Now that I think about it, publishers do affect the books that I read. For example, when I see books published by HarperCollins, Macmillan, or Penguin in Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com, I tend to buy their books compared to a lesser known publisher. I think the books that I read are mostly from these publishers: (in order) Penguin, HarperCollins, Scholastic, Random House, HarlequinTeen, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, etc. Although publishers have an influence of which books I pick, I do not based my decision entirely on them. I’m one of those people who will pick up a book based on its ratings and of course, the lovely cover (yeah I’m guilty of judging a book by its cover).
—WHAT ABOUT YOU?—
Do publishers have an influence on which books you choose to purchase (even if it’s just a small influence)? If so, which publishers are they? If not, why?
Little Book Star 
Sometimes- I mean, I have publishers that I trust when it comes to certain genres. But there are two things I look for in a book- a great premise and a good cover (I know, I’m shallow)
It’s usually not until I write a review or something that I check out the publisher.
🙂
Don’t worry, I tend to buy books that have beautiful covers, too. 😀
I’m actually a little oblivious of the name of the publisher whenever I pick up a book. I do know the big names like say HarperCollins or Penguin, but the publisher name never seems to influence my choice of books. I don’t really have certain publishers that I gravitate towards, so it’s all pretty “meh” to me. 🙂
I don’t think publishers influence my choices just because I’m kinda blind to the publisher when I check a book out… I do know though that I tend to read certain publishers more than others but I think that’s just pure chance
I guess it does now that I think about it. If it’s from a wellknown publisher I know the books are going to most likely be good but i usually use bloggers to decide what I want to read.
I’m more likely to pick up a book by a Big Six publisher, but beyond that they don’t really influence my reading choices. Once I’ve read a book and update my spreadsheet, that’s when I begin to notice trends (I have really good luck with Hachette titles, for example) but they don’t actively influence me.
To be honest, I don’t pay a whole lot of attention to publishers. I read what sounds interesting and looks good.
Occasionally, if I’ve read quite a few really good books and notice they’re from the same publisher, I might go browse and see what else the publisher puts out.
To a certain extent, I’m pretty much open to most publishers though I do veer towards the Big 6 more and more well-known publishers. There are some publishers which I usually steer clear of though because I haven’t had a good streak with their books.
I honestly seldom look at publishers. It’s all about the books for me. Now, if I realize that I’ve read a lot of books by one publisher recently, then I will see who else the publish to try and get TBR list ideas since they often publish similar titles. I honestly find that I like books that aren’t by the Big 6 more often than not though. I find more gold from lesser known or indie companies than I do from them. I find the books the Big 6 publishes are better advertised, but end up feeling faddy to me. It’s all too mainstream and I see all these people who are like “OMG This is amazing!” and then I read it and I’m like, “What? You have no taste.”. Sweet Evil was a great example. It was well promoted, everyone was reading it, and everyone seemed to love it while I thought it was a train wreck. I still need to finish the series, but my library doesn’t have them yet and I am not paying for that. I have one friend who loved the first book, but the magic died in the rest of the series, so I already know I won’t be impressed, but I never drop a series. It’s one of my curses.. or flaws.. or something.
I generally don’t pay attention to who the publisher is when I look at a book title, so I’m not all that influenced by who the publisher is. Although, I do sometimes seek out books from Flux more actively because I noticed they have a lot of diversity, which I appreciate. Other than that, I usually shy away from self-published books, so it matters more to me if a book comes from a publishing house or not.
I’m totally guilty of this; smaller publishers have always been iffy for me, with the chances of reading a GOOD book at about 50%. But my #1 publisher is Disney-Hyperion; I don’t think there’s been a single book from them that I dislike. The same goes for Balzer + Bray. And I’m a big cover snob as well 😀 I just like the look of a well done image – not a haphazard photoshop job that looks like it took about ten minutes.
Definitely! HarperCollins is one of my top too, they are unbelievably nice and I usually end up liking their books. I do tend to seek out their stuff when I’m at the bookstore. Like Kayla said, smaller publishers are kind of a hit or miss. There are a few great ones but others… nope. I usually watch to see what the reviews are saying.
I love them! I agree how they’re really nice people. I seek out books from other publishers too and I also read books by indie authors but I just noticed that I tend to pick up a book published by the traditional publishers compared to others.
Absolutely, there are a few publishers who always seem to publish hits for me, such as Penguin or HarperCollins. Other publishers are a bit hit and miss for me like Harlequin. Interesting discussion!
I don’t think publishers have an influence over my reading choices – the first time I consciously pay attention to the publisher is when I usually set up my review which is near the end or after finishing the book. I also don’t think I have a preference of publishers. I might read more from some publishers than others because they have a greater selection but that doesn’t sway future reading decisions. I have favorites from a host of different publishers. But they might indirectly influence me, because I choose a lot of my books based on other reviews, so if those reviewers read more from one publisher than other for whatever reason (relationship, marketing, etc). then I might too. I don’t know if I am making sense anymore 🙂 Interesting discussion!