Smitten by Books

59 Replies to “The Anatomy of a Potential Bestseller”

1. It sounds interesting enough that I would be willing to read it.

   1. Would you be willing to buy it? That’s the big question.

2. I wouldnt buy this book and here is why: the cover is too busy and so is the back blurb. Had I just read the sample then there is a good chance I’d buy the book. It sounded kooky and intriguing enough to grab my attention.

   1. Jen, now that you’ve read the sample, is this a book you would or WILL purchase?

3. I don’t read books that have characters named Trouble or any such word unless I am a fan of the author. The blurb sounded humorous (in a good way) but I still wouldn’t pick up the book without a lot of book hype from trusted bloggers/authors. And the book is $3.99. I understand that the author wrote the book to earn money and it really isn’t a steep price, but I have other books from favorite authors releasing. I won’t pay that much to try a self-pub with no hype. I have a book budget and a long to-read list.

   1. Thanks for your feedback, Danielle. I’ve now included (which I forgot initially) the pricing poll question. It’s there now. Could you please go back and answer it. Thanks in advance.

4. When I have extra cash and I find myself in book isle/store it is the cover that catches my eye first off. Then the back/blurb has to carry the interest on through.

   This cover is a bit distracting in the fact that one can’t tell much about the back ground and just a hooded female doesn’t really tell you whether it is ‘witchy’ or historical or a mixture of both so I probably wouldn’t have even picked this one up to read the back.

5. This is a book I have read. I was intrigued first by the cover, then the blurb and finally, because I had heard of this author, though I had not read her at that point.

   Yes, I would have bought this book, based on the cover, blurb and sample. Recognizing that the digital price is considerably lower than the print’s cost, I would have bought the digital copy. It is a moot point for me, however, as I was offered the chance to review not only A Soul for Trouble, but also Tears of Elois.

   These two books are the first books in a very long time to capture my attention, hold on to it, and that I felt were worthy of the elusive five star review fom me. I for one am looking forward to the next book in each series. The fact that not one, but two of Ms. McHugh’s books caught my attention is unusual, liking them so much when it is not a genre I normally read…good trick.

6. I buy based on themes I like.

7. For me, whether I bought this book would depend on something not mentioned here: reviews. Nothing that I’ve seen so far screams “buy me!” or “don’t buy me!” so I’d want to hear whether the book was any good from sources that I trusted. Without that, it’s a non-starter.

   1. Thank you for bringing that to my attention, Moose. I just added a poll question to address that issue.

   2. FWIW, this book got a Top Pick 4 1/2 star rating from RT.

      I haven’t read the book (not a genre I normally read), but have heard it’s veyr good.

8. Well, the storyline sounds good and interesting from the summary. The cover is so-so (sorry!) but I like the title. The only problem is that the printed copy price is more than what I would normally pay. I read a lot of books and I only buy books from authors that I have read and really enjoy or I would go broke! And even then, I normally only buy them through Target, Walmart or Book Depository where they are cheaper…. So I probably wouldn’t buy this book in the printed form at this price. (sorry again…. ) The digital price is reasonable but I prefer holding a real copy in my hands normally.

   What would get me to buy this book for a first time writer? Well, good reviews from blog sites that I trust is a start. Or if it goes on sale?

9. What attracts me to a book is the cover, title first. As I buy e-books all the time, more often than not it’s the title. With this book, not sure if I would have made it to the summary. Nevertheless, the summary didn’t grab me with this book. I started reading it and then became lost. The sample, I read it because you asked us to Bev 🙂 If I had been online, I would not have given the sample a look. Not saying that the author is not a great writer and not saying that the book is not a good book to read – but personally I read the summary/sample and didn’t think I would enjoy it even if it’s only 4 bucks for an e-book version.

