putting it down if it 'smells bad' if you know what I mean.

I haven't run across that...yet.

 

[Carol Rose]

The cover can be gorgeous or not, but if the blurb doesn't appeal to me, or the sample (for an ebook) or the teaser on the back cover of a print book doesn't do it for me, I won't waste my money. I buy them to read them, not look at them.

 

[Jason Byrne]

REALLY BAD lol Short term memory is a tough one. It's almost like sometimes I can't remember something literally as soon as I'm told, other times you could tell me something and I will forget it until years later. But generally short term memory is poor, where as I have crystal clear memory of when I was around 8 months old.
I write with my right hand but do everything else left handed.
I like specific things just so and organised, but I can't keep a house to save myself. When my brain is a muddle... so is the house lol
I stutter when I get stressed and frequently forget words I would use in every day sentences (when speaking)
Very very clumsy. Sometimes I get knee jerk physical reactions to things and It's like oops, maybe a touch OTT but it just happens.
Spelling and Grammar I have struggled with all my life though that was never helped by poor teachers until 5th year.
Was always poor at maths and I struggle even now with time telling if it's not got numbers on the dial, even then it takes a moment to work out. 24hr clock is the same. I've just never grasped it like I should.
On the flip side I am almost over the top on creativity and the old 'thinking outside the box.'

My Granda, all 3 of his sons, and their 2 sons plus my brother and me all have dyspraxia to some degree or another. My mum was told when she asked the doctor about me, gosh I must have been really young, not sure what age exactly, but she was told I didn't have it because 'girls can't get it.'
Girls cant get it my backside!

I'm lucky, it has helped more than hindered me, but it does make me... particular at times. It's also the reason I just can't read some stuff. I can't even force my way through it. Like Harry Potter. I quite literally couldn't get past the first chapter.

Dude. That sounds EXACTLY like me. I wonder...
My grammar and mathematics are perfectly fine, but as to everything else, you basically just described me to a tee.

 

[Karen Gray]

Dude. That sounds EXACTLY like me. I wonder...
My grammar and mathematics are perfectly fine, but as to everything else, you basically just described me to a tee.

Tis both a blessing and a curse.

However I do think it makes for more interesting writing, when the writer is a "sideways" thinker

But as a "sideways" thinker I'm bias lol

 

[James Marinero]

I was thinking about why I by a particular book over another of the same genre. For me, it used to be the author until such time as I had all of a particular authors work. Then it changed to reading the "hook" and with the cover art being last. Don't get me wrong, cover art is the coolest, but the buying a book just because the cover is cool doesn't quite work. It is a factor, though. So, what do you think?

Has to be the plotline/blurb and then author (until I start to get diappointed). Cover art is just marketing, I ignore it generally, but a good cover which is suggestive of the plot setting would attract me, such as


I'll read anything Cold War/Espionage. Another example is that I tend to avoid books with swastikas on the cover - but currently reading Robert Harris 'Fatherland' - superb - I'll read anything he writes.

My reading also governed by what the charity shops have on their shelves (lots of 50 Shades avilable now, I'm not biting).

 

[Jason Byrne]

I'll read anything Cold War/Espionage. Another example is that I tend to avoid books with swastikas on the cover - but currently reading Robert Harris 'Fatherland' - superb - I'll read anything he writes.

Truly — you don't want a book that you're afraid to leave on your desk at work. The fantasy genre runs afoul of this with the elven maiden wearing only mail, and such. How do they not take these things into account?

 

[Meerkat]

I exclusively buy books on Amazon, because the bookstore is in an undesirable location in our town. So I pretty much only buy books based on the description on Amazon. I don't look at the covers, ever, and I'm swayed pretty much by "useful" reviews and the hook.

 

[Stephen Drake]

As with movies, reviews don't mean a lot to me. I've seen lots of movies that critics hated and I liked, so maybe it's the contrarian in me.

 

[Marc Joan]

And here I thought I was "strange"! I love the smell of books! The smell doesn't help me to buy it, but once I open it and get the smell wafting up at me I tend to delay turning a page a second or two for the smell. Love the smell of bookstores, too. Too bad e-books are becoming so popular. People who only see e-books are going to be lacking in the experience of a book.

OMG! There are other surreptitious book-sniffers? I thought it was just me! Let's form a society, we can have conventions and smell each other's works!

Such a coincidence - I am currently trying to publish a short story about a bibliophile, one of whose habits is to smell a book before buying it. I'd share an extract with you, but this is a public forum. In any case, I am so delighted to know that we are all so weird! Well, some of us....

