Wendals87 t1_itpuju3 wrote
Reply to comment by VertigoOne in ELI5: Why do book adverts so often use review quotes rather than plot/character/setting detail? by VertigoOne
I understand your point and it's hard to know what it is about based on adverts only. I guess this where the saying, Don't judge a book by its cover " comes from
It's all about appealing to the most people as quickly and cheaply as possible, without drowning in too much information. I am no marketer, but I know that advertising firms don't charge big dollars for no reason. They know what sells the most and unfortunately it cant work for everyone
>On Thursday morning, the world was destroyed. Best get a towel."
>In Regency England, can love really cross classes?"
>"When the state makes truth fiction, what can you know?"
If I have never heard of, or read those books, those lines mean nothing to me. It gives me no information about what the book is about, characters etc.
A quick "this book is great!" doesn't either, but I can gather that someone at least the review found it good!
VertigoOne OP t1_itpvijz wrote
>It's all about appealing to the most people as quickly and cheaply as possible
But if you learn actually nothing, how can you appeal to anyone?
>If I have never heard or read those books, those lines mean nothing to me. It gives me no information about what the book is aboutx characters etc.
That's not true.
The first one tells you that it's most likely some form of sci-fi (post apocalypse - world being destroyed) and that it's slightly irreverent or at least weird (what do towels have to do with this?)
The second one literally tells you that it's set in Regency England and is a novel centered around romance and social class.
The third one strongly implies dystopia of a specifically authoritarian nature.
The point is that this is all vastly more information than saying "this book is good" gives you.
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