At lunch the other day my colleagues and I were talking about books. (Most of the people I work with are avid readers.) The conversation turned to what prompts them to pick up a book when they're browsing in the book store (or library).
One said she goes solely by the back cover blurb. That impressed upon me how important that short paragraph is in getting the essence of the story across. It also made me realize the similarity between grabbing a reader with that blurb and grabbing an editor or agent with "the pitch".
One said that she goes solely by the cover. Ouch! That's one that authors can't always control. Even when an author submits their cover ideas, there's no guarantee that the publisher's marketing department is going to listen. So do you trust a graphic designer in the marketing department to be able to translate the essence of your story correctly? I guess this is one area where a strong relationship with your editor and an assertive agent will come into play.
A friend of mine looks at how much dialogue there is. She won't buy a book that has more than one page without any dialogue.
What prompts you to pick up a book? Take the poll (click on the link at the right side of your screen) and let me know. I'll share the results.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Book Buying Behavior
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3 comments:
Oh my gosh, I can only pick ONE on the poll!?? The cover attracts me first, or the author name if it's an author I know. If it's an auto-buy author, I buy it no matter what. If it's an author I don't know, I read the back to see time period subject, etc.. If I like that, then I I read the first few pages. If I'm hooked, it goes in my cart.
Now those are impulse buys only. If there's an author or book I heard about, I order it from amazon with free shipping over $30.
Interesting question! I agree with cherylstj -- it's hard to pick just one. But if it's an author I've never read (unless recommended to me by someone whose tastes I trust), I tend to read a few pages, to get a feel for the author and the story. To be honest, I rarely buy new authors any more, anyway. I have enough auto-buys to keep me busy for a good long while, so a new author has to *really* grab me. (Gee, do agents and editors look at it this way, too?? LOL!)
Kerry, your comment about agents and editors got me thinking. Yanno, I've never thought of them as readers before! Puts the importance of the "story pitch" and synopsis into a whole new light. It also makes the notion that they (agents and editors) can decide within the first 10 pages whether they like the story a lot more palatable.
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