[ChrisW]

Was just reading JohnH hardcover thread and was wondering if you were trying a new author for the first time do you look to see who the publisher is and if so what publisher do you trust most?

I know that I'm more likely to buy a book by an uknown author if they are published by one of the big publishers. Of all the Publishers I probably trust Orbit(uk) the most. They have Jordan,Jones,Parker,Bunch,Moon,Russell,Card and Gemmell and Williams under the Legend imprint to name a few.

[This message has been edited by Caldazar (edited January 15, 2002).]

[Mithfânion]

No, publisher doesn't come to mind with me. I judge a book by what it's about and will usually do some research on it on the Net before I buy (or not). It all depends on teh author and the book.

[estranghero]

But doesn't the covers and back summaries of Baen turn off you? It does for me though there were some books published by Baen that I liked. One was Lois McMaster Bujold's 'Ring' or something fantasy book.

I noticed that books by Ace and Roce are nicely done while those by Tor are usually quite thick.

British stuff like Orbit is also a good bet for me if it's a British author though between US and UK versions -- I go for US because of the nicer covers. http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by estranghero (edited January 16, 2002).]

[James Barclay]

No, I haven't - however, some publishers are better at getting their books on the shelves so in terms of opportunities to view, the decision can be made through lack of alternative choice...

[Qin]

I never really pay much mind to publishers when I purchase books. Covers yes, since I do think that cover art does to a certain extent matter.

I've never even thought about publishers before. No one publishing house really has a clear track record (obviously). I would say that I've grown a bit hesitant to purchase anything published by Tor or Wizards of the Coast - and justifiably so.

Estranghero mentioned Roce (Roc?), whom I know only for their publishing of Dennis "Tolkien v.2.0" McKeirnan.

[Caly]

I never even thought of looking a publishers to judge a book. I think most publishers have a wide range of books out, from the very bad to the very good.

I will say that I am learning not to totally dismiss Baen books. The cover art is just so awful that it turns me off. I bit the bullet a few months ago and read one of the awful looking things, and it turned out to be quite good. Someone really needs to tell them that they need new cover artists *l*. They look so incredibly cheesy and just plain awful.

Caleyna, http://www.fantasyfreaks.org

[jbcohen]

I must admit that sometimes I look at the name of the publisher when jusdging a book. Some publishers only work with specific types of litterature. For example - TOR and Wizards of the Coast only work with fantasy litterature. Thus If I see a book published by either TOR or Wizards I can be pretty well asured that it will be a fantasy novel.

[Rob B]

Actually, Tor publishes quite a bit of Science Fiction - Orson Scott Card, Vernor Vinge, David Gerrold, a new David Brin, John Barnes to name a few.

Tor does publish a lot of Big Fat Fantasy (Goodkind, Jordan, Modesitt, etc) but they also publish some new authors that are gaining alot of acclaim, Jacqueline Carey, Ricardo Pinto (haven't read either, btw) as well as established fantasy like Charles deLInt and Storm Constantine (two authors who are truly not BFF). They also have one of the best things in the SFF market, the Orbit imprint, which brings back some of the great classics of SFF like Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun.

That said, I don't often find myself buying books published by Baen Books, the covers are a bit turn off and to me, they are mainly a publisher of Military Science Fiction, which I don't read to begin with.

[Gary Wassner]

judging a book by its publisher! is that any different than judging a book by its cover? i wonder. who knows today what motivates a publishing company to choose one author over another. i think that in certain respects, the cream may not rise to the top in this industry. dollars and cents have to dictate what reaches the shelves. i am sure that in some cases, quality and profit motive can go hand in hand, but it seems to be hit or miss with each publisher.
i prefer to read reviews written by people whose opinions i have come trust.

[Shadowen]

In a word - no. I don't normally even notice who the publisher is .