Most important in your choice for picking books?

The deciding factor in book purchases

  • The Author

    Votes: 4 36.4%
  • The Price

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Availability

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Reviews / Ratings

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Teaser chapter/Cover blurp

    Votes: 3 27.3%
  • The Title

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Hard / Soft Cover

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Cover Art / Jacket Art / Inside Art

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • The Publisher

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Something else

    Votes: 1 9.1%

  • Total voters
    11

Tom

An Old Friend
This may be difficult to choose only one but ya gotta boil it down;
What is the most important factor in your choice when purchasing a HardCover book?

The cover art is VERY important to me. When faced with two books by the same author and no prior information the Cover art is what I choose.

This is a poll but I would like to see you post your reasons for the choice you make. It's difficult for me because I weigh so many factors before my book purchases.
 
cover art does make a big difference, if it's by an author i already know generally it wont have any influence but that blurb can make me hold on for a few seconds longer when i'm not familiar with the author -buy or not!?

felgercarb or disconnected cover art can make me grind teeth and get the sketchbook out
 
Availability, as books are too damned expensive nowadays and when i read 4 or 5 a week i simple can't afford to pay full whack for them. So "availability" as in "does the secondhand shop or charity shop have any scifi in today?"

either that or become my towns most prolific book shoplifter, lol!
 
lol, A Stainless Steel Rat told me about this place. Its right up your alley I think.
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I tend to read a bit of everything & anything but I put I vote in for 'author' because I'll tend to pick up some reading material based soley upon the author and never even read the jacket first. For example, I'll do that with Stephen King's stuff and Joseph Wambaugh as well.
 
I agree with kevin on 'a bit of everything'. Hiassen, Cussler, Holt, Aspirin for example to add variety. I get disappointed when favourite authors diversify their usual style/genre -sometimes it works, sometimes not -eg Niven before the more recent 'fantasy' collaborations (anyone remember Niven/Pournelle 'Inferno'? Fun!).
The thought of trading old dog-earred favourites sends shivers down my spine. There's books I didn't particularly enjoy aswell but I just can't seem to let them go.
 
Aside from the fact that most of my collection is hardcover, I not sure I want to part with anything either. At least not anything worth reading. I guess it just goes to show One quality of a SciFi addict....Loyalty
 
Shall I rate my friends' advice as reviews? Author + the opinion of a person whose tastes I know is important fo me. And cover + art don't mean anything for me cause I read most books on palm pc, not hard copies.
 
Hi all,

I look at the author and also look for recomendations from friends and right here. You can't judge a book by its cover, so they say.
 
book picking

I choose first by price, I check out dollar stores and used book stores, then by author. I know this isn't easy on new authors but this is the way I pick 'em. I don't pay too much attention to the cover art.
 
Actually, going by price (or, in my case, checking out the clearance areas at the local book store) is a pretty good way of coming across new authors that you may not have normally looked at.
 
what I look for...

I let the cover blurb decide 9 out 10 books I buy, when the author is unkown to me. If it is one of my favorite authors, I buy no matter what.
 
Trooper said:
If it is one of my favorite authors, I buy no matter what.
Some of you guys & gals will cringe when I say this, but I buy every Stephen King release... he's the only author who I will blindly buy the hard-copy version of every time. :eek:
 
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