10. Here’s my problem with the cover and blurb, and I didn’t see it addressed in the poll, so I figured I should probably explain in detail. I don’t actually pay much attention to covers or titles. I usually make the decision to sample or not based on the blurb, and the reviews (which usually give more info about the plot and characters). However, the problem here is that the cover screams YA, whereas the blurb sounds more like an adult romance, although again, the use of the word “girl” in the blurb puts it back into YA category. (As a reader who doesn’t usually like YA, I’ve become very sensitive to nuances in blurbs and “girl” is one of those words that is often a tipoff that it’s a YA.) So, at this point, I’m a confused reader and since I’ve never heard of the author, and it’s self-pubbed at $3.99, I would most likely just skip the book, even though I liked the excerpt and the blurb.

    Since you wanted feedback, I decided to do a bit more research on Amazon and read the reviews. From this, I gathered that it is a “new adult” book, which means to me that the protagonist is likely in the 18-21 range, is likely to make some dumb moves, but hopefully is not TSTL. Okay, this makes it much more likely that I would at least consider sampling since I liked the blurb and excerpt. I guess the bottom line for me is that I would have liked the blurb to be more explicit about her age, so that I could decide right away whether this is something I’d be interested in.

    1. Jen, that is a very very valid and good point. My sister even mentioned to me that she thought the girl on the cover looked very very young–as in 13-16 yrs young.

11. I totally agree with JenM. I don’t usually read YA books and at first glance I assumed that this book was YA based on the cover image and title. I glossed over the sample and went straight to the poll because the cover didn’t pull me in enough to want to read it. I did however have to go back several times in order to be able to answer some of the poll questions.

    The bottom line for me is I would not have purchased or read this book based on the cover, title or back blurb because of my assumption that it was YA. Now that I have read the sample I will be adding this book to my “maybe purchase” list as it did intrigue me. But I have so many books waiting on Mount TBR that it will definitely be awhile.

12. I agree with Jen and Ann Marie. I rarely read YA and the cover makes me think she’s very young. Sixteen or so and that would be a reason that just looking at it I’d pass it by. I liked what I read so far and based on that I’d definitely read it. I wouldn’t buy it though because for me it’s a lot of money for an Author I haven’t read before. It’s a lot of money for me for any Author at this time in my life. I’d go to the library and pick it up though.
    Carol L
    Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

13. I think I would buy this book if it was cheaper only because I have never read any of her work before. Once I have read an authors work and I like it i’m more willing to pay for their work. As for a the cover it was ok, it really didn’t grab my attention that much. I can honestly say I’m intrigue and I want to know what happens in the story, I will keep an eye out for this tittle and author just in case it sales for less in the near future.

14. Great book. I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for the next one 🙂

15. I also agree with Jen, I saw the cover and it screamed YA to me and that turned me off. So I went into reading the blurb expecting YA, it is a hard first impression to shake and makes me wonder if the story would be “adult” enough for my taste. Adult as in the story line, not talking sex. If you had just posted the title and authors name with the excerpt I would have been very interested.

16. Is this a YA book? The girl on the cover looks so young that I immediately think it is a YA book.

17. I was intrigued by it. I do think the price for the print book is too high though for an author I do not know. If I was buying digital, it’s a reasonable price. I normally don’t buy trade size because of the price unless I have been hearing a lot of buzz and many recommendations or it’s an author I have already read and really enjoy. The best part about winning books is getting to know new authors that I wouldn’t otherwise necessarily give a chance. Although I like the title, the cover wasn’t quite calling to me.

18. The first thing that catches my eye is a cover and if the cover looks like something I could have put together that usually has me wary. When it comes to purchasing self pubbed books I want quality. There have been many that I have read or tried reading that the quality was horrendous.

19. I don’t normally read paranormal books. I will make exceptions for books written by authors I love. For instance, I enjoyed L.L. Foster’s Servant series. If I remember correctly, I was lured by an intriguing preview/sample of the series at the end of a contemporary romance written by the same author (Lori Foster).

