[Maryann Corbett]

Originally Posted by Orwn Acra

This is tangential to your topic, Maryann, but what makes me want to buy a book, other than its contents, is what the book looks like. I'm 100% serious, too. The covers of so many modern poetry books consist of a random nature/garden sort of picture in a square frame, the title in a pedestrian font, the author's name in the same pedestrian font (a little bit smaller this time), and all backed in that exciting new color: mauve.

Orwn, I like snappy presentation too, and I've said so in reviews. I agree that it affects buying behavior. Poets sometimes have no say, though, about their cover art, so I'd like to hope that a ho-hum cover wouldn't trump good poems.

But to answer your question, I would be more likely to buy a book if I heard the poet read. Reviews are subjective.

Certainly. But even a review that says "I didn't enjoy this" can convey enough information about the book to let the reader come away thinking, "I'd like this, even if the reviewer didn't." Julie Stoner's reviews in the most recent Able Muse are a relevant example.

And poets' readings can influence us negatively as well, if a poet isn't a good performer. The poems on the page might well be better than a poet's reading lets me know. That's why the best review is one that offers generous helpings of the poems.

So I'm still wondering, what do we know and how do we know it in terms of sales at readings?