MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Are you region-ist?

gmw · 12-14-2010, 06:24 AM

I started a thread about Kylie Chan's fantasy series, Dark Heavens. Other than seeing that 75 people have viewed it, there have been no replies. This, I suppose, means that there are not many regulars on that forum that have read her books. This led me to wonder about how many people consider the region of the author when selecting new books?

I have to admit that it does come into my consideration. When we were shopping for books last Christmas we had a number of new authors (new to us) that we considered trying. Kylie Chan's book, White Tiger, got through to the final selection and one of the factors that I considered was that she was Australian. This is not say that I would buy anything just because it is about Australia or has an Australian author, but when it comes down to two books of equal interest, and I can't afford both, then the one relating to Australia in some way probably wins out. There are, after all, many books out there and you have to filter the list somehow. Reviews play a part, the blurb plays a part, the cover plays a part, even the title and cover art plays a part in attracting your attention ... well, to me, the region - either of the story or the author - also plays a part.

I specifically asked about "region" rather than nationality because I am not sure country is exactly what I mean here. Australia has a pretty small population, so it seems to me that a proper comparison here could be whether, in America (for example), you were more inclined to buy books about or by authors from your home state? Or is that taking this idea too far?

One of the things that makes this a potentially interesting question, is why it should be so? In the case of Kylie Chan's books they are a fantasy series set (mostly) in present day Hong Kong. So if my interest is fantasy or science fiction (or pretty much anything except perhaps historical fiction or locale-specific non-fiction), then why should I care where the author came from? I can read English or American with equal facility so there is no obstacle there - I barely even notice.

Of course there are artificial geographical restrictions these days with e-books, and in the past with where books were actually distributed. (I was always fascinated by the idea that books had to have new covers etc to be sold in America.) Comments on this aspect could be interesting too, but mainly I am curious about people's own preferences.

12-14-2010, 06:24 AM	#1
gmw cacoethes scribendi Posts: 5,818 Karma: 137770742 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650	Are you region-ist? I started a thread about Kylie Chan's fantasy series, Dark Heavens. Other than seeing that 75 people have viewed it, there have been no replies. This, I suppose, means that there are not many regulars on that forum that have read her books. This led me to wonder about how many people consider the region of the author when selecting new books? I have to admit that it does come into my consideration. When we were shopping for books last Christmas we had a number of new authors (new to us) that we considered trying. Kylie Chan's book, White Tiger, got through to the final selection and one of the factors that I considered was that she was Australian. This is not say that I would buy anything just because it is about Australia or has an Australian author, but when it comes down to two books of equal interest, and I can't afford both, then the one relating to Australia in some way probably wins out. There are, after all, many books out there and you have to filter the list somehow. Reviews play a part, the blurb plays a part, the cover plays a part, even the title and cover art plays a part in attracting your attention ... well, to me, the region - either of the story or the author - also plays a part. I specifically asked about "region" rather than nationality because I am not sure country is exactly what I mean here. Australia has a pretty small population, so it seems to me that a proper comparison here could be whether, in America (for example), you were more inclined to buy books about or by authors from your home state? Or is that taking this idea too far? One of the things that makes this a potentially interesting question, is why it should be so? In the case of Kylie Chan's books they are a fantasy series set (mostly) in present day Hong Kong. So if my interest is fantasy or science fiction (or pretty much anything except perhaps historical fiction or locale-specific non-fiction), then why should I care where the author came from? I can read English or American with equal facility so there is no obstacle there - I barely even notice. Of course there are artificial geographical restrictions these days with e-books, and in the past with where books were actually distributed. (I was always fascinated by the idea that books had to have new covers etc to be sold in America.) Comments on this aspect could be interesting too, but mainly I am curious about people's own preferences.