What Really Makes a Difference?

MENTAL STATUS: Happy. :) Going to have a "girly" day with my four-year old daughter. First stop is Dunkin' Donuts--just coffee for me--then to the nail salon, then shopping. Who wouldn't be happy?

I’m going to ride a little on the coattails of Brenda Coulter’s blog topic yesterday, where she'd talked about “Book Blurbs” and what they mean to readers.

Well... I have to confess I NEVER consider a book blurb before I'm about to buy/read a book. I NEVER glance at a book blurb after I’ve read the book. I’m not even sure WHERE the book blurb is on the book.

Kidding. (The back, right?)

I'm afraid I just don't put much stock into what other authors have to say about another book. Maybe it's the cynic in me. After all, writing is a business. But I WILL consider a book if say…Romantic Times gives it four stars, it’s been on the NY Times Best Seller List, I've read a recommendation in People-- or just plain word of mouth from other readers and/or friends.

But...of course… there's been one small teeny exception to that rule—you know there’s always one—to me considering an endorsement from one author to another. And I'll tell you when...

One day back in June, I read Kristin Nelson’s blog. She told this story:

“Don’t you love it when things happen out of the blue? For example, my author Ally Carter got an email from Carly Phillips (yes, that NYT Bestselling Carly). She was at the airport and needed a book. She grabbed CHEATING AT SOLITAIRE and loved it so much she had to email Ally. She even gave us a quote to use for LEARNING TO PLAY GIN promotional materials, ‘Fresh, fun and fabulous. Solitaire has never been so much fun!’”

So I thought about that (yes, dangerous). If a NYT best-selling author went out of her way to say to another she didn’t know, “Hey, your book rocked!”--well, that was good enough for me. A few days later, I bought "Cheating at Solitaire".

I wasn't disappointed.

What makes you want to read a book?