IMHO reading (fiction) by price is just snobbery
Books, like Wine, come in all grades. Sometimes you find one of those to
over on the $2 table. (and sometimes the $$$$ one is only good to
)
Being retired and like some others, I lean towards frugal. For the last few years, Indies have been getting my custom more than others with long feed troughs to $upport.
Unlike Academic/reference purchases, it is the Stories ENTERTAINMENT VALUE that is important. Not price.
What mars a bunch of Indies work, are editorial flaws that jar my reading experience, not the tale:
Most common: Homophones (words that sound alike).
Next would be contextual word/phrase choices (eg. Planet based thinking in space).
Technology flaws (spark plugs on a Diesel). JW Campbell school here:Explain WHY known (Earth based) science is being violated.
Annoying: Rampant 'Name Dropping (be it brand or personages) unless it is really needed to move the story forward.
I have been trying to quantify what makes a book 'most readable'.
Those are the ones that I tend read in a single sitting, tend to re-read (later). Many others, are just good enough to not abandon outright, but I read a 'Chapter' here-and-there until I reach the end.
Unfortunately it is NOT cut and dried: Author B is always, Author W never. I have to sample each one and
see 