What Attracts You In A Book?

[Clo]

Tags is my primary way to find whar I read.

Then a combo of title, blurb and art.

 

[Arkus86]

Cover and title are good at catching the eye. They get me to check out the book, but nothing beyond that.
What makes me read it, is the synopsis in combination with tags.

If I see the synopsis is... lazy, poorly written, it reliably turns me away, as when you can be bothered to even polish that somewhat, the one part that is supposed to tell your potential readers what to expect, it broadcasts you would not put much effort into the rest of your novel either.
Similar when the synopsis is too grand and overly ambitious, but that is more a question of style it makes me expect.
Other things that are a red flag are too few words per chapter, as you can't put enough into each chapter to make it worth reading - around 1k words or below - and certain tags I avoid on account of personal preference.

 

[beast_regards]

For traditionally published books, it's usually the word of mouth, and optional, or third-party site reviews.

The covers are irrelevant for traditionally published novels, the author probably had a little to no say in it, and was done by the marketing department which didn't read the book. Unless there is some immediate turn off, I ignore the cover.

Titles doesn't mean much, other to have something to google it by...

For the amateur books like we could find here, the cover usually is what the author wanted, or close to it.

It is usually covers that still look recognizable on the thumbnail that gets my attention. If it is too blurred, I skip the book.

For the amateur book I could search by tags (assuming I know what the tags are, the SH had a lot of them, and it is far from an only site with too many sites). They tend to be helpful, and you could start reading for free, so investigation is not required.

I usually ignore the impossibly long, weird titles like "That time the Moderator John reincarnated as the first hokage of the hidden censor village" or whatever ... (unless I specifically look for translations of some Japanese or Korean novel). This naming convention rarely bides well for western originals.

 

[Daydreamers]

Tags =>first chapter, if I like the first scene I continue if not I check the synopsis to know its potential,
I prefer going in blind (ofc there are exceptions)

 

[Cookiez_N_Potionz]

If the covers are really cool

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Very strong magnets.

 

[Crazy_Cat]

Cover, title, tags, sometimes reviews

 

[Senruika]

A good synopsis, one that not overly dramatizing, not infodump about world building too much, and not emphasizing that they got something in the novel.

Just a simple good 'ol synopsis about What(the story is about), Who (the MC is), Why(the MC struggling), and How(the MC feels)

 

[ignova]

In the bookstore, the cover is the first thing I see; if it grabs my attention, I look for a good synopsis, then maybe skim a few pages.

Online, covers are less important. I look for a good blurb to draw me in; the first chapter seals the deal.