Today’s (uhhh, actually, yesterday’s) Romancing the Blog entry was about author blogs influencing book-buying decisions. With me, it really boils down to this: If I refrained from reading books written by assholes or people whose opinions differ in any way from mine, I’d run out of books pretty damn quick; I think my list of authors would probably be pared down to, like, Eric Schlosser and Jennifer Crusie. Aside from that, I also find it fascinating to read books by people whose views are radically different from mine. A couple of years ago I tried reading Mein Kampf, for example, but I had to quit at page 150 because it was seriously sending me to sleep. I never knew anti-semitic vitriol could be so boring.
Blogs have introduced a lot of authors to me; recently I saw a PBW book written under the Lynn Viehl pseudonym (If Angels Burn) and I picked it up because I recognized the name through her blog. I certainly don’t agree with some of her opinions, but the premise of the book sounded interesting, and hey, if I gave Hitler a chance, I had to extend the same courtesy to PBW, no? (Note: in case it wasn’t obvious, that last remark was strictly in jest, and I’m inserting this clunky disclaimer only because I am completely opposed to using smilies in my blog posts.) The book flunked the 15-page in-store preview, though, and it’s the only reason I didn’t buy it. The other day I saw an Alison Kent book, and while I agree with her views (as presented on her blog, anyway) more than PBW’s and Alison’s on-line persona is much less abrasive, the same thing happened: 15-page preview didn’t grab me, so no go. Monica Jackson’s In My Dreams, on the other hand, passed the 15-page test. And now that I’ve finished the latest Emma Holly I checked out from the library, I’m going to start reading this one, Monica, so the review should be up soon. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.
(Funnily enough, I found out about Monica not through her blog, but through LLB’s blog. Anyone else think that if these two meet that there will be a catastrophic explosion such as what happens when matter and anti-matter collide and spontaneously annihilate each other?)
Similarly, I’m interested in checking out other authors’ books whose blogs I read should I see them in the stores. If I see a Holly Lisle book I’ll give it a fair trial, even though I categorically disagree with her stance on abortion. I’ll give Kate Rothwell’s books a try too, ditto Lydia Joyce. Monica Jackson brought up Brenda Coulter in her blog entry about this issue, and though I definitely disagree with Coulter on some things, I’ll check out her books if I see them since I’m still determined to give Inspirationals a fair shot, though God knows when I’ll get around to that because Emma Holly is seriously starting to fuck up my TBR stacks.
That 15-page in-store trial, man. It’s really the final arbiter of what I buy, unless the book’s by an autobuy author. The blog thing? The authors’ entries may make for good rant fodder for this site, but I honestly don’t think it affects my purchasing habits other than the exposure to a huge variety of new-to-me authors.
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To everyone else:
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From Bloggers at RWA
Lol yeah just one of mine, although I’ve made it my personal duty to contact everyone on Amazon about this idiot! I’ll def look into the VERO form and spread the word about it. Thanks.
