I think all authors read their book reviews. How they deal with them is most likely where each author might take a different path. Regardless of the review, I leave it as is, as everyone's opinion is different. What one person loved, another might hate, so there is no right or wrong.
Though I have shaken my head a couple of times, not having any idea where the reviewer came up with what they brought up. The weirdest review came from a free book contest. The person admitted in their review that it was not their preferred genre and thus didn't enjoy the novel. It made me sad, but also confused. If you know you don't like the genre, why would you want to win a book in it? It would have been better if they'd not signed up for it and thus give someone who did like the particular genre a chance to win it instead. :P
A great cover and title are extremely important. While what people like can be subjective, the better the cover, the more people it will attract.
I look for authors I like and buy their books regardless of genre or cover or title, as finding authors than can push my buttons can be hard. But most people don't do what I do.
Take my husband, for example — he picks up books for covers that catch his eye. If the cover isn't interesting or doesn't have some unusual elements, he won't even look at it. Only once he picks it up to look at the cover will he even consider reading the back matter. I've even seen him make choices based solely on the cover and title, never once looking to see what the book is about before buying it. So it definitely makes an impact.
Of the eight novels picked up for publication, my favorites are the covers for "In the Service of Samurai" and "Inner Demons" - both covers were created by the fabulous artist Charles Bernard. For "In the Service of Samurai", I loved that he added a lot of the key elements in the story to the cover and also (since this was the 2nd edition) that he paid homage to the original cover by using a couple of colors from the original. For "Inner Demons," he incorporated several story elements and gave it a ying/yang feel by showing Tamara as herself but also the reflection of what she became while she was possessed. His attention to detail is fabulous! Thank you, Charles!
