Judge by Free Sample?

You may have heard the phrase “Never judge a book by its cover”.  This is true – good artwork chosen by the publisher doesn’t make the author a wordsmith!

If you’re anything like me, you may have taken advantage of Amazon’s free sample service.  You can gauge the feel of a book before you pay anything towards the cost – and if you don’t like the free sample, there’s no obligation to buy.  You don’t even need a Kindle to do this – you can just use a Kindle app, which is available on all devices!

In fact, the only time I don’t take advantage of the free sample option is when the book is already on offer for 99p or £1.

Sometimes the first chapter or so of a book is a really good indicator of what a book will be like – think the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, or anything by Dan Brown.  Other times a free sample is not enough to go by – think the ever-popular Harry Potter series, or 50 Shades of Grey.

I also once read a book advertised as having the most gripping first chapter you’ve ever read.  The book did indeed live up to the statement but unfortunately was anti-climatic – Don’t Wake Up by Liz Lawler.

If in any doubt, download a free sample, but if the book doesn’t hit you straight away, then persevere if the book already has a good reputation.