Many people enjoy a certain author and find they like all of that author’s books. This is especially true of genre writers, but also with more literary authors.
This is partially due to the author’s Voice. Voice is something that writers continually struggle to master – it is the language, dialogue and mannerisms that make a character, or a book in general, have a distinctiveness that rings true. An author wants that 17 year old protagonist to sound like a teen, not a middle aged writer. Living inside your characters’ heads is half the fun!
Children’s books tend to have less distinct genres – not a lot of murder mysteries for the under 12 set, but there are many tiny sleuths searching for lost pets. And yet children, often more brand conscious than their parents, also find themselves enamored with certain writers. If you find a book that your child enjoys, take time to see what that author’s “back list” looks like. They may have made the NY Times bestseller list with their latest novel, but I guarantee that’s not the first novel they wrote. You may find many hidden gems sitting side by side on the library shelf, or in the Amazon.com catalogue, bearing the same name.
My kids often read-out an author long before they can get the next book out. Luckily there are more books to read! But creating excitement for when the “next” book comes out by a favored author is one way to build a life-long love of reading.