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Originally Posted by latepaul
So the info that's available is a hint, a small clue but we're still really not "familiar" with that author's work.
Not that I'm arguing for 99c prices. I'm arguing we need better ways to find out about new books than "try it out because it's cheap and got some good reviews"
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Originally Posted by Muckraker
I think one of the best ways is the ability to preview a portion--sometimes a large portion--of books you may be interested in. While we may not know how the author develops characters and weaves a plot we will definitely be able to tell if we like the writing style and quality.
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That works when I've already narrowed it down to a small selection. But there are literally tens of thousands of books available that I "may be interested in" and I don't have the time or patience to read samples of even a small fraction of those.
I think what I'm saying is that if I somehow land on the Amazon (/B&N/Kobo/ANOther ebook store) page for a particular book then the information there - reviews, blurb, ratings, sample is enough to decide whether I want to read it or not. However it's how I get there in the first place, how do I narrow down the field? Not that long ago price was one way - if something was very cheap or free I'd take a look. The problem now is that the very cheap/free field itself is so massive that it's not narrow enough to be useful.
Partly of course it's my problem and my reaction to TOO MUCH CHOICE which means even if something looks good then I'll worry that I'm spending time that I could use reading something better that's almost certainly out there.