Keep It Up

I’ve never read a book based on who published it.

I wasn’t sure if this was a strange thing or not until I did this blog. I read books based on my interests, or recommendations from others who have similar interests to me. I can only name three publishing houses off the top of my head (Harlequin, Scholastic, and Penguin) and I couldn’t tell you of a single book under those houses.

Of my favourite Authors (Margaret Atwood, George Orwell, Lisa Smedman, Elaine Cunningham, Vladamir Nabokov) I couldn’t name what publisher they used, or if that publisher tends towards similar genres of writing.

I had never truthfully even realized that this was how other people found books until I joined a writing community, Absolute Write, and read other people who stayed within certain publishing houses. Who had a list of agents and publishers that they liked and appreciated based on other work done under their name. It was quite a shock to me.

Of the publishers I named, only one is part of the “Big Six” as it’s often quoted (Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Group, Random House and Simon & Schuster, for those of you wondering).

There’s a poll (obviously unscientific) on Goodreads that currently says that about 50% almost never notice who publishes the book, 13% who never ever notice it. 19% say they have a few publishers they like but choose the book based on other criteria, and 17% who said that it’s not very important but they do notice it.

How do you find new books to read?