    I would not buy A Soul for Trouble. The blurb turned me off. The first line contained an assumption (all girls like attention) that I disagreed with. As I read the second line, I got distracted by this inconsistency: if the guy was a stranger, how did she know he was insane? Before I could reconcile that idea, I was gobsmacked with: “Trouble becomes the next Soulbearer for the disembodied god of chaos, Loku.” What is a soul bearer? Why is this so-called god of chaos disembodied? What does that even mean? And why/how did an “insane” stranger’s murder bring it all about? The third line says she has limitless power, but she’ll go insane. If she had unlimited power, wouldn’t she be able to cast off Loku or avoid insanity? I’m all for sexy knights and seducing princes, but the word necromancer immediately made me think of necrophiliacs.

    I read the sampler. It didn’t change my mind. I didn’t think the dialogue flowed naturally, but maybe I was still off-balance from the blurb.

    It doesn’t matter to me who publishes a book, so long as the story is well-written. I read books on my B&W Kindle, and I rarely know what the cover looks like, so that doesn’t make or break a purchase for me. The title of a book should fit the story, but I can overlook a bad title. Reviews do make an impact, and negative reviews hold more weight than good ones; if I’m on the fence about a book, bad reviews (expressly stated) can persuade me to abstain from purchasing. The biggest determining factor on whether I purchase a book or not: the sample on Amazon I send to my Kindle. If I want to keep reading when I get to the end of the sample, I check the price. Any price under $5 is an automatic buy. Higher prices make me think a bit more about how much I really enjoyed the sample. If a book is over $10, I’m very hesitant.

20. Paranormal is not my favorite genre, so I only buy it from an established author. For example, I read Lisa Kleypas, so when she ventured into paranormal (magical realism), I read it.

    As for the aforementioned book, I thought the author’s voice was good, but not enough happened in the sample to get me to purchase it. She goes out to see the old man, but nothing significant occurs. Also, I thought the blurb was somewhat confusing. There was a bit too much happening between Soulbearers, Loku and a prince. It was difficult to get a handle on the plot. Finally, I didn’t care for the cover. Is it a contemporary paranormal or a medieval one? Does romance play a role? If so, then I think the cover should also show a man in the background. Since not enough hooked me to try this paranormal, I wouldn’t pay $3.99 to try it. To be honest though, I’m not your target audience. I read some paranormals, but not a lot.

21. I love the tagline and think the blurb and excerpt are well written. My only complaint is with a couple of words in the sample: kook and crazies. These words seem too modern and jarring for this genre. Overall, I want to read this book based on the cover, blurb, and sample. However, I probably wouldn’t purchase the book unless it was 99 cents. I don’t really book e-books from new authors if the books are priced over 99 cents. That is, unless the reviews say the book is fabulous. Then I’d definitely pay $3.99 (though I think $2.99 sounds a little better).

22. What makes a bestseller? I think the biggest thing is consistency. The names/eye colors/other attributes of the characters should not change halfway through the book. The plot may meander, but ultimately it should be logical in its meandering (if that makes sense) to achieve a believable HEA. It would need a balance between dialog and description, with extra points for witty and/or snarky dialog. I have read Historical romances with snarky dialog that worked, so a writer should not be afraid of that. In any dialog scene, relatives, friends, and your children can be good test readers to make sure the message is understandable underneath all that incredible wit. Unless you are James Michener, find a Good Editor, a nitpicky “aunt Edna” to copy-edit the punctuation, grammar, spelling, and character descriptions, then sit with a printed copy of the beast and proofread-proofread-proofread yourself. Suggestion: keep Aunt Edna away from the test readers so she won’t bog you down.

23. It sounds interesting enough to me and I would buy it if maybe is was on special the first week. The printed copy price to a little steep in my opinion. The cover is not my favorite, it’s too busy. I didn’t see anywhere how old Trouble is supposed to be but the girl on the cover looks about fourteen or fifteen.

24. I don’t read a lot of fantasy, and the closest genre I do read from is paranormal romance. I do, however have some fantasy books on my TBR pile that I would like to try and so would try those books to introduce me into the genre than this one. I think the blurb is interesting but as a personal preference, it’s not my kind of story. Also, I did find the blurb a little overwhelming because it brings up so many siutations and characters.

