C. Brennecke is a multimedia artist, editor, and writer, hailing from the suburbs of Philadelphia, P...
Hopefully you’ve had your morning coffee and are ready for your first pair of February recommendations! If not, you can star this email and check back tonight :)
Both of these recommendations are are quickly approaching their deadline. So, I encourage you to check them out with a sense of urgency! Act now!! Limited time offer (and all that jazz)!!!
While I still have your attention (I hope!), I’d like to let you know about the new Inkshares forum. If you’re interested in learning more about Inkshares projects, or the process, or if you’d like a chance to talk directly with the authors and fellow readers, now you have a place to do it. I invite you to come introduce yourself and have a look around. Go forth and have fun!
Good question. Covers may catch my eye but I will be just as quick to put it back down if the book jacket synopsis and first couple pages don’t pull me in. Things like characters and diversity and world-building will keep me reading (or not, if they’re not well done), but at that point I’ve already made the investment.
For most books that I might see in a bookstore I almost never buy impulsively. I’m a targeted buyer. I always go on Amazon and read reviews: positive, negative, and indifferent and then make the decision on whether to buy.
For self-published authors (like ourselves), it is very difficult to base decisions purely on posted reviews because it is getting harder and harder to know if those reviews were either paid for or posted by friends of the author. Therefore, again, I will go by the synopsis (does the pitch hook me?) and the first few pages (do I like the author’s writing style and does the work appear professionally edited?).