Hey Y'all!
I saw a link to this
survey of readers by Zogby and Random House and it's actually really interesting so I thought I'd share. Especially this part:
More than half (52%) admit to judging a book by its cover, with younger respondents more likely to acknowledge a book's cover influences their opinion - 66% of those younger than 30 said they judge a book by its cover, compared to just 34% of those age 65 and older. More than a third (35%) said they have purchased a book because of a quote from another author. When they find a book they like, the vast majority (89%) said they make a special effort to look for other books by the same author.
So what makes you buy a book? Right now I tend to read mostly YA to get a feel for the market and I generally read the books that are getting buzz, making lists, winning awards, and getting good recs. What probably makes me most apt to buy a book is someone telling me it's great. And honestly, I tend not to buy based on cover or quote as much because I'm rarely perusing at a bookstore or library -- I prob buy 98% of all my books online and I always find it hard to browse online.
But still those stats... so much of it is outside the author's control!