I think people do tend toward name recognition. Titles need lots and lots of repetition before they permeate the public consciousness. Especially since so many books are released. I’m all for adventurous reading but have to be honest with myself — many books require incredibly intense brain time. If I’ve been chairing meetings and analyzing information all day with a minimum of two hours’ commuting involved, then I have to allow my mind a period of recovery. I’m going to pick up a book that falls within a certain comfort zone. An Oprah label tells me certain information about a book, a NYT label tells me something entirely different. It’s not quite detailed analysis, but at least I have guidelines out there.

Books that nobody’s heard of are not only hard to sell, they’re harder to give away. Most folks want Oprah’s stamp of approval and/or a notarized copy of the NYT bestseller list before they’ll buy.