Following on from a comment on another thread that the sooner publishing realises the traditional agent-publisher structure is no longer viable the better, I stopped to think how I choose books, and how much it relies on that structure (which, in the absence of any type of other quality assurance, I support as it happens.)
Anyway, I choose my books in three ways:
From bookshops. Often for authors I already want to try eg Neil Gaiman. Sometimes, I'll browse and select by covers.
From the library. I'll often take more risks with authors I don't know. I picked up Dark Eden from the library without knowing anything about Chris Beckett.
By reccomendation. I've just read Francis Knight's and enjoyed her series very much, and I picked up Bujold via recommendation.
I don't select from Amazon. I can't be bothered flicking in and out of books to see which one floats my boat. I don't trust reviews. Because Mr Springs gets half price books I don't tend to buy from Amazon but instead order through him. I don't, as a consequence, read much self-published as I prefer a paper book than electronic. I also don't have a desire to read much self-published as I simply don't trust the quality assurance of them, however fair or unfair that might be.
As a consequence, I buy most of my material from authors who've followed the agent-publisher route and the bulk of my reading is by established authors.
What about others? Is there a way of expanding my reading base which is more accessible than kindle/e-based and shopping by staring at a bank of titles with no idea where to start looking for something I might like?
Anyway, I choose my books in three ways:
From bookshops. Often for authors I already want to try eg Neil Gaiman. Sometimes, I'll browse and select by covers.
From the library. I'll often take more risks with authors I don't know. I picked up Dark Eden from the library without knowing anything about Chris Beckett.
By reccomendation. I've just read Francis Knight's and enjoyed her series very much, and I picked up Bujold via recommendation.
I don't select from Amazon. I can't be bothered flicking in and out of books to see which one floats my boat. I don't trust reviews. Because Mr Springs gets half price books I don't tend to buy from Amazon but instead order through him. I don't, as a consequence, read much self-published as I prefer a paper book than electronic. I also don't have a desire to read much self-published as I simply don't trust the quality assurance of them, however fair or unfair that might be.
As a consequence, I buy most of my material from authors who've followed the agent-publisher route and the bulk of my reading is by established authors.
What about others? Is there a way of expanding my reading base which is more accessible than kindle/e-based and shopping by staring at a bank of titles with no idea where to start looking for something I might like?