Welcome to Tuesday Book Chat. This is where we encourage book lovers to answer our bookish question of the week.
Today’s question is:
Do you pay attention to the publisher or brand of books you read?
We look forward to hearing your thoughts. Please join in the conversation by commenting on this post or on the blog post shared in our Australasian Christian Writers Facebook Group.
Let’s chat!
Sometimes. I know certain publishers have books I like and can trust the books to be good. Not so sure about brands of books.
Your turn.
I look forward to reading your comments here or at the FB group. I will be late replying as have a trip to the city today.
And don’t forget: if you’d like to participate in our weekly Book Chat by posting the question and your answer on your blog, drop us an email via our Contact page and we’ll send you the list of questions for 2021.
Not at all. I do notice the quality of production for hard copy books, and will sometimes turn away from overly stiff, poorly bound copies, but this isn’t an issue with ebooks. But I can’t pick a publisher from that. As to content – I’m not a genre reader so it doesn’t factor in my choices.
True, with ebooks I often don’t know who is the publisher. I also like several genres. Thanks for stopping by.
Publisher? Nope, but I do gravitate to a well presented book. If by brand of book, you mean genre, then yes, there are some I prefer and others I’m more wary of. If brand means typical novel versus 8 in 1 or mass market, that depends on my budget, size of text, genre, and ease of use. Some are too heavy, text too small, story too short (or long), or very stiff to handle.
I tend to follow authors. I even have a little book I take with me to the shops with all my favourite authors, sometimes authors, authors I want to try, and authors I didn’t like listed in it.
I am not sure what brands means either. but I too tend to leave books if the text is too small. Thanks for commenting
I do! It can make a huge difference to whether or not I will consider buying a book or not if it is a new-to-me author. When I know and like an author, I’ll generally buy it even if they have gone to a new publisher (or avoid them if I don’t like their books).
If I’m looking at books in Op Shops, I’ll look by publisher then author to know if I’ll consider buying it. It’s different in places like Koorong, because I already know there are a limited number of publishers that they buy from.
I agree with printed books I tend to go by author and publisher. I know some authors write for several publishers and will follow too. And different publishers have different styles. Also with some publishers you soon learn if they have quality books or not.
I tend to follow authors I like for novels. I enjoy biographies and if others are mentioned in the biographies, I often follow on to their stories. If some of you here or other friends recommend books I will do a screenshot or take a note of the book and then when I am next looking for a book will try one of these.
Sounds like a good idea Heather
Hi Jenny, Great Question! Being an author, I’m likely paying more attention to the publisher name than the typical reader. That said, the publisher name doesn’t impact in a big way on my book buying decisions. Cover, blurb, sample chapter, recommendations from trusted sources are all more important in my decision making process. I find indie books, in particular indie ebooks, often offer better value for money than traditionally published books. I’m looking for good quality books at a reasonable price, irrespective of the publisher name. 😊