25. Honestly, the cover and the title are ok. However, I did like the back blurb which would something I would read.

26. Well, I absolutely LOVE the cover, the only thing is, I thought it was a YA from the looks of it. I was really surprised by the excerpt, realizing it was not a YA. So while that would have thrown me, I found the author’s writing crisp and clean and rich with vivid details. I would have given this a try just because the writer is clearly very good. Knowing that this is an indie pub intrigues me considering how good a writer she is. The price for the book is perfect. Anyone who balks at paying $3.99 for a product that took months to create is, IMHO, a little crazy. LOL. This stuff takes talent and this writer clearly has it in spades. Can she tell a good story? Who knows, but I will definitely give her a shot.

    1. OOPS! I did have one problem. The use of the word kook. It made me think it was modern. Still, the writing sold me.

27. I think the blurb is very, very good. It caught my attention in all the right ways. Definitely spurred me on to read the excerpt.
    The excerpt is so intriguing I wish I had more to read. I would definitely buy it, though I wish the print price was a little cheaper, because print is my main reading material. I think the e-price is a little risky if this is a new author, but if she has followers, I wouldn’t change it. Especially with the high page count.
    The cover is rather “Meh” It just feels like a random girl right up in your face. But maybe after reading the book, it would effect me different. I would see the meaning of things.
    I have many review sites that I visit daily, so if a few of them– even just one– had a review posted it would really back up my decision to buy the book. But the excerpt really did help, and I liked what I read.

28. I wish this author good luck with her book. The book just isn’t my type of book. I like romance and all of it’s sub-genres. I am drawn to books at the store by their covers then I read what it is about. I’m probably shallow that way….I like a hot cover.
    lorimeehan1@aol.com

29. What I liked:
    – the name Arden.
    – the mythos (I hope she develops it) and the reference to Loki/Loku

    What concerns me:
    – the setting isn’t clear. Is this historical? The reference to inn, blacksmith and knight makes me think of historical. But the way it is written is a bit too modern. Darynda already pointed out the use of the word “kook” —

    I also thought this was a YA book based on the cover. (But the cover, on its own, is very attractive.)

    OT question: Do authors/publishers have a say about the +$2 for international readers? I noticed that some books are universally uniformly prices. (Like Beverley’s books) — but some books are priced higher for international. (Like this one)

30. I completed the poll questions. The story sounds intriguing. I might be willing to buy it if the price was lower or it was an author whose books I’ve read before.

31. I don’t always rely on reviews whether there are a lot of good ones or not. Everyone’s taste in books differ. I buy lots of books for my many moods. I am familiar with the names of the Gods mentioned in the excerpt, so that grabbed me right off. I would consider this an easy, light read that would off-set a mystery or thriller full of voilence. For a quick, fun read the price is fine. If it cost more, I would probably wait til the price dropped. The title certainly fits the theme of the story. Actually, I liked the title, thought it was a good pun.~

32. I buy book based on the theme of the book and I am more a historcal, contempory, and western type of girl.

33. The riveted metal borders made me think of steampunk and given how young the model looks, I’d assume it’s YA, but it is a very attractive cover. The plot summary and the sample chapters are very enticing. Would I spend $3.99 on an ebook by an author I never heard of? Not really, not when my alternative is to borrow a book from the excellent local library (I buy predominately in paper, rarely in e-).

34. Good cover but not my fav genre of books, I like paper back books also, congrats onto he author and book

35. I’m a lover of medieval so this did attract me. The cover is nice but I think it would look better for a different hairstyle more to the period and the hood on the cloak isn’t doing it for me. The price of the paperback is a tad high like someone mentioned above especially with it being an author that I haven’t read. I don’t own an e-reader and would have to get my mom to download it onto hers, then wait for her to get caught up on her books to read it. We’ve been passing her Kindle back and forth, LOL! I am a book in hand person. I’m thankful that authors are able to self publish now simply because they can write from their heart. So many publishers are wanting just certain genres that they feel will sell and make money and a lot of authors may be feeling as if they can’t write what they want, instead have to bend to the publishers wishes. All in all, I would buy this book and give the author a try. Who knows, she could end up becoming an author that I truly enjoy and follow.

