Do you read excerpts before buying?

[Daniel]

This subject of reading excerpts came up in one of our threads and I'm curious about the tendencies of our readers/writers here.

For me, it depends upon the circumstances. For the purposes of the poll, I'd say I always read at least part of the excerpt. If I'm spending money, I want to know what I'm getting.

If the book is free, I usually don't bother because there's no financial risk. I can always stop reading at any time and delete. If I'm buying the book from someone I want to support (like a fellow forum member), I give them the benefit of the doubt and skip the excerpt. I'm happy to let them keep my money even if I discover I don't like the book.

[Deleted]

I go by word of mouth a lot, and when I do, I usually don't read the excerpt.

[vrabinec]

Every time I go by word of mouth, I end up throwing the book across the room. Maybe I just don't know any people with the same taste as me. My sister is the worst offender. She'll run up to me, all giddy about a book. I'll buy it and by the third paragraph, I'm scrunching up my nose, wondering if there's another version out there.

[Daniel]

Word of mouth is unreliable for me too. Most other people seem to love angst and tragedy a lot more than I do.

[Deleted]

I read the blurb and evaluate the cover, too. I have had bad luck with it sometimes, such as with the SUPER AWESOME YOU MUST READ IT book my friend told me about called Twilight. But I've read some exceptional books that way, too. I do try to read out of my comfort zone sometimes, but I have a pretty wide reading range in general. What I hate most is books that drag. If they drag, I will hate it.

[The Scroggins!]

I always look at the cover, then the blurb, and finally an excerpt.

[Suzy]

I always look at the blurb first, then the excerpt. If it's good I buy, if it's so-so, I don't buy. Even if it's a free book.

[Becca Mills]

My practices are just like yours Daniel. The only additional exception is that I buy books from my fave authors as soon as they come out. I don't both reading excerpts on those.

[Daniel]

Sorry if my question came across as "Do you ONLY read the excerpt before buying?" Like others have posted, my buying decision is based on a lot more than that. Checking the excerpt is usually just the last step.

My full decision process goes more like this when starting from a book listing:
* I scan for a cover and title that catches my eye.
* I look at the author name. Do I know the author? Do I like/dislike previous things I've read by that author?
* I look at the price. If the book is over $5, I pass. If the book is over $3, I need to make certain I'll like it.
* I consider the rating, in spite of myself. I believe ratings are meaningless, but I can't help being influenced by them.
* I click through to the detail page if the book passes all these filters.
* On the detail page I try to figure out if the book is a novel or something smaller. I'll read shorter works if they are free, but I won't usually pay for them.
* I read the description to verify that this is the kind of story I like to read.
* If everything else checks out, I read all or part of the excerpt.

Very few books pass all these filters. It is not unusual for me to leave Amazon without finding anything I want to buy.

[Suzy]

Mine would be:

1. the cover

2. blurb (which has to make me want to go to 3.)

3. excerpt.

But it's the excerpt that clinches the deal. And the first page has to work or I don't buy.

I would buy a book even up to $10 if it grabbed me.

[Becca Mills]

I pay a lot for some books. New ones by authors I love.

[Suzy]

Me too. My favourite authors don't have to be vetted.

[Alan Petersen]

I'll read the "look inside", but I very rarely download the preview or read excerpts from author's website. The times I've ordered the free preview was when the book was over ten bucks and I don't know the author, so I wanted to be sure.

[scdaffron]

In the past, my answer would have been no. But I've become a Search Inside the book junkie. I was kind of late to the bandwagon actually. For a long time I never used it. Partly that was because so few books had it. But now I always look.

With fiction, I have read sooooo much popular romance, often I can't tell from the book blurb/description if I've actually read it before. In bookstores (remember those?), I used to always read the beginning of a book to make sure I hadn't read it before. With SIB, I can do that. So I do.

With nonfiction, Search Inside the Book lets me tell whether or not the author's writing style is dull as dirt. In the past, I have purchased books that I never got through because I did NOT look at the writing first. That was dumb. Never again