Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

What's the main driver for you to open a sci fi novel and take a look inside? Is it the author's name? The book cover? The specific subgenre? The overview? Something else? I'm curious and would welcome all perspectives.

The cover and title will first attract me and push me to read the overview. The cover doesn't need for me to be a masterful work of art. If it attracts the eye and is relevant to the book's overview and title, then it will have done its job. The title has also to be relevant, A pretentious or weird title will turn me off most of the time. The overview must be short and to the point and say something that will interest me (example: book is about involuntary time traveler trying to return to his period of origin). The subgenre is definitely important, as not everybody will be attracted to, say, a horror-mystery novel. One point that is personal to me: ghost writers who put in big, bold letters on the cover the name of the deceased author they are supposedly replacing, while adding their own name (that of the true author) in minuscule letters at the bottom of the cover, so that buyers would think that what they are purchasing was written by the dead author (example: A TOM CLANCY BOOK... by so-and-so). I find that profoundly dishonest intellectually, even if they say they were accepted as ghost authors by the family of the deceased author.

S.D. wrote: "What's the main driver for you to open a sci fi novel and take a look inside? Is it the author's name? The book cover? The specific subgenre? The overview? Something else? I'm curious and would wel..."
For me it's probably a little different online as opposed to IRL.
Online, I can instantly see both the cover and the first few lines of the blurb, and I'll probably glance at both.
In a bookshop or library, the first thing I see is usually the cover and that often decides whether I pick it up and look at the blurb or leaf through the interior.
I read very widely so I don't pay a lot of attention to genre (except to avoid horror and paranormal) let alone subgenre.
Of course if it's an author I know and like that's a major factor.

The title is the first thing that enters our awareness. A catchy title will make me want to read what the book is about.

Science fiction is a way for us to explore what could be. The technological aspects of the story are one thing but the story needs to have believable characters and a good premise.

Trevor
www.trevorlangcarter.com

The title is the first thing to attract my attention, then the cover. I then read the first two pages to determine the writer's skillset. If there are numerous mispellings, typos, incorrect grammar, a lack of paragraph discipline, or poor narration, I realize that the author is merely an unschooled wannabe instead of a talented professional and return the book to the shelf.