this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2023
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What helps you decide on picking up a book from an unknown author? (beehaw.org)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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I've recently started diving into publishing as a hobby/side gig. It got me to see the other side of things when it comes to books, and it's quite the craziness.

The first thing I came to realize is how much I rely on word of mouth to select my books. Things like ads, author interviews and usual marketing stuff means nothing to me. But if I see a book listed in a post when searching for a specific genre or topic, or a friend recommends it to me, it almost always immediatly goes to my reading list.

So as I focus on getting my story published and read, I wonder if I should invest in anything other than word of mouth.

So, I wanted to hear from you guys. How do you usually put a book on your radar? How would you like to discover new books?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

When I see a book mentioned enough times in contexts generally aligning with my tastes (also depends on how much I trust the context: an ad will have near-zero impact, a direct recommendation from a close friend will have high impact, for a review it depends), I decide to give it a try.

As for your situation, you'd benefit from having a reviewer with good taste and solid reputation. It might be quite a challenge, but it's probably worth it once you've made sure your book doesn't suffer from trivial flaws. Or, if it's just a hobby, you might choose not to bother, or to have more practice first.