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This week I look at Auto Buy Authors
Most of us have them don't we, the authors that we just rush out to buy when we hear they have a new book out, even if we aren't caught up with their previous books or series. In my younger years I would auto buy Stephen King and Richard Laymon. I tended to read each Laymon book as I grabbed it because they were short horror reads but the Stephen King books were all huge slabs at that time so they tended to get shelved for a while first! As the years went by the King books were still sitting there. It took ages to get to them and I admit a few ended up unfinished. In the last 6 years or so I have struggled to finish any of King's newer books so I don't buy them now. He is no longer an auto buy author. Sadly, Richard Laymon's early death ended my auto buying of his books though I still have two of his to read. I guess I held onto them because when I finish them, there will be no more.
There are a lot of authors where I have liked certain series by the author but not others, so they are not classed as auto buy authors. Some series they do, however, are auto buy series. In this category I include Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson, Alpha & Omega), Kelley Armstrong (WOTO), Charlaine Harris (Southern Vampire), Kevin Hearne (Iron Druid), Benedict Jacka (Alex Verus), Jennifer Estep (Elemental Assassin), Kelly Meding (Dreg City), Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires). There are plenty others but I'm not listing them all. Most of these were urban fantasy series where I had really enjoyed at least book one, then kept buying the others quicker than I could read them!
Now I want to look at the actual authors that I do auto buy and why I do it. The first I want to mention is Hunter Shea. I was introduced to him by a blogging friend at the start of this year and the first book I read was Swamp Monster Massacre. And I LOVED it! It's the kind of horror I love to read, with a big bad monster killing lots of people in a fast paced action bloodbath! I have since read a couple of his mail order novellas, and other books such as They Rise, Loch Ness Revenge, Savage Jungle. I have quite a few more that I plan to read. I haven't yet tried his Jessica Backman books as I'm unsure of the actual reading order and want to start at the beginning. Another horror writer I auto buy at the moment is Jack Kilborn, having loved Afraid, Trapped and Draculas. I have more of him to read next year too!
If you follow my blog you know how much I love my prepper and apocalypse books! I read a book by Darrell Maloney, the first in his Alone series and really enjoyed it so I tried the first in two more of his apocalypse series-Countdown to Armageddon and Final Dawn. Having loved all three, I've been grabbing the other books in those series which are coming out at a fast rate! I've also grabbed books in three other apocalypse series he has done though I haven't read them yet-Red, Yellowstone Event and Ranger. He released twelve books this year!!! Another auto buy is Robert Boren who wrote Bug Out, a series I loved and completed. Since then he has brought out two spin off series-Bug Out Texas, and Bug Out California which I'm keen to read. I'm also auto buying other things like the Borrowed World series by Franklin Horton, White flag of the dead by Joseph Talluto, The Gatekeeper by Kenneth Cary, Voodoo Plague by Dirk Patton. The issue here is that there are a TON of these authors in the apocalypse genre where I'm buying whole series based on enjoying the first book. I really hope they keep up the booky standard...
What authors do you auto buy? What series do you auto buy?
I don’t think I have any auto-buy authors. If a book sounds boring, I won’t read it, no matter who wrote it. There are some authors whose work I want to catch up on, so maybe those count as auto-buys? Even though I don’t buy the book right away, I’ll read it someday. I’d like to read all of Stephen King’s work. He started writing way before I was born, so I have a lot of catching up to do.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
I think it's easier to auto-buy someone like Hunter Shea as all his books feature a different monster so he has the knack of making me want to buy every one of them! Writers branching out into different genres might not be as good for auto buy, I agree, as not everything they write might sound great. Samples come in handy there for try before you buy I guess!
DeleteI don't think I have any auto-buy authors these days. Saying that makes me a little sad. I remember getting so excited about a new Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, Robert McCammon or Poppy Z. Brite or Stephen King. But now I have too many choices and don't really get too excited about upcoming works.
ReplyDeleteStephen King's early work was auto-buy for me but I haven't finished anything of his in recent years. I miss Richard Laymon!
DeleteI don't have many but I agree with Patricia Briggs and Jackie Bouchard (who writes some of my favorite dog literature - plus I adore her blog and she interacts with her fans in such a great way). You know I love Hunter Shea so yes, he's an auto-buy now even though I'm still catching up on his earlier stuff. King is still on my auto-buy and I've read most of his new stuff except the Bill Hodges books even though I think his older stuff is better.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm at my worst when I love a first book in a series and then I grab the whole series! Of course with Indie books, they can disappear quickly so I kind of have to grab them quick as they can go quickly to very high prices when supply dwindles!
DeleteI used to have more authors that I'd auto buy every book they wrote, but I've gotten burned too many times and now I'm a lot more cautious. Though I still buy everything Simone ST. James writes.
ReplyDeleteI think I make use of samples a lot more these days, which helps. If I like a new author's series, I'll sample a few different series before taking the final plunge!
DeleteI don't have auto-buy authors. For me, it still depends what the books/series is about. I do have auto-buy series though, I guess. When I really like a series, it doesn't matter what the synopsis or whatever is, I'm going to buy the book regardless!
ReplyDeleteNo I wouldn't buy a book by a favourite author if I really don't like the sound of it-I'd sample instead and see what I think. Auto-buy is there if I already love the series or each stand-alone has an interesting sounding plot!
DeleteI used to rush out and pick up books by auto-buy authors even if I haven't caught up to the series, but then the books pile up! So now I made a new rule to buy only if I'm on the latest book :)
ReplyDelete~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum
The books certainly do pile up! Darrell Maloney was releasing one a month last year and the other Indie apocalypse writers were pretty swift!
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