 

[James Marinero]

Here's another angle for those closet book sniffers. Do you wonder about the provenance of a particular set of smells or the damage to a cover? You don't get that with new books. Some thread drift here, but you know how it is.

As I said earlier, I buy many books in charity shops - the serendipity leads me to 'discovering' authors. As a sailor I also acquire books in book swaps at various marinas and harbours - there is usually a swap shelf somewhere to hand. That amplifies the serendipitous aspect. Every used book has a story of its own - and for harbour swap books their stories occasionally have supportive evidence. I wrote a piece about it here: http://www.jamesmarinero.com/On-Writing/Short-Stories.html Looking back the style seems a bit too flowery, but there you go, too late now - that particular affair is over as I found more amenable companions.

 

[Marc Joan]

Here's another angle for those closet book sniffers. Do you wonder about the provenance of a particular set of smells or the damage to a cover? You don't get that with new books. : http://www.jamesmarinero.com/On-Writing/Short-Stories.html Looking back the style seems a bit too flowery, but there you go, too late now - that particular affair is over as I found more amenable companions.

Yup; that's why I love second-hand books. Hope your new companions are as dog-eared and freckled as the one you describe.

 

[David Steele]

That was one of the best things about being a kid- coming home with a new Heinlein or Asimov with yellowed pages and a spine so crazed it looked like bark. Old books have always felt vaguely enchanted to me, as if they take their history with them.
These days I hardly have any. I think only my Iain M Banks and Jeff Noon collections are in one piece.
Then again, I haven't got much time for clutter. I own NO DVDs or CDs!

 

[Stephen Drake]

OMG! There are other surreptitious book-sniffers? I thought it was just me! Let's form a society, we can have conventions and smell each other's works!

Such a coincidence - I am currently trying to publish a short story about a bibliophile, one of whose habits is to smell a book before buying it. I'd share an extract with you, but this is a public forum. In any case, I am so delighted to know that we are all so weird! Well, some of us....

And some are weirder than others....makes things interesting! What else would you expect from people who listen to voices?

 

[James Marinero]

OMG!

Such a coincidence - I am currently trying to publish a short story about a bibliophile, one of whose habits is to smell a book before buying it. I'd share an extract with you, but this is a public forum. In any case, I am so delighted to know that we are all so weird! Well, some of us....

A few years ago I got onto readng a streak of Dean Koontz books. In one there was an MC who had a sexual affair with a refrigerator. To Koontz's credit he didn't use the line about 'something cool to slip into'.

 

[Stephen Drake]

A few years ago I got onto readng a streak of Dean Koontz books. In one there was an MC who had a sexual affair with a refrigerator. To Koontz's credit he didn't use the line about 'something cool to slip into'.

OMG!! That was a good line!!!

 

[Jennifer Stone]

A few years ago I got onto readng a streak of Dean Koontz books. In one there was an MC who had a sexual affair with a refrigerator. To Koontz's credit he didn't use the line about 'something cool to slip into'.

Having a flashback to an old blue movie plot...'I've come to fix the fridge'

 

[Kelly Michelle Baker]

The author is ALWAYS my biggest driver. If I've read something of there's that I liked, I'll read something else by them. Otherwise, I take recommendations from friends, OR read works by people I know (either in person or through social media and forums). Honestly, I could care less about the cover or hook (although both are very important).

 

[1408]

It depends what I'm looking for. If I'm looking for a specific author then the rest doesn't matter because I already know that they're good and I'll buy their book even if the cover is plain white and the blurb says "This is a good book." If I'm browsing then cover is what first gets my interest, but it can be anything from mostly plain to elaborate it just has to fit my mood at that moment. Like Tara said however, if the blurb is rubbish or opening page is too gimmicky (I'm actually pretty tired of the attention grabbing opening lines because they're all starting to read the same) then I'll put it down and move on. Now, if I like the cover and the blurb and the opening line then I'll flip to a random page somewhere between start and middle because I want to see if I still like the writing. Still like it? You're coming home with me, buddy.

 

[Emurelda]

And here I thought I was "strange"! I love the smell of books! The smell doesn't help me to buy it, but once I open it and get the smell wafting up at me I tend to delay turning a page a second or two for the smell. Love the smell of bookstores, too. Too bad e-books are becoming so popular. People who only see e-books are going to be lacking in the experience of a book.

Ah yes...if heaven was a library, well I'd be in heaven.