36. I’m sorry I took the survey but I do not read paranormal books.

37. 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?

    I am not a huge fan of paranormal romances but have been known to occassionally see one that stands out and grabs me that I usually end up reading it – I will admit that most of the time those that I end up reading I just think are ‘okay’ by the end – but that’s my reading preference tend to go towards historical or contemporary romances. From what I’ve seen here, I may (depending on my mood that day) read the sample chapter and decide whether it was something that I wanted to read – but from what is there, it did pique my interest somewhat but definately wasn’t a whole lot there to justify spending out money. I agree with others that the blurb on the back, it seemed a bit on the wordy side – and like others I was somewhat confused as to the age group this was geared at – I assumed based on the cover it was YA, and the writing from what I read seemed YA.

    Anyways – to answer your questions…I think for a book to sell well by a not-so-well known author/name that it has to be at least initially be marketed at a “free” or significantly reduced price so that it makes the Amazon best sellers list where you are most likely going to get people giving it reviews. I know that if I read something really good that I got for free that I am going to leave a review or at least a rating of the book. I also think that the cover has to relate to whoever is the targeted purchaser – as stated above, I would assume this was a YA book – while I do read alot of YA books, I also expect YA books to not cross the line so. Anyways – for me, what sells me a book (or gets me to read a book) is #1 – what the book is about #2 – price point and #3 – reviews/customer comments. The cover, the blurb, the author’s name really aren’t as critical (I have my favorites and am always looking to add new ones).

38. Fair or not, the cover of a book is where my first impression happens. I think many self-published books — including this one — suffer from less than professional looking cover art. So in this instance, unless I was directed to it by a positive review from a source I trust, I would just skip over this book considering it had a price point of $3.99. That is too high for me to take a risk.

39. I have comments on two questions in the survey.

    1. Have I seen the book advertised anywhere?

    With the growing disappearance of bookstores, I rarely get to go book shopping where I can browse the shelves to see what’s new out there. Shopping on the internet has cut down greatly on my book buying habits. When I go to a bookstore, I browse quite extensively which often leads me to buying more than what’s on my list — i.e., my auto-buy authors. I find browsing on the internet to be very different than browsing in a store. I’ll go on the internet, check out what’s being released by my favorite authors, and then make my purchase. In a bookstore, I tend to pick up much more than my original “shopping list.” For that reason, I miss out on a lot of books that I would otherwise have bought. As far as being advertised elsewhere, I hardly ever see books advertised in magazines the way they used to be in the past. I rely a great deal on “Romantic Times.”

    2. The question about if I would depend on a favorable review.

    Not really. First of all, I seldom read a review because I don’t want someone else’s thoughts clouding my mind. There may be a book that someone (even a reputable reviewer) loves, that I don’t especially care for. By the same token, there may be a book that is panned in the reviews, that I may love. I will listen to advice from close friends who know what I look for in a book. Even in that case, my opinion has been contradictory on occasion. I feel that if I listen to reviewers, I would miss out on a lot of good books.

40. It sounds interesting and unusual, and a lot of fun as well. I would be willing to read and ultimately review it.

    1. Would you be willing to buy it?

41. Thoughts:

    (1) For a self-published book by an unheralded author, I’d expect a .99 price point for the first book in a series. Then jump to 2.99 for later books. 3.99 is a little steep.
    (2) An earlier comment mentioned this was a 4.5 star top pick RT review. True? That would _definitely_ make me more inclined to purchase the book.
    (3) I thought the blurb was a little busy and agreed with some of Molly’s comments on it. & use of the word “snarky” REALLY turned me off.
    (4) I thought the cover was fine but not brilliant. I prefer a painterish look rather than a photo look. But I don’t rely heavily on the cover in choosing what to read. Also, I find the purple “Trouble” hard to read.
    (5) I thought the writing in the sampler was weak. This is the major strike against the book, in my opinion.
    (6) For a primarily-digital book, I think putting the trilogy title in sideways print is a mistake. It’s way too hard to read.
    (7) Great title, great tagline.
    (8) I think the print price is way too high.

