There are many new authors joining BookTalk. Many of them are apparently offering their first work and those are the books that prompt my question.

I am curious about that instant of attention you give where you decide if you will try it, forget it or wait for later. Barring reviews, I know from my own experience that I am guilty of making a decision after glancing at the title alone, however unfair that is.

Beyond that, what makes you want to give the new book by an unproven author an opportunity to control your precious time for a while? Do you accept or reject based upon genre even if, for the sake of argument, the story is difficult to pigeon-hole and could potentially be a good read otherwise. Is it only the jacket description that pulls you in when they introduce the book? Do the author’s personal pleas for mercy and acceptance help? What prompts you to read the first page, first chapter, or first half?

This looks like it is coming off as a marketing question but I thought it could be fun to ask a group of dedicated readers what gets enough of their attention to have them reshuffle their stack of material to give a new author a shot.

It's not like yesterday where only a handful wrote and far less were published. Today any azzhole with a pen and a dream can scribble any loathsome piece of trash, self publish, and advertise or sell on the internet. Any work which hasn't already met with acclaim gets 0 attention from me. With all the mushrooms out there it's better to eat the ones that have been proven safe and delicious or to get your kicks from known respectable pushers than to randomly pick from the field. Why risk it? There are too many books out there to waste your time reading something which makes you wince and fills you with indignation. A grip on the book just shaking it with rage because it's so completely horrible and without any redeeming quality!!!!! - it has stolen your life and promised something it hasn't delivered. It's mocking you ... a thief and a liar disguised in something you hold dear. Charlatan.

Read my book!!!!! Read my book!!!! Pay me and I may consider. You pay people to do work and reading some of these novels is as painful as a nine to five and they label it under fiction - something that's usually supposed to mean fun. I give credit where credit is due but what should I do when the baby's diaper is over flowing? Look the other way?

Where are all the publishers? Who's responsible for making sure dung doesn't make it on to the dinner plate???? Where are they?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Some of these people write about the stupidest sheet that's been done to death but which they think they've managed to find some new twist or angle. Sad. Very sad.I'm happy for them that they wrote a book - something I've never done. But then again I've never had sex with a goat and I've never stuck a paper clip in a light socket.

If it's available at the library and has a decent-sounding plot I'll give it a read.

President Camacho wrote:It's not like yesterday where only a handful wrote and far less were published. Today any azzhole with a pen and a dream can scribble any loathsome piece of trash, self publish, and advertise or sell on the internet. Any work which hasn't already met with acclaim gets 0 attention from me.

Though you sound somewhat betrayed, you make good points which can apply across the entire entertainment industry. However, writing is mostly one person’s journey to express oneself. Good or bad, there appears to be an audience for all of it. So, is a “no attention at all” policy going to find that gem you would have missed had the book police squelched the one story you could prize? Thus, my question, what convinces you to give a new author a chance?

Also, try the paperclip thing sometime, or write a book. You might find you enjoy it.

(BTW-after reading quite a number of your posts, I’d read a book by you.)

You're right. There is an audience for just about anything. Case in point: Henry Miller.

I totally understand and acknowledge the desire to and the achievement of writing a book no matter how bad it is. No one is Mozart over night and everyone needs a passion. There are far less laudable endeavors to keep a man's time occupied so I'm all for writing.

I just reread my post and it had a little more bite to it than perhaps was necessary but there are just so many books out there not worth reading. I apologize.

I'll try the paper clip thing.

To answer your question: The book would either need to be about something which would very much interest me for fiction or be praised by respectable scholars and about something I'm interested in if non-fiction. I think the fiction book would need to be about something related to ocean adventure to really peak my interest. Even then I wouldn't purchase the book unless it had received some kind of praise - and not by Joe Dickhead, either. Chances are I wouldn't pay too much for it. It would have to be on the clearance rack because I'm very stingy when it comes to books. Books are written on paper, free at the library, and available second hand from multiple sources. I'm a regular Goodwill book shopper.

I'm really not one for contemporary fiction but I like Chuck Palahniuk a little and I've bought some of his work. An unknown, unproven author... wow I'm trying to find what scenario where I'd be likely to buy and then read a book by one but to tell you the truth, I really probably wouldn't. The author would have to be proven. New: ok. Unproven: not worth my money or infinitely more important - my time.

I would love to read more unknown authors, but with the time constraints I have to keep to things that I know I want to read based on opinions of others that I trust. I used to read everything by an author after I found a novel I liked, I ended up reading a lot of duds and stopped that practice. These thoughts give publishers WAY too much influence, but at the present time it is the best system we have.

I count on reviews or remarks from other authors whom I've enjoyed or I'll read a bit of the book to take a look at the use of words. I also use sites such as this one to see what others are reading.

It has to be something new, something I haven't seen before. If I pick up a novel by an unestablished writer and I see "vampire" anywhere near the description, I put it back down, along with any other subject that has been done to death (i.e., secret treasure maps leading to some historical conspiracy, etc.). If a book passes that first test, I'll read the opening paragraph, which is the real deal-breaker. If you don't grab me in the first few sentences, I don't see the point in spending a few hours trying to wade through your prose.

I've never much cared for the popular opinion - NYT Bestseller's list has often been littered with trash I wouldn't take my time on. Critics are just people paid to write their opinion. For new (or even new to me) authors, I read the description, then the first paragraph. I don't care if everyone has heard of the book or if I'm the first person to hear about the book. I've discovered a few new fave authors who are either self-published or published by a small press.

A book has to grab me on the first page in order to convince me to spend my cash on it. I've also had a few friends of mine suggest books (a few were rotten tomatoes).

Upton Sinclair, James Joyce, and John Grisham were originally self-published authors. I read somewhere (sorry, I can't remember where) that Grisham sold A Time to Kill out of the trunk of his car after he self-published it.

Sometimes it's a whim. It's the digital equivalent of browsing in the remaindered section in a book store. Two bucks, hey, I'll give it a try.

Sometimes, someone on a forum will mention a book, I check and it fits my personal criteria, the price is right, so I download it. My book buying habits now are much like they would have been if I'd have an apartment above The Tattered Cover in Denver years ago.