What makes a book sell? What is that “thing” that has readers swarming to the stores to buy it? What attracts them to begin with? Is it the cover? The summary of the plot? Great reviews? The price? The author?
Again this week, I’d like you, the readers, to give your opinion on this book. I’d like to know–as does the author–what works for you and what doesn’t. We’d like an honest gut reaction to everything we present to you here to make sure the author is headed in the right direction or if there are things that can be tweaked to make this book the bestseller it has the potential to be.
If you choose to supplement your poll responses with personal, honest constructive comments, you will be entered to win 2 books from my ever growing stash of books (four pages of books grouped my genres). 
Thank you in advance for your time and your honestly. I know it’s valuable and I do appreciate it.
SAVIN’ ME
Author: Allanah Lynne
Genre: Contemporary Erotic
Pages: 188
Digital Price: $.99
Publisher: Allanah Lynne
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One step away from the coveted Vice Presidency of her firm, the last thing Kat Owens needs is the distraction of a man. Her client, Erik Monteague, disagrees. He’s charming, sexy, seductive, and impossible to ignore or refuse. After succumbing to his advances, Kat’s forced to choose between her career and the man she’s fallen for… while knowing even her love might not be enough to save him from self-destructing.
While Erik’s perfectly executed seduction gets Kat into his bed, the end result is more than he bargained for. Having spent the past ten years wallowing in guilt and self-loathing over his fiancée’s tragic death, falling in love is unacceptable. However, Kat’s passionate, loving nature dissolves the carefully constructed walls guarding his heart, forcing him to face his tragic past and make a decision… spend the rest of his life running, or risk being devastated by love again?
~*~*~
SAMPLER – First several paragraphs of SAVIN’ ME
Oh man, not the strawberry… not the strawberry… Aw, shit.
Erik Monteague clenched his jaw and steeled his defenses against the impending carnal assault. The laughing guests, jazz band, overflowing food tables—everything at the Sinclair Marketing Group open house faded into the woodwork as his field of vision narrowed down to ruby lips and the damn lucky strawberry about to be sucked into them.
Her pink tongue flicked across full, luscious lips, then scooped a bead of chocolate from the bottom of the large, ripe fruit. She opened her mouth, slid the berry inside, and wrapped her lips around it.
Good God Almighty. Erik shifted his stance and stifled a moan. “I can’t believe I’m jealous of a piece of fruit.”
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It’s a combination of factors that help me decide whether ti buy or not, either from acclaimed or unknown or selfpublished authors at their debut. It’s a fetching cover artwork for sure, a good blurb, not sure about the title…if my budget doesn’t allow, I will look for the book at the library, and if it is a keeper I will buy it when I have money to spend. Reviews are the other thing I always look at. I follow many bloggers and consider every opinion.
minadecaro@hotmail.com
I have a problem with missing letters in words and using apostrophes in their place. I’m trying to recall if I’ve seen other book titles that have done this. (I checked on Amazon and there’s only 1 other title in the top 200 Contemporary Romances that does this.)
I think it will make searching for the title challenging with the auto-correct feature found in most smartphones and tablets.
I agree with the other comments. The title is my biggest problem with the book- it doesn’t grab me, and I’m turned off by the seemingly slang jargon and apostrophe. It’s not that it doesn’t look professionally done, but there is something with the layout and/or colors that just doesn’t grab my eye. (Looking at it a 5th time, I think the colors might be my biggest turn off).
I don’t mind self-published books. I have purchased them before if I like the author or plot…. But a lower price would definitely get my interest and may be my deciding point. Contemporary isn’t my favorite genre since historical romance is but I have purchased contemporary romance if it’s light and funny.
I like the cover. I thought that the title can be a bit more catchy though? Or maybe it’s just me….
I wish there was another category for the cover. It’s not that there is anything wrong with it, and it looks like it could be professionally done, but if I was browsing online this book cover would just fade into the background and I don’t think I would even notice it.
And I have to agree with a previous commenter I don’t really care for words that are shortened with an apostrophe, so having that in the title might even discourage me from reading the blurb. The title is just kind of ‘meh’….nothing special. Really, that is my overall impression of the cover, the title, the blurb and the sample…so much of what I’ve already read before.
Also someone I know and trust would have to recommend this title to me, because the blurb kind of turned me off of the story. Why does the woman have to give up her career to save the man? And I really am kind of tired of the “I loved once, but too scared to fall in love again because it hurts”…because that’s assuming that the relationship is doomed even before it begins. I would much prefer to have the man have feelings of betrayal to the woman he lost, as he is falling in love again as the internal conflict.
Finally, the sample was way to short. It should have begun as he first saw her at whatever function they were at….as he watches her then leads up to the strawberry. We don’t know why he is jealous of the fruit except that it touches her lips, but that to me isn’t enough to describe the instant attraction he is supposed to have.
A favorite author is always a good draw for a new book. Blurbs and reviews would be the next piece I would want to see to buy the book.
