What are some book turn-offs before you read?

[w :)]

John wrote: "...So, basically, if you skip reading Tolstoy, or Dostoevsky, or Murakami, or Melville, or Conrad, or Diaz, or Dante, or Shakespeare, et al, then you're guaranteed to end up reading amazing books? Man, wish I had known that before I went to college! Lol."

Guaranteed? Uh, sure.....

[John]

爱心❤ wrote: "

Guaranteed? Uh, sure....."

Ah, my bad. Saw, "can," and mentally replaced it with, "will."

[Erin]

John wrote: "For me, yes, the cover needs to be solid. I'm not offended by an illustrated cover, but if it's like, cartoony? I'm going to think that it's either post-modern (shooting for ironic), or YA. Neit..."

Yes, kind of a given for me. I don't read blurbs either. I check out the cover, then open the book and read the first page. If it hooks me in within a couple sentences, then I'll buy it. My system seems to work so far, I think there's only been one book I was disappointed by, in which the writing would be really strong for a couple pages, and then I'd read a paragraph that would throw me off with how wooden it was or a weird metaphor or something, lol.

[w :)]

John wrote: "爱心❤ wrote: "

Guaranteed? Uh, sure....."

Ah, my bad. Saw, "can," and mentally replaced it with, "will." "

Or 'might', but that's not very persuasive.

[Laurie: Almost Faemous]

I do all my reading on an ereader now so covers don't actually mean much to me anymore. Two things that do irritate me are badly written blurbs cuz I do rely on that a lot when selecting a book. The other is bad editing it drives me bats@#t crazy, when the author relies on spellcheck and doesn't proofread, you know when your typo is an actual word so spellcheck doesn't catch it but it turns your sentence into gibberish.

[Emily]

I'm a snob too. I'd gladly pay a little more for a really nice cover than for something that looked like it was made in five minutes. And I hate that almost all the YA books have pictures of people on the covers. The fact that the book have a guy with a lot of muscles on the cover does not make it "better". Maybe you personally very much like staring at those covers, but it's awful when people come into your house and see those books.

Also, I hate it, really, really hate it when I find misspellings in a book. That one misspelling can make me look after other misspellings without even thinking about it. And I remember those misspellings so well too (i think she was killed in page 345 or something... that must be it, cause I remember on page 340 the author wrote 'bnana' instead of banana)

[Erin]

lol, that sounds bad! I once had someone send me a book to review where the dialogue was all jammed into one consistent line. You couldn't tell who was talking.

Yeah...no. Sent it back unread.

[Sumi]

Michelle wrote: "I can't stand it when the book has a really vague back description! I will put up with a crude cover, though a good title is a must. However, if the description tells me nothing about the book, or ..."
You have NO IDEA how relieved I am to hear of your preferences in romance. (I just wrote a true cross-genre MS, and publishing research on what readers want from romance has been depressing till just now). This makes me incredibly happy.

And I agree with you (and many others, apparently); it's not just the story, it's the cover. How am I supposed to hold my head up in an airport, (or school), reading something with a Fabio-esque cover? Heck, when Rolling Stone had Tyler (werewolf Twilight-guy) frolicking in the sand on their front cover, I actually ripped it off before getting on a plane with it...


Kris wrote: "I never thought of myself as a book snob before but now that I have upwards of 1000 books on my kindle that I've been hoarding for cheap or free...when it comes time to pick a book to read, there a..."
This doesn't sound like snobbery; it sounds like having sense and taste. (And now that I've labeled myself as a snob...) I don't think I've read enough stories with more than one author to have made the same determination; maybe because I have the same opinion that you do, but it's been subconscious till now?

[Sumi]

Aisha wrote: "first person pov, switching back & forth between characters without giving us a hint that this is going to happen, weird or stupid covers that have nothing to do with the book."
I'm going to join with Wilmar in requesting an example. Have you ever read POV-switches done well? And what kind of warning is effective for that (other than a double-blurb from each character's POV on the back)?

[Shuvom]

POV switches every chapter aren't bad. It's the backbone of all the Game of Thrones books, and even when I see another damned "Catelyn" chapter, I know I'll only have to put up with her for ten pages or so.

Those books arent high art, but they're damned gripping, at least.

But did you mean POV switches in the MIDDLE of a chapter? Yes, that sucks. Every time. My wife shows me romance novels that are done that way, and we just laugh and laugh and laugh.

[Shuvom]

Cassandra wrote: "Shuvom wrote: "I was just having this debate with some friends! For all those who said "bad cover" is a turn off, or for anyone who reads military science fiction, what do you think of my book "In..."

Cassandra, thanks for the opinion on my cover! I just noticed it in the thread now!

[[deleted user]]

Agree. For A Game of Thrones it works wonderfully. But Martin always makes it perfectly clear who's pov we're getting - no confusion.
I hate first person pov switches. in Shiver. I get mixed up with which "I" I'm reading about. There's been a few romances like that too. Not many thankfully. Not a fan.
I'm pretty open to read almost anything though.

