Quote:
Originally Posted by columbus
Recommendation by friends etc. was by far the most important to me.
Now however a 'freebie' is also, as I can try new authors without risking cash on work I may not like.
So I think you should have added an option for - yes free (Drm free) books do.
(have not voted yet)
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I forgot all about the 'free' work examples, although I do tend to shy away from the big 'free' releases, and will gravitate toward an author who makes themselves known and gives reasons for their giveaways. I'm a hundred percent sure I'll give something a try if it's driven by the author rather than some 'marketing drive' by a company (exception being Baen, who I trust).
I suppose this all came from the gender thread and I'd never noticed any bias when I chose my reading material. When I was looking over my remaining pbooks I noticed the reviews on the back page for the first time (usually I never take any notice of them) and it got me wondering why do they put them there? I don't care if the NY Review of books said the work was good or not. Similarly I don't really care if John Cheever thought the work was 'outstanding'. But if one of my friends said "You've got to read this", then I'd be more likely to give it a try.
The subject is interesting to me because of my aversion to advertising in general. I use adblock on firefox, so I haven't seen a web ad in ages. I don't watch much TV and when I do, I turn over when the adverts come on (or I download without the adverts on there). When I buy a DVD I rip it immediately and take out all those obnoxious 'coming attractions' and 'FBI' non-skippable parts. There's nothing more annoying to me than having something 'in my face' and this spills over into book purchases as well.
I think only a mod can modify the poll. So if there's one around, could you please insert Columbus's suggestion.
