# What goes into your buying decision?



## Edward Lake (Mar 11, 2012)

Is it...

A. The cover. 
B. The cover & the sample/preview. 
C. The cover, sample/preview & the reviews. 
D. All of the above. 

Or is there something else?


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## Just Browsing (Sep 26, 2012)

If I'm browsing in a used bookstore or the library, it goes like this:

1) Title. (Titles are very important to me! Can't explain it, but I know it's true. Maybe partly because in a library, you're normally looking at spines, so all you see is the title at first.)
2) Cover. (from there I'm getting genre / mood)
3) Back cover copy--this doesn't necessarily make/break it because I know (at least for trad pubs) it's rarely written by the author. But it will at least tell me what the book's about.
4) First 1-2 pages. I'm looking for writing style, not action.

If I'm looking online for a book, it's almost always for something I know in advance that I want--something that's been recommended to me or an author I already like, etc. I don't think I've ever gone to the Amazon site just thinking, "I'm in the mood for a book. I'll go see what they have."

Just me, though, just me.


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## DarkScribe (Aug 30, 2012)

Edward Lake said:


> Is it...
> 
> A. The cover.
> B. The cover & the sample/preview.
> ...


For me it is what does't appeal. I won't pause to read a blurb when scanning if I see certain words. Billionaire, erotic, sword, series (I never look at something described by an indie writer as "1st in the series...") vampire, dragon, sexy, SEAL. I won't look at books with shirtless men, women in lingerie, nudes, half naked couples etc. They smack of amateurism and I feel that the book might also be unimaginative and amateur. Too many possibly good reads out there to spend time trudging through apparent chaff.


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## JV (Nov 12, 2013)

The cover has next to nothing to do with it for me. 

The reviews are what catch my eye, first and foremost (it's also why I ask my readers, on my author page, to please leave their thoughts on Amazon when they finish the book--most people skim the reviews before reading anything else).

After that I check the sample. What I'm looking for in the sample is, above all else, to be hooked. I'm gauging the authors style, how well is he or she able to string words together, are there any glaring errors, such as jarring tense changes and misspelled words that would lead me to believe this is the work of an amateur? And, when that preview is over, do I want to read more? Sadly, the answer with many books is no. But, I'm a selective reader, very picky. I don't get much time to read so I want to spend the time I do have well.


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## AngryGames (Jul 28, 2013)

The sample and only the sample

The blurb doesn't tell me if the book is any good.

The cover damn sure doesn't tell me if the book is any good, and is one of the biggest bits of nonsense I've ever had to deal with. We are raised from birth being told "Don't judge a book by its cover!" and that gets repeated over and over and over. Then we become readers and judge EVERY book by its cover, even though it has zero to do with the words inside. No, a weak cover doesn't mean the author is terrible/lazy and it doesn't mean the story is terrible. Yet we authors persist with this lie, ranking out other authors who don't use professional covers. The harm that it has caused is that readers still believe a book's cover has .000001% of anything to do with the quality of writing within the book. Covers don't mean diddly-squat, and never have, and the sooner we stop encouraging everyone else to judge books by their cover, the better off we will be as a profession. 

Reviews don't mean squat, as they don't tell me whether or not the quality of the writing is up to my standards. I don't give a damn if Joe Reviewer thinks it is the greatest thing since Sliced Jesus, or the worst thing since Phoenix was given an NHL team.


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## kansaskyle (Sep 14, 2010)

Factors 1, 2, and 3 play a part for me, but I also leverage reviews, especially those from friends on Goodreads and folks here at KB.  I do not take time to sample.


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## Brownskins (Nov 18, 2011)

I don't read e-samples because I don't like having samples alongside my purchased books in my Kindle.  It adds to the clutter.  I will, however, browse/skim through a physical book at a bookstore just to see if the writing style is one that I will enjoy.

I read the back cover blurb, or for e-books, the blurb on the book's page (middle section of the web page) to gauge my interest level (am I... intrigued? excited? bored? apathetic?)

I read reviews (not ones with spoilers - and btw, the first ones to review are usually the main suspects for spoilers or a badly written plot synopsis) but I tend to read the most helpful critical review, and a couple of the recent reviews (not the one-liners, but the ones that break down the pros and cons).  Finally, I listen to suggestions from my friends.

So to answer your question, and address the factors you isolated:
A. The cover - Does not influence me.
B. The cover & the sample/preview - Do not influence me.  (Well-written blurbs do, however.)
C. The cover, sample/preview & the reviews.  - Only reviews by reviewers that write really good critical reviews (so this is highly subjective).
D. All of the above. - Nope.


