Skipping Books in a Series

So I wanted to expand on my whole "I skipped Frostbite" portion of my previous blog post. I've been thinking about skipping books in a series ever since.

I am one of those people who is addicted to series. If something is in a series, I am about a hundred and seventeen times more likely to read it. (This has not been scientifically evaluated, I'm just throwing out a number that seems reasonable.) Stand alone titles interest me way less. Which is funny, considering how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE Kody Keplinger's book The DUFF, a stand alone novel. You can imagine how super excited I was when I heard that her newest book, Shut Out, is set at the same high school. Is it a series? No. But my reaction was still SCORE!!

Anyway. I skipped Frostbite. How did this happen? I recall exactly. I'd just finished Vampire Academy, and I went to my local Fred Meyer to pