Q: Does the publisher influence your reading? Do you have a favorite publisher? Or one that you try to stay away?
I was actually discussing this topic with a few of you a while back and I'd like to know how it is for everyone else :) When trying new authors or new books, we all have different criteria that attract us to the books. It can be the blurb, the cover, the genre, the first few pages, etc... but for me, I find that I have an additional criteria: the publisher. Okay, perhaps not another criteria, but another factor that makes a difference :)
From experience, I've found that the books and style of some publishing houses fit me more than others and as a result, I'm more likely to pick up a new author from them. My latest example would be The Wish List by Gabi Stevens. I was in the mood for something fun and breezy and this seemed to perfectly fit the bill... but what sealed the deal is that the publisher was Tor. Tor brought me the Warland Chronicles series by Elizabeth Vaughan and is currently the publisher of Patti O'Shea, one of my favorite author :) Need I say more?
Another of my favorite publisher is the HQN Books and Mira, two lines from Harlequin. If I had to list all the great books and authors from these two lines, the list would go on and on and on LOL. You can't imagine the number of times I've picked up a book because it had Mira on the spine. This is probably the only publisher whose books I've picked basing myself only on the publishers. It says something, right?
In reality, I find that a lot of my impulse buys are influenced by the publishers. And not only the publishing houses, but their offshots/branches/lines ^_^; For example, if I'm looking for a historical, I have a tendency to go to Avon (from Harpercollins Publishing). If I'm looking for fantasy or urban fantasy, it'll be Ace (Berkley) and ROC (New American Library). From Berkley, I'm more likely to pick up a romantic suspense or contemporary romance than a historical.
Each publishing house seems to be looking for something in particular - a style, storyline - when choosing their books and authors... and it has given me a comfort zone when buying books. Of course, authors and stories usually prevail over the publishers. I've never not bought a book because of the publisher... and I've never told myself, "Oh, these historical romance is published by Berkley, must not be as good as if it was published by Avon." For me, publishers has more weight when there is an unknown quantity to the book :)
I've pretty much named all of my "favorite" publishers :) As for a publisher that I like less... I would say St. Martin's Press. First, I'd like to clear that it has nothing to do with the authors. St. Martin's Press has a lot of big names (Lisa Kleypas, Jennifer Crusie, Janet Evanovich, Sherrilyn Kenyon, etc.) and I find that they sometimes take advantage of it on the readers. I really enjoy their paperbacks - I think they're greatly priced and I buy them. However, St. Martin's Press has the habit of publishing some tiny hardcovers at ridiculous prices, banking on the big names: the in-between Plum numbers, A Wallflower Christmas... or print novellas in paperback format. I feel they're taking advantage of fans loyalty... but that's probably another debate. And the answer is easy right? Don't buy it if you're not happy :)
So what about you?