[[deleted user]]

Sumi wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I can't stand it when the book has a really vague back description! I will put up with a crude cover, though a good title is a must. However, if the description tells me nothing ab..."

I think I like you, Sumi!

Traci...OH MY GOODNESS I HEAR YOU. I ONLY switch PoVs in different chapters. I am having to edit that nowadays...but sheesh. I haaate being confused about narration; your readers ought to do some work, but not that much!

[Adriaan]

My primary turn off for a book, before reading, is a well-written 1-star review.

One-stars from obvious illiterates or the mean spirited will not put me off, or the ones that start 'I saw the movie and the book was _so_ different' or 'I don't like this genre' ;) In fact, this kind of review makes me want to read the book, if only out of spite!

However, if the review raises a point that would also annoy me I take it as a warn-off from that book. Life's too short to spend time on books I'll want to delete after reading.

[Dean]

One thing that turns me off quick...is bragging about the characters. When the lead character is "uncommonly handsome" or "Has killed hundreds of men with his nipples alone", the book gets slammed shut and thrown at innocent passerbys.
cough*cough*cussler*cough!

[Erin]

Dean wrote: "One thing that turns me off quick...is bragging about the characters. When the lead character is "uncommonly handsome" or "Has killed hundreds of men with his nipples alone", the book gets slammed ..."

I just laughed, snorted earl grey tea out of my nose and then choked, all because you wrote "killed hundreds of men with his nipples alone". So thank you, thank you very much.

[A.L.]

Hehe. That is an interesting image.

[Yakara]

I have 2 major ones. One is irrational, one not so much.

Crowded covers or covers with terrible, bright fonts that don't match with the picture. Since I am a major fantasy reader, that is a huge obstacle. I go so far as to completely ignore the cover when reading about the book or perusing Amazon. Some of my favorite books have had covers that would have IMMEDIATELY turned me away.

The other major turn off is typos. I encounter them often in digital formats. I've learned that this is a BIG issue with digital. I've read the same book in paper and digital and found no problem (or few) in the paper while there were rampant issues with the digital.

[Jon]

Pretty simple, if a book has more than a couple thousand reviews and its average rating is below 3.7, then I'll need a good reason to read it.

So, low avg. rating is my biggest turn-off.

[The Angry Lawn Gnome]

A positive blurb from an author I loathed, if that makes any sense.

A book where the author spends more time trying to convey how witty they are, rather than in writing a decent yarn.

And I TRY not to judge books by their cover, since I'm uncertain how much control an author has over this. But, yeah, I just can't see myself ever picking up a book where you've got a shot from behind of some nearly anorexic gal with a tattoo on her back (yeah, I know what they're called, but I find the term as offensive as I find such tattoos unattractive) holding a stake/pistol/dagger behind said back. And given the sheer number of books lately that seem to feature this image on their cover, paintings of this sort must be close to being a cottage industry. Bizarre, that.

And a curious recent example: I liked James Patterson's Witch & Wizard YA series...with the original covers. But these new covers just don't work for me at all. I have nothing against pretty girls. I have nothing against pretty girls on the covers of books.

But once the thought occurred to me that as a young teen I'd have likely been willing to read the books with the old covers but not the new, I just couldn't shake it. Admittedly I was last described as a "young teen" sometime around the dinosaur extinction event, and also that such a prejudice may say something less than complimentary about the me that I was back then. But it just struck me rather forcibly that somebody had decided to make a series that should have appealed to boys and girls equally into one that no boy would realistically now look at. Unless some sort of drastic change in the way I viewed the world as a young male and the way young males of the present age view it has occurred, I guess. Possible, but I rather doubt it. It is almost as though publishers have simply given up trying to market to boys, if that makes any sense.

Oh, piddle. End of rant. Sorry.

Oh, and for whatever reason I simply couldn't get past 75 pages of the fourth book in the series. One issued solely with the "new" cover in place. I thought it was because the book was poorly written compared to the first three, but perhaps I was simply put off by the cover?

[Eliza]

For me, poorly designed covers are a turn off. I know some people are trying to save money by doing it themselves, but it's the one place where readers really do judge a book by its cover. Title doesn't bother me too much. Vagueness can be as bad as a poor cover.

[Andrew]

If the blurb for a fantasy novel involves a lot of unpronounceable names, or tries to create a mythology in a couple of paragraphs, I won't touch it.

So many people seem to think they can write the next Lord of the Rings or Song of Ice and Fire, but there is more to it than some rudimentary world-building.

[[deleted user]]

Ugh. Thanks Andrew. Pointlessly arcane names drive me crazy.

[A.L.]

Unimaginative covers. Or copying the design of a more prominent book. I know why it is done, it just annoys me that if the cover is generic what is inside?

Typos don't bother me over much unless they are terrible, so long as the story is good.

Inconsistancy or unbelievability (is that a word?) as well.

[L.]

For me personally, too much violence and erotica type books. I won't even look at them no matter how well they read or how good the story is.