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## Debbie Bennett (Mar 25, 2011)

All of them, but for different reasons. I read a blurb to see if it makes sense - if it has typos, grammar issues or is just plain clumsy, I'll assume the book is the same. If it contains an exhortation that I must read it, and I'll laugh/cry/whatever, then I'll pass (I'll decide how I feel, thanks). If it's more of a synopsis, then I won't bother (because you've already told me much of the plot).

Covers - a bad cover won't put me off, but a good cover will suck me in...

Reviews - a few high ones and a few low ones. Sometimes the low ones make me sample.

Sample - always. If I get to the end, I'll almost certainly buy!


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

When scanning, a combination of the title, author and cover will get my attention or keep me going past.  

1.  An interesting title with a so-so or an interesting cover will get me to click into the page for more info whereas an interesting cover with a dumb name will get me to go past.
2.  Once on a page (and let's assume this is amazon as that's where I buy maybe 80% of my books), The blurb is next.  If interesting, I'll continue, If it has any deal breakers, I'll page back.  Deal breakers for me include more review quotes than actual blurb, phrases like "in the style of..." or "reminiscent of ..." or "Often compared to ..." - you know, sales pitches.
3.  Then I'll look at reviews.  The vast majority of 1 or 2 sentence reviews count as no review at all.  I'll read some good and some bad. (If there are no bad reviews, that's a warning flag as someone always hates anything)  If a review mentions formatting, spelling or editing issues, that's a deal breaker. 
4.  Then I'll look at the publisher.  Certain publishers will get an automatic go/no go as I know them and know the product the put out and whether I've liked their books in the past.
5.  For a publisher I don't know or for an indie, I may then look at a sample.
6.  Then I look at price, weigh everything and buy or put it on a wish list.

At a guess, I scroll past 80% of the books when going though a list, of the ones I click on to look at details, about 80% of those do not make it to the a purchase or wishlist .....


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

The _buying_ decision is based upon the sample, and partly on the price. Getting me to _consider_ the book in the first place is much more complex and variable, including suggestions from friends (both on-line and in-person), references in forums like this one, GoodReads, etc., cover/title/blurb/etc when browsing around on Amazon, and just dumb luck (such as seeing it mentioned on some TV show or whatever).

But there is no set formula or methodology I follow (that I'm aware of, anyway). Information comes into my brain from numerous sources, both my conscious and unconscious minds sort through it and raise virtual flags indicating interest, and then I sample it.


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## The Hooded Claw (Oct 12, 2009)

For fiction, the author is most important. I am reluctant to buy fiction from unknown authors, because I already have more books than I can possibly read now, and have little reason to buy fiction that isn't a sure thing, and may just be a white elephant that will clutter up my backlist. (Logically, I should stop buying books altogether until I've made a major dent in my backlog, but I just can't seem to do that!)

Cover is of almost no positive consequence for me. An amateur cover makes buying less likely, though if I have strong reasons otherwise to buy a bad cover might not kill the sale.

Recommendations from people known to me as having similar tastes have significant weight, though not enough to make the sale on their own. But there aren't many people who have that level of confidence from me, perhaps five people in the world! In the past, recommendations from professional reviewers who I followed had some weight, but there's nobody reviewing out there now who has that status with me. For fiction, I may look at Amazon customer reviews, but it is likely to be the sum of the reviews as a group, rather than individual reviews. For unknown independent authors, a high number of enthusiastic reviews with few more ordinary reviews will make me more skeptical, especially from reviewers with few other reviews.

The blurb for a book is fairly important in helping me decide if I should buy, if I get that far, but unless my attention is already caught by something else, I'm unlikely to consider a book far enough to get to the blurb.

The sample is a great innovation that I ought to use more, but seldom do. I think it is a matter of that I have such an over abundance of stuff to read already that if I'm unsure enough to need a sample, I just skip the book altogether.

If you're researching how to market fiction books to me, the truth is that unless you can solve the chicken and egg problem and have already made a sale to me, you're probably toast. If you can get to one of my few trusted reader friends hard enough for them to recommend a book, you have a chance. Despite reading about a hundred books a year, I doubt I buy three fiction books a year that aren't in one of those two categories.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

I'm back to sampling being the key factor in actually hitting buy, but I tend to shift out books by price before I ever get to sampling.  I hate taking time to sample, but was wasting too much money and time when I didn't.  