I will have to admit that I love reading books by self-publish authors because usually those books are less expensive than those who have publishers. I usually read different author’s work and If I love their work I keep looking for more of their books
I must admit it is not my favorite genre. It takes a lot more than this I’m afraid for me to want to read this particular story. It would have to be highly recommended by more than one source. I like variety and this seems like a familiar story line. I do like the cover though and it does seem to fit a contemporary romance. The title is just okay.
I liked the look of the cover but was a little confused because my first impression was that it was an interracial romance, and then when I looked closer I wasn’t sure. My eyes are really bad, though.
The blurb did not appeal to me — she sounds much too self-sacrificing.
This book sounds interesting. I think the cover needs to be more eye catching.
I think this book looks interesting and I would be willing to try it. I’m not too fond of the title though.
I look for different things in books. If it is a print brook, the author and the cover are the first things that catch my attention. Then I read the excerpt from the back of the book and inside. If I like what I have seen and read, I look at the price and decide if I think the book is worth the price. In eBooks, I look for the same things. If I think they are too expensive, I get them from the library if I am interested in them. I pay attention to reviews and author visits on blogs I visit as well.
Great length, perfect price, love the cover. I am off to buy it! =)
I’m not wild about the title, but I don’t tend to notice titles much so that wouldn’t put me off. It sounds angsty, so that’s a plus, but I’m confused a bit over why she would have to choose between the man and her career. Is it because he’s a client or something? Anyway, I think the biggest problem is that it doesn’t really stand out to me. I’d be willing to read a longer sample, but the first few sentences sounded like lots of other erotic romances and didn’t really grab me. Anyway, best wishes to the author.
Erotic contemporary is something I don’t read a lot of. However, I have read some. With that said I like the sample that was giving. Made me chuckle. They had me at he was jealous of a piece of fruit.
Wow! This book really peeked my interest when I read the sample blurb. Don’t usually go for Contemporary Erotic but it was good.
Like Contem books, sounds good, my genre in read , hot cover thanks
I’m not familiar with the author, but I definitely like the sample enough to want to purchase. I did the price is very reasonable.
Looks and sounds good to me!
I liked the line about the hero being jealous of a piece of fruit. That made me grin. I think I might like this book.
I really liked the sound of this book and for .99 I would be more then willing to try it out. The problem I have is with title and the cover. The cover is to plain and the title doesn’t seem to go with what I read.
The writing is acceptable. The cover looks nice–representative of the genre without being over the top. This isn’t a genre I read, so I wouldn’t buy it. One thing did strike me negatively–the idea that Kat has to choose between her job and her love-life. Really? In 2012?
I like the cover and intro. I’d read the book. It sounds intriguing.
I didn’t have a problem with the quality of the writing, although I did think the blurb was too short. Nothing in the cover of this novel particularly wowed me – it wouldn’t stand out at all against other covers if I was browsing for something new to read. The colors are too de-saturated: there is no bright or deep hue to draw the eye, and there is no obvious focal point to the imagery or flow between the author’s name, the title, and the picture. I also hated the title. I do read contemporary romance sometimes, and I have no trouble reading erotic romance, but this title sounds more like it is trying to appeal to YA readers wanting to delve into a story about a troubled young man/woman who desperately needs your friendship so that he doesn’t commit suicide or something. I hate the abbreviated title – Why not make it “Saving Me” ? What the apostrophe? It’s unnecessary and makes the book seem less professional. And even then, I wouldn’t be drawn in by the title – it doesn’t say “erotic” to me at all, even though the cover image is trying to imply eroticism. Lastly, I agree with some of the others who have commented – the blurb makes it seem like she has to give up her job so that she can have a romance with a boo-hoo wounded man. If that isn’t the case, I’d suggest changing the blurb, because in 2012, I’m not interested in reading a story about a successful woman who gets so blown away by a hot guy’s sexytimes that she gives up her career so that she can sleep with him until he feels better about himself. Barf.
All harshness aside, I have no issues with trying self published or unknown authors. I do it all the time! I have a good friend who self publishes, and I love her work. The price point (especially for a first book) is awesome, and I’m willing to try almost anything for a dollar, but the title, cover, and blurb all turned me off of this book. But cheer up, Ms. Lynne! I had no trouble at all with your writing in the tiny sample, and I thought his jealousy of the strawberry was funny. Best of luck to you!
I have read a lot of self-published books. Some not so good and others I can’t believe they haven’t been grabbed up by a big publisher.
I think this story might be one that I would enjoy but there are some things that make me wonder. The price is great so I don’t think it’s a problem. I am not crazy about the cover. The people look a little like they’re floating. Also, the blurb makes me think there is a possibility that the hero will spend a lot of the story thinking about a previous relationship. The title also seems like it doesn’t match the story since it is a story about the business world but the title seems pretty informal.
I usually read historical romance but the way the storyline was presented really peaked my interest. After reading about the book and the excerpt I would now pick up the book but I don’t know with it’s current cover and title if I would have thought to even pick it and and read a sentence or two to even give myself the chance to decide if I went to a “regular” bookstore”.
On the other hand whenever a friend, reviewer or blogger I trust recommends a new author or book I always try to find out more about it. Bottom line is I liked the content and the way Alannah presented to storyline stated above.