[Moejoe]

I don't pay much attention to the gender of an author, or for that matter much else. My reading decisions are based upon three or four seperate facets: Reccomendations from friends, the blurb on the jacket and cover design, and sampling the first few paragraphs of a book.

So this got me thinking about all those marketing ploys that we see out there. The reviews and reccomendations by other authors. The reviews by industry critics shown on the covers. The advertising (print mainly) campaigns.

I don't think I've read a book review in years (not by any official critic at least) and I can't say I've ever bought a book because it has another author on the cover reccomending that book (maybe an author introduction in some cases). And as far as prizes go...well I tend to shy away from a lot of fiction that is too highly praised (my suspicious nature, I suppose).

So my question to you is: Does marketing influence your book purchases?