As for shopping, covers catch my eye and result in me exploring further.  This is true especially when browsing on BooksOnTheKnob or DailyCheapReads or one of those types of sites.  Cozy-mystery blog rarely has covers, but always has titles so a title may catch my eye.  If I'm browsing on Amazon it's usually the cover/price that will get me to click to take a deeper look.  If I'm at the library, it's also usually titles (after genre.  I'm already in one of the genre sections browsing).  

I have started a LOT of books in the last two years that get about 30 pages out of me and that's it.  Most of them are not bad. Most of them are indie--probably 70 percent.  Most of them are even well-edited.  But they often are not compelling enough for me to continue.  Of trad publisher books that I buy, I usually already know the author and trust that I'll like the book.  There are a handful of trad and indie authors where I'll buy the book without sampling.


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## Edward Lake (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks for going into detail, guys. These are some great post.


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## shypno (Nov 12, 2013)

My 2 cents.

The Cover and the Title will grab my attention and make me spend more time looking through the book. So it's very important, but it does not mean that I will buy.  

In the end it's the blurb and sample that will clinch the sale. I don't care much for the positive reviews (too many books have good reviews), but will look out for negative ones.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

1. Genre
2. Cover - I will look right over an unprofessional looking cover
3. Book Description - must be well written and interest me
4. Reviews
5. Price - I have about 50 books on my Kindle already waiting to be read right now so if a book interests me I'll put it on my price drop watch list and only buy it when it goes on sale (unless it's something I can't wait to read from a favorite author)
6. Sample


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Lately, I'll see covers that catch my eyes in members signatures here -- not author signatures, necessarily.  More often, actually, in regular members' reading bars.

I'll click through and if it's a genre that I tend to enjoy I'll read the blurb.  If it's one I'm less fond of, I read it a bit more critically.  There are a few buzzwords that kill it for me.

If it still looks interesting I'll usually wishlist it, both on Amazon, and via one of my libraries if it's available there.  I might buy it right away depending on the relationship between how good it looks and how much it costs. 

Every couple of weeks I import my amazon wishlist into eReaderIQ to watch for price drops.  When they come up, I look again at the book to decide if the price has dropped enough.  Sometimes I get those reports and go back and look again at the book and wonder why I wishlisted it in the first place and drop it.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

Genre and author name, almost exclusively. Either I've had the author recommended to me or I've heard of the author elsewhere.

I do look at the sample, but I pretty much ignore everything else.


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## hs (Feb 15, 2011)

For books that I'm browsing, it's:
1. Cover
2. Blurb
3. Reviews

The cover is what initially draws my interest, and then I'll read the blurb to see if the story matches the expectation set by the cover. If I still think the book is one I want to read, I'll skim the reviews. For me, it's not so much the overall rating (I've disliked enough 5-star books and enjoyed enough 3-star books to not rely on ratings exclusively) but what the reviewers say, especially the bad reviews. If the bad reviews are because the formatting has tons of errors or the writing is awful, I won't consider the book. However, if the bad reviews are because the reader doesn't seem to have the same taste in books as I do, then the book is still worth buying.

That said, more than half of the books I buy are because someone recommended it to me or it's an author I already enjoy reading, but I buy at least one book each month based on the factors above.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I am all over the place on that. 
Genre first. No point in looking on if its not a genre I read. So if the cover doesn't fit the genre, you are out of luck. Unless the book has been recommended by reader friends online that read the stuff I read. Then I'll overlook the cover. 

I don't care about the title other than to notice if one is witty or funny once in a while. Otherwise, I don't not buy a book because of a title. I don't read the titles, I read the book. But again, title is important to identify genre. 

Other important thing is the book must be a full book. Not a chapter piece meal, flyer length, or have cliffhangers. Only time I will buy a book with a cliffhanger is if I know the author, want to read the series and all the books are out. I say books because again, I don't read chunks or chapter flyers. 

If the author is known that is a plus point. If the book has been published before, another plus point. I got stuff to look at then to vet. I also see who published a book. 

I do a few other things but they change at will and I have a lot of stuff on wishlist waiting on price reductions so those I tend to buy right away. I have already done the vetting. 

I very very rarely sample and I very rarely sample before I buy. Mostly that is because I do all my vetting beforehand. I don't do cold reads so to speak. I just don't want to waste time reading samples, I want to read books. Works for me.


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## LaraAmber (Feb 24, 2009)

I walk away (figuratively, because you know, at a computer looking at e-books) if the cover looks amateurish.  If its bad photo-shop and free stock photos I don't care you're Dickens reborn, I'm not buying it.  If an author can't take time (or pays someone) to craft a decent cover, why should I trust them to have done a good job at writing?  There are also some elements that are popular in some indie covers that just turn me off.  That could be good, because maybe I'm not the target audience for that work.

I rarely just peruse and find books.  Today I find most books because of "recommended for you" (GR or Amazon), what friends have recently read, or titles brought up in discussion groups (either as a formal group read or people just saying "I just finished X"), or it was covered somewhere like The Daily Show.  So reading the blurb is probably one of my last steps and quite often gets skipped and I just download the sample.  I will never skip the sample step unless it's a known entity (like Dresden) and happens to be on sale before I'm ready to read it.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

The latest 4 books that I actually paid for  , I got because I liked the author and had read something else by them.  I had found these authors because they have/had freebies.  So for me to actually buy a book I have to like the author's writings.
Please no one faint, I do actually pay for books and apps once in a while.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

What makes me buy a book?

Certain words: Billionaire, erotic, sword, series, vampire, dragon, sexy, SEAL, books with shirtless men, women in lingerie, nudes, half naked couples.

(Somebody has to take up DarkScribe's slack. )

No, seriously I don't browse much.  Generally I see or read something about a book here on KBoards these days.  I trust the members here.  Sometimes while reading the forum, a cover or title catches my eye, and the author-member has been a good and interesting KB citizen, I'll check the book out.  So, cover or title first, (along with a feeling about the author) and then the blurb.  I'll read almost any genre, though I have my preferences.

Betsy


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Recommendation from others is probably 80% of books I buy...but the other 20%...

1) Genre lists on Amazon / Genre shelves in a store
2) Title - Has to sound interesting, impossible to quantify
3) Cover - cover should tell me the _kind_ of story, quality not a huge deal
4) Blurb / back cover
5) Sample / first pages - unless free then I will take the chance with out sample cause why not? 

I will only occasional skim reviews - and then I am looking for key words that tell me the book has content I will not enjoy (gore, etc).


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## heidi_g (Nov 14, 2013)

The cover will catch my eye, then I'll read the blurb. I usually read the sample, so I can tell if I will enjoy the writing style. The deal breaker is the sample. I can get past a cover that I don't really love, or a blurb that isn't compelling to read, if I enjoy those first few pages!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> No, seriously I don't browse much. Generally I see or read something about a book here on KBoards these days. I trust the members here. Sometimes while reading the forum, a cover or title catches my eye, and the author-member has been a good and interesting KB citizen, I'll check the book out. So, cover or title first, (along with a feeling about the author) and then the blurb. I'll read almost any genre, though I have my preferences.
> 
> Betsy


I take this a bit further. The book in the signature may look good and be right up my alley in terms of genre. BUT if the author-member is one that I have an unfavorable impression of, based on their interactions here, I won't buy the book or even download it free. I have no desire to knowingly support a person that I find rude, uncaring, or insulting to other members. Maybe I'm missing the next big thing. Oh well. Doesn't bother me in the least. Lots of other books to read. 

Happily, there are many many FEWER of that type here nowadays . . . I guess kboards isn't 'wild wild west' enough for them.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> No, seriously I don't browse much.


See ... that's where we are of opposite minds ... I love to browse through books. Always have. My husband refused for years (decades) to even walk into a bookstore with me for exactly that reason. He knew he would be bored and I would feel rushed. So I would just go for an hour or two or whatever and browse every so often and then come home with a pile of books. Now I do the same thing at home - just in my jammies.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I always enjoyed browsing bookshops (there's one in the same shopping center as Home Depot which works well for my husband and me  ) but I don't like on line browsing as much. Except browsing kboards signatures, of course.


Sent from my Kindle Fire HDX.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Geoffrey said:


> See ... that's where we are of opposite minds ... I love to browse through books. Always have. My husband refused for years (decades) to even walk into a bookstore with me for exactly that reason. He knew he would be bored and I would feel rushed. So I would just go for an hour or two or whatever and browse every so often and then come home with a pile of books. Now I do the same thing at home - just in my jammies.


In real life, I browse bookstores all the time, used bookstores, specialty bookstores; I never walk by a bookstore without going in.

I guess the thing is, on KBoards I see enough books that interest me that I don't have to browse. I'm kind of bombarded by book offerings all day long...I don't need to browse online. There's hardly a day goes by I don't buy a book.

Betsy


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