Quote:
Originally Posted by Xenophon
Ummmm... The same way you "know" if you like some-OTHER-thing before you buy it. Like deciding whether to see a movie in the theater (rather than waiting for the DVD/Blu-Ray/legal-download/"Pirate"-download/whatever). Or deciding which car to buy before you have a chance to live with it for months. Or deciding which of several job offers to accept, when you have limited information about the workplace congeniality and business prospects of the various potential employers.
Many things in life are uncertain. You already have many, many avenues available to help reduce uncertainty (reviews, word-of-mouth, online information and opinion, etc.). I see no inherent reason why paying for a book should necessarily be any different from any of those other uncertain choices. It's quite straight-forward: spend as much (or as little) effort on reducing your risk as makes sense to you, then make your choice and either consume-and-pay or don't-consume-and-don't-pay.
Why was this a hard question? 
Xenophon |
Why would anyone look for reviews of a book or writer they had never heard of before?