The name on the jacket may have very little to do with the gender of the author. I used to read pot boiler Regency romances by the bucket load and I know some of them were by men despite the female type name on the cover. I'll bet if you knew the gender of the folks who write westerns it wouldn't be all men, but the covers all have men's or gender neutral authors' names.
I only pay attention to the authors name if I liked a book and want to look for more by the same author.
The most reliable way I have determined to pick out books "cold", that is without already knowing something about the book or its author, is by the cover art and then the blurb. On older library books without jackets or with library bindings I have to read part of the book to determine if I am going to check it out. I can guarantee that I have never impulse bought a book that didn't have a cover that was appealing and that said to me "This is a genre you like and the type of book you like to read" (so it is a good thing that I had heard about The Thief before I saw the jacket and loved The Thief before I saw the cover of QoA).
Regarding picture books, the pictures I found most appealing as a child were the ones with either cartoonish drawings that said "this is going to be a funny book" or beautiful, elegant, rich illustrations. Anyone else?
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Date: 11/10/07 04:33 pm (UTC)I only pay attention to the authors name if I liked a book and want to look for more by the same author.
The most reliable way I have determined to pick out books "cold", that is without already knowing something about the book or its author, is by the cover art and then the blurb. On older library books without jackets or with library bindings I have to read part of the book to determine if I am going to check it out. I can guarantee that I have never impulse bought a book that didn't have a cover that was appealing and that said to me "This is a genre you like and the type of book you like to read" (so it is a good thing that I had heard about The Thief before I saw the jacket and loved The Thief before I saw the cover of QoA).
Regarding picture books, the pictures I found most appealing as a child were the ones with either cartoonish drawings that said "this is going to be a funny book" or beautiful, elegant, rich illustrations. Anyone else?