Tell Me Something Tuesday #30

It is that time of week again! You guessed it -Tell Me Something Tuesday; a weekly meme hosted by the fabulous author of the Heven and Hell series, Cambria Hebert. If you would like to participate, visit her blog and grab next week's question and add your link. This week's question:

What do you think of the whole Indie vs. Traditional Publishing? Do you as a reader (and blogger!) look at the publisher name before you choose to buy or read a book?

First, what is Indie publishing? Is it anything that hasn't been published by the "big six"? Is it Self published? When I think of Indie books, I think of anything that is not carried in Barnes and Noble. So, for this post, that includes smaller publishing houses and Self published books. Until last year when I got my Nook, I was in the dark when it came to Indie publishing. I knew that there were some people that printed their own books, but I had no idea how big it had become. I was like a kid in a candy store when I got on the computer and found so many books and a lot of them for free!

It wasn't until I started to read the books that I had bought that I realized that they weren't quite what I expected. Some of them had great stories and had potential to become something great - just not as they were. My grammar is not perfect, but if I were to put something out to publish and expect payment for I would make sure it was perfect. This is not so for many Indie authors - namely the Self published ones. So now I mostly look at the editor's name. I know of some great editors and if I see their names I know the book is safe to buy.

Traditional publishing is not perfect either. I had a very popular book that I have marked up with tons of grammar and continuity errors. In one scene the girl's hair is black and the next it is auburn. Um, what? I have a first edition so I have no idea if it was fixed in later printings, but it goes to show that no one above human error. However, there is a general standard that Traditional publishers use for both editing and plot so their isn't much in the way of deviation. But authors have to relinquish control to the publisher to get the "marketable" titles on the shelves.

As a blogger I look at publishers more to promote the books I review rather than to judge if I want to read it or not. I work with a few small publishing houses reviewing books and have found that even though their budgets are not as big for marketing, their books are equally matched. I have even found some really great Self published books. I think there are great stories to be told and not everyone will get the chance to tell them if they wait for a Traditional publisher.

The Breakdown: I will give any book a chance and quality is the most important thing to me, not by whom the book is published. 

What do you think? Does the publisher matter to you?