I have a question about reviewing books when you have read the paperback edition. Most of the time paperback editions have a different cover & they are also published by another imprint than the hc. Now I’m wondering, if I review the book, should I include those kinds of information (like cover, imprint, page numbers, pub. date, etc.) from the hardcover or the paperback?
Kim
Hi Kim!
Personally, I don’t think details like this are that important, and you can just use whatever you prefer. There’s no right or wrong answer here. As far as the cover goes, I either pick the one that looks prettiest, or the one that applies to the copy I specifically read. This also applies to international covers. If I read the US edition of a book, I show the US cover. But if I had read the UK edition, then I’d probably show the UK cover instead.
I think the most important pieces of information to include are:
- Book title
- Book author
- A book cover
- Link to Goodreads
After that, I don’t think the information you include (like imprint, number of pages, publication date, etc.) is super important. The key thing is that you gave your readers a link to Goodreads. That link allows them to view all the details about the book. So if they’re not pleased with the edition YOU put on your blog (say, the paperback with that cover, imprint, number of pages) then they can go on Goodreads to see information about the hardcover instead.
But speaking from a reader of blogs myself, I never really care about the page numbers, imprint, and publication date when reading a review. If I’m reading a review on someone’s blog, I mostly just want to know what the book is (title, author, cover, synopsis) and I want to see what the blogger thought of it. I tend to skip over information like page numbers and imprints, because I don’t really care about it all that much.
But in short: feel free to include the extra information, but don’t stress too much over what edition it came from. If in doubt, just pick the information from the edition that you read. Because there’s no right or wrong way to do it! You don’t always HAVE to use information from the hardcover or the paperback. It can be whatever you want!
I usually just use the cover of the edition I’m reading, or if it’s an e-book without cover, I choose the one I prefer. 😛
I just hate that some trilogies change the cover design and then not all of them have the same design. But that’s a completely different subject.
Oh, I’m actually glad you answered this question because it’s something I’ve had to think about since moving to the UK (in regards to international covers). Part of me felt like I should put US stuff because my main readerbase is still in the States, but the other part of me said UK because I’m in the UK and if I read it that way then I should link it that way.
In the end I think I just did what you did, put the information for whichever specific copy of the book I own. Like you said, if they go to Goodreads they can get the specific information, and I’m also one of those readers who rarely pay attention to that. (The only time it bothers me is when it’s only published/available to one country or the other. Lame!)
For me I would usually just use the edition I’m reading or the cover I like the most. Although sometimes I come across an issue for ARCs where I get one edition but I prefer the cover for the other edition so I don’t know which one I should use and even though they’re the same book but they’re from different publishers.
Thank you for this answer. I was struggling with this, because I read mostly paperbacks. Good to know that it won’t really matter what I include. I think I’m just going to include the hardcover cover and info since I’m assuming most people will be more familiar with that cover. But if I think the paperback cover is a lot prettier, I will choose that because I can’t help but be a cover snob.
I rarely worry about editions and such, but I take pains to use the cover that matches the book I actually read (or listened to). This usually isn’t a problem. Occasionally, I’ll have trouble finding the US cover of a manga I’ve read or the correct cover image for an audiobook. That annoys me, but I think it’s just because I can be a bit of perfectionist about details like that.
I agree that title, author, cover & blurb are important to include in a review. I always like to add pages for myself and the publisher because I can refer to them when I’ve read an ARC/eARC. I use the cover from the book, unless it’s an e-book and I prefer the other cover.
I usually just add the information of the book I’m reading. For example, if I’m reading the Audiobook, then I add the Audiobook information. But I guess it really doesn’t matter because I usually just skip over the information and go straight to the review anyways.
Yeah, the info a blogger gives on a book is totally dependent on the blogger. I like to supply the info I am interested in when reading other’s reviews. And I agree, a link to Goodreads is important.
Great advice, Ashley! i agree, I typically just look at the book title, author, and cover when I read a review so I know what I’m looking at. Then if I want, I glance back up at the summary to clear up a few things that are said in a review or as reference if I feel intrigued by the person’s review. Definitely agree about the GR link! I hate looking up a book personally on GR, so the link there makes it really easy to add it to my TBR or to see what everyone else is saying about it 🙂
I skip over all of the book info, too, except maybe the release date. If the cover is different from one I read or one I’ve seen before, I’ll check to see what country it’s from.
I don’t care much if my book info is precise, I just go by whatever edition it was that I read. (If it was hardback, I go with the hardback cover, even if I like the paperback cover more)
I have to agree here. The edition specifics aren’t that important to me in a review. As long as there’s a link to Goodreads (or wherever) that I can use to get more information, I’m good. Like you, I want to know what the reviewer thought of the story 🙂
I didn’t even notice that there was a different edition to books I read. O_________O Um…
I pretty much just post info like book cover, title, author, page count, pub and rls date. That’s it. And I do it for my edition. I’ve seen other editions, but personally, it doesn’t bug me in the least 😀
This is pretty much how I feel too! I only care about the book cover, title, author and link to Goodreads for the most part. It really is up to me if I want to learn more about a specific edition or even a more detailed summary.
I always use the cover that I have, or if I have an audiobook (cover size is usually different) or ARC (with no cover), then I’ll use the hardcover version.