[A.L.]

I asking these very questions and looking for readers to interview on my blog. Hopefully when I have enough it will be interesting to see what the most popular turn ons and turn offs are.

[L.F.]

I don't normally do digital books so I do tend to be a bit of a cover snob. The first things I look for in a bookstore is an eye-catching cover and the book title. If those catch my attention, then I pick it up, scan the back blurb, then open it somewhere in the middle and scan a page or two. If the middle looks promising, I buy. But I have a hard time reading a book with unrealistic, or one dimensional characters. Even a poor plot can be rescued by great characters, but poor characters can destroy a good plot.

[Keith]

I don't like first person present tense. I don't even know why myself.

[Massimo]

Kris wrote: " book description that talks about the end of the world and wipes out 90% of the population and 3 people that are set out to rebuild the planet..."

I agree, it needs at least 330 pages ;)

[Massimo]

Dean wrote: "One thing that turns me off quick...is bragging about the characters. When the lead character is "uncommonly handsome" or "Has killed hundreds of men with his nipples alone", the book gets slammed ..."

Excellent :D

[Massimo]

Since most comments are around covers, what about this one:



http://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/1...


PS
Not trying to self-promote, so don't even click on the book, read anything about it, try to peek at the reviews and ranking. Forbidden. Just comment on the cover: click on the link to see a bigger cover.

[L.F.]

Reading these comments, I would not suggest anyone read anything I wrote for I am guilty, guilty, guilty...First person POV, some attractive characters, alternating POV, poor blurbs, a few typos... :/

[Massimo]

L.F. wrote: "Reading these comments, I would not suggest anyone read anything I wrote for I am guilty, guilty, guilty...First person POV, some attractive characters, alternating POV, poor blurbs, a few typos... :/"

1st person POV isn't an issue. Head hopping can be disconcerting. If a few typos are per page it is an issue. Two or three in 400 pages might not be a problem for the first edition ;)

[Emma]

Loads of exclamation marks,the author should be able to get across the fact that the dialogue is important, without one.
Plus first person POV.

[Stan]

Blank pages. I almost never read those books.

[Massimo]

Stan wrote: "Blank pages. I almost never read those books."

And yet, they don't need editing...

[A.L.]

Bit worrying if they do.

[Kelly]

Boring cover. Bad book jacket description. Fine print. I could go on and on.

[Currer]

Your list makes total sense. I hate thin books because 9/10 they are going to leave out description, characterization, or plot development. But on the flip side books that are outrageously long also makes me feel like: seriously? This is just book one. I got some really good advice once: if you have to go out of your oagelimit then you don't know how to compile your information in a concise manner and that is totally true. Another thing that turns me off is the cover of many YA books where it is this girl in the pointless ball gown twirling or staring out into the great beyond, then you open the book and the girl isn't even the same hair color as the girl on the front. That just doesn't give you a feel for the story.

[Katie]

Brittany wrote: "Your list makes total sense. I hate thin books because 9/10 they are going to leave out description, characterization, or plot development. But on the flip side books that are outrageously long als..."

Brittany, I was just going to say books with girls in ball gowns on the cover. Sooooo many of those. But I'm in for minimalist covers and it sounds like that is a turn off to many people.

[A.L.]

Just goes to show there is no hard and fast rule. What one person likes another won't.

[K.A.]

I'm not necessarily a cover snob; I always thought this:



was kind of a crummy cover, but I love the book. But a poorly-written blurb - with typos, grammar errors, or awkward wording - is a huge turn-off.

[Shuvom]

Massimo wrote: "Since most comments are around covers, what about this one:



http://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/1...


PS
Not trying to self-promote, so don't even clic..."


Massimo, one issue I would have with that cover is it doesn't tell me what type of book it's going to be. While the image is sort of pretty, I don't get "Man struggles with morals in a suddenly post-apocalyptic world" from that.

I've always thought a cover is like a movie poster- you should be able to identify the genre, main character and at least SOME hint of the story from it. (i.e. cops fight gritty bloodthirsty drug lords with huge personal costs should have a very different cover from cops fight drug lords and wacky hijacks ensue.)

Just my thoughts as a cover snob and a fellow self-published author.

Shuvom

[Tasha]

I have to agree with Shuvom.

[Alex]

I agree with all of you for the most part, but I am a cover snob so when the cover is a half naked man with unrealistic body or too many muscles I usually skip to the next book...

[Jana]

Dean wrote: "One thing that turns me off quick...is bragging about the characters. When the lead character is "uncommonly handsome" or "Has killed hundreds of men with his nipples alone", the book gets slammed ..."

Well said! Quite hilarious and very true; let's leave the fantasy in the correct genre... (It would be cool to see a guy fight with nipples alone-consider those pecs! LOL)

[chucklesthescot]

The guy and gal half naked in a swooning clinch is a big no no for me. Even if there are paranormal creatures, the cover suggests to me 'sex-athon with limited plot and bigger teeth' and that doesn't really appeal to me.