Quote:
Originally Posted by drachasor
I would imagine if a friend of yours highly recommended a work that was self-published, then you'd be far more likely to buy it. I think such works initially sell via marketing and people taking a chance, then, if they are good, word of mouth.
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I don't even need "highly recommended;" just "I liked this and I think you will too" is enough to get me to check it out; if the description sounds interesting and the price is in my range, I'll pick it up. There's so many self-published works that any rec at all is a big waving flag.
There's a problem with word of mouth recs for ebooks: because there's no legit secondary market, there's no way to say, "try a secondhand copy first" or "I'll loan you mine; if you like it, you buy one for yourself." Or buy the author's other works. With print books, people have always been able to say, "this is incredible! Oh, you can't afford it right now? Take mine; get it back to me in a week." Even if that's not time for someone to finish it, it's long enough for them to decide if they like it.
With ebooks, it's "this is great! Go pay $5 and find out for yourself!" Which is not awful (that's how we recommend restaurants), but not how most of us grew up suggesting books to new readers. The social dynamic's different, and indie ebooks are suffering because of it.