I was reading an article in the science section of The New York Times about a writer transformed from novice Poker player to a winner in professional tournaments in less than a year. It was a remarkable profile. Maria Konnikova was doing research for a book about luck and decision-making. Poker struck her as a good starting point. It was. And it was so much more. She studied it and excelled, winning $200,000 and gaining insights into a corner of the world I know nothing about.
The article also discussed her previous book on con artists, ‘The Confidence Game.’ I went directly from the sofa with the newspaper to the computer on my desk to download ‘The Confidence Game.’ Con artists are more in my wheelhouse and I was immediately curious—what would she say about the strange set of crimes in which the victim is complicit?
The article on Poker inspired me to buy the book on con artists.
What inspires YOU to buy a book? Is it reviews? The reputation of the writer, the cover art, a friend’s suggestion, an experience with another book by the same author, a FREE today offer, the title???
I know that reviews are important, but they are rarely the primary draw for me. I get inspired—or turned off—by the premise. I download low-priced e-books on an impulse if it ‘looks like it might be good’ and I try not to beat myself up if the book turns out to be a dud. In the arena of non-fiction, I’m curious about the writer’s life (memoirs, history, essays) but I studiously avoid mysteries written by non-writers with fame in other arenas, so I’m not going to read the book co-written by President Bill Clinton and James Patterson. The only time I was pleasantly surprised by such a mystery, it was a book by Anthony Bourdain that I bought right before a trip by mistake. I thought I was clicking on one of his insider/backstage in the kitchen books. Most of the time, the celebrity turned mystery writer disappoints me as a reader.
What makes YOU buy a book?
Please share here or on the Candy’s Monsters Facebook page.
A great blurb will persuade me to buy a book pretty quickly. So will knowing that I’ve loved the author’s previous work, whether it be a blog post or a free short story or something I bought from them.
I do pay attention to reviews, but mostly in the sense that I look for patterns in them. If one person mentions a problem (or something they really loved), I’ll take note of it. If most people talk about the same issues/compliments in their reviews, there’s a higher chance they’ll influence me to buy/not buy that book depending on what folks are saying.
Although I also get a little suspicious when a book has tons of 5-star reviews and nothing else at all. It could be a legitimately wonderful story, or it might be a sign that someone has tampered with the reviewing system somehow.
Deciding what to read next is tricky. What a good topic for a blog post. Would it be okay with you if I borrowed this topic and wrote about it on my own site sometime?
Please “borrow” the topic! I’m curious about where you go with it.
I concur on the curiosity of ONLY 5 Star reviews. It feel suspicious. One of the reasons I shy away from reviews is that their all too easily manipulated, The other reason is that I don’t always agree with the “common wisdom” as I’ve loved books that were universally disliked and loathed super popular books. Digging deeper into reviews is a thoughtful approach to the available “data”——looking for trends in reviews is a more sensible approach.
The blurb is key! When I publish my next book I’m going to pay close attention to the blurb and how it will——or won’t——entrance potential readers.
My response post will be published on Monday, September 3, Candy.
Looking forward to it!
To be honest, I read a lot, so I’m always actively looking for new favourite authors. Once I find one, I’ll read everything they write until I run out of books or they disappoint me for some reason.
Scifi is my favourite genre but I’ve been known to read just about everything except conventional ‘horror’. lol Candy’s Monsters are the closest to horror I ever want to get. 😀
So you are a serial ‘fan girl’ reading the entire back catalog! I’ve done that with more than a few mystery authors. It’s fun——until it’s not fun. That’s it for the author and then… FIND A NEW ONE! Because I’m in a multi-genre phase, including classics and non-fiction, I’m bopping around too much to be a true dig-in-deep-fan. A couple of time I’ve read an entire life’s work and then realized the author was dead, or had just died, and that was really it and very sad. Other times, there was the realization that their early works were the best (or were worthless experiments) and only their “golden period” was worthwhile. One of the other realizations that shocked me, included a few authors writing the same book over and over again! Now that drove me crazy
About my Monsters… LOL… very far from horror! (But inspired by it.)
I think I’m first drawn in by a premise, and a great book cover never hurts. I am big on reading reviews though. I tend to ignore five-star reviews and read some of the three- and two-star reviews. That generally gives me the info I need to determine whether or not I’ll place it on my reading list. I also rely on Amazon and Bookbub emails to discover new books.
It’s true that the breadcrumbs we leave with our choices can bring us a stream of interesting selections for our next reads. But, sometimes, the algorithms don’t understand that we bought a book for a friend OR that we didn’t LIKE it in the end. Still, I’ll admit that I take the suggestions of Bookbub, Amazon, and several other daily emails seriously. My overstuffed Kindle is the evidence.
As for reading the less than stellar reviews… wow, that’s a good idea! I’m going to try it. Maybe even go back and read reviews of books I disliked to see what other people said about them.
For me, premise rules as a lure for purchase——with location drawing my attention sometimes. Nothing like a Bookbub suggestion of a book that takes place in a favorite travel destination or someplace you’ve always dreamed of visiting!