Quote:
Originally Posted by rcentros
What's funny about this is that I thought Baen was an independent publisher. Their prices seem to more closely match independent publisher prices (on average $7, it appears) and many of their book covers seem kind of amateurish. And the one I've tried (it was free) seemed poorly typeset and the author seems too "on the nose" through the first couple chapters I've read. But I may have just gotten a "bad apple." Or maybe if I force myself to keep reading it will get better. I've had the book for a few years now.
Meanwhile, last month Amazon let you download all their "First Reads" books. I didn't know any of the authors. I downloaded five of them and (so far) have read three, and all three were pretty good. (I guess Amazon could also be considered a "gatekeeper?")
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Baen, like any other publisher, can be hit or miss. I've read some very good books by them and some quite poor. The same as any other "gatekeeper" out there and also the same as no gatekeeper at all. Some books you like, others not so much. For me, at least, it has always been that way, no matter where I get the books.
I've never had favorite authors or publishers. I constantly read new authors and also new books by authors I'm already familiar with, but there has never been a single author whose books I buy sight unseen, so to speak. I choose my reading material not by author or publisher, but 1) by genre, 2) by synopsis, 3) by price, in that order. As a rule, I don't buy ebooks which cost more than 10$ (the exception being some nonfiction books and that's rare), I'm also not particularly interested in other people's recommendations and opinions (unless most of the readers have a bad opinion of the book in question and I happen to agree with their reasons for this opinion). If I want a book and its price is in two digits, I'll just wait till the price drops. It doesn't matter to me who has published the book, unless it's not fiction (I don't really trust self-publishing in nonfiction).
Borrowing ebooks from a library is not an option in my country and KU isn't available here either.