How do you select a book?

When browsing through the stacks of novels at the local bookstore, how does a customer choose a new author? Marketing research firms spend thousands of dollars trying to determine consumer behavior and ways to manipulate that behavior.

Have you ever watched customers meandering through the aisles, picking up one book, perusing the cover, then selecting another? Why do they select any one particular book?

Word of mouth, or recommended by a friend was the factor most often mentioned as the number one factor. Some books are simply so memorable that readers become anxious to tell their friends about them. Publishers spend millions of dollars on advertising, book tours, etc., but one of the most powerful forces driving a book’s success is basic grass roots, one-on-one word of mouth.

The cover either entices or detracts. Don’t judge a book by its cover doesn’t ring true with most readers.

The infamous back cover blurb is the key deciding factor for many readers. Perusing a sample chapter either clinched the sale or resulted in the reader deciding not to buy.

Reviews increase the visibility of an author and their books, but it isn’t the deciding factor of whether to read that particular book.

What is the determining factor when selecting a book from a new author for you? What was the last “new author” book that you read? How was the book?

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