Quickie poll: Do excerpts or samples influence you?
Back in the olden days when books were made of paper, I loved to browse bookshelves whether at the library or book store. I skimmed, read snippets, and that helped me choose what to read.
Now we get excerpts and samples to download. Somehow it’s not quite the same, but I still love reading something from the book before buying. And I’ve certainly decided just from the sample that I’m not interested.
What about you? Do you make buying decisions on excerpts? Do you need one before you buy? Please vote in the poll and feel free to add a comment if you want to discuss your experiences–or disappointments.
[poll id=”31″]
2 Responses to “Quickie poll: Do excerpts or samples influence you?”
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Back in those ‘old’ paper days, I almost never read more than a few sentences of the blurb. Too many poor editors spoiled the story. I HATE spoilers. So, I based most of my book buying on covers and those first three sentences. Now that I think of it, that hasn’t changed much. I’ve never bought a book after downloading the sample. There are too many bad first chapters of otherwise good books. I think they don’t do too much to help – in my case, at least.
If it’s an author I’m unfamiliar with, I pretty much HAVE to have a sample before I’ll buy. Too many blurbs sound intriguing only to find out the writing in the actual story is terrible, and that in the end makes me feel like I’ve wasted my money, and results in a less-than-positive review. On the other hand, there have been quite a few books that I was on the fence about buying, and the sample was so good that I bought it on the spot. 🙂