    Best of luck to the author.

42. I buy books based on the author and the back cover blurb, not by how pretty the cover is. I would not pay $13.99 for a print version of a book or $3.99 for a digital version by an unknown (to me) author. I have a very limited book budget these days and will wait for a good price for even my favorite authors. I like some paranormal, but not a fan of fantasy. The blurb was busy leaving me to think I’d have too much to remember when reading the story, so I would not buy it.

43. I will be honest. I don’t know if I would be willingly to buy it. I try to stick with purchasing books that pop out at me. The cover threw me off because of the girl’s face. I typically don’t like covers with large pictures of the model’s face. It makes it creepy to me. If she was pushed back in the background a bit, it might have appealed to me more. Also, like other posters have mentioned, she did appear young. The sample was not enough to give me any indication that I would like to go further with my decision to purchase. Also, the blurb, told a lot but didn’t tell me anything…if that makes any sense.

44. The writing is good and the blurb is interesting. But no, I wouldn’t buy the book. Most paranormal reading I do now is in series by established authors. Something new would have to grab me significantly for me to read it. (The last one that did was Darynda Jones’s “First Grave…”) The cover throws me off, because it looks like YA and I don’t read that sub-genre. Finally, on price: When I can get a new Julie Anne Long book for $5.99 and older romance classics like Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels for $3.99, I’m going to pass on an untested, unknown author at a similar price.

45. The cover screams both “YA” and “self-published” to me — something about the color quality and the business.

46. Self-publishing has it’s pros and cons however, I’d like to point out one con: more and more self pub books coming out are crap! IMHO there should at least be someone regulating this self-pubs. I just hate wasting money and then end up with something that is poorly written; not to mention the wrong spellings, grammar…the list goes on.

    I always look at the cover since it is the first thing that I see. When I’m at a store, it’s usually the covers that attract my attention, leading me to read the back blurb. Unless it’s one of my favorite authors, I hardly pick up a book that has ugly covers,

47. Self-publishing has it’s pros and cons however, I’d like to point out one con: more and more self pub books coming out are crap! IMHO there should at least be someone regulating this self-pubs. I just hate wasting money and then end up with something that is poorly written; not to mention the wrong spellings, grammar…the list goes on.

    I always look at the cover since it is the first thing that I see. When I’m at a store, it’s usually the covers that attract my attention, leading me to read the back blurb. Unless it’s one of my favorite authors, I hardly pick up a book that has ugly covers,

    1. That’s why sampling, IMO, is essential. You may waste some of your time, but at least it spares you from wasting money.

48. I read a lot of reviews, but not necessarily ones on Amazon or B&N that might be written by friends and family. This book just doesn’t interest me. It sounds jumbled from the blurb. I like fewer main characters. There should be complex situations and nuances, but not four males interested in the heroine.

49. The book looks good, I don’t have an ereader so the print price is a little steep. The blurb looks good and so does the excerpt.
    The only complaint I can think of is the book cover seems a bit cluttered. The picture is cute but maybe the top and bottom borders could go.

50. I buy very specific books when it comes to romance (yes it has to do with the plot) Although I’ve read all kinds, I won’t necessarily buy them and will opt getting them from the library or borrowing them from a friend. I knew right away that this book wasn’t my kind of novel, The fantasy element in the novel is not my style and regardless of the cover or price I wouldn’t of bought it. In my opinion it has nothing to do with the author, or how well its written because its just not my thing.

    Here’s the deal, as an author you have to find your niche. I’m sure the author has potential for a fan base, it just might be a little harder to find in the sea of romance genres. I’ve heard it said to potential authors “write the kind of novel you would like to read” and to me that’s whats most important. If the author loves it and writes it then the odds are there are other people out there who will also enjoy this kind of novel regardless if the cover looks cheap or not, In my opinion customers will usually over look the cover if they like whats inside. Of course this is from the perspective of buying books over the internet, in the store in might be a different story as you usually pick up something that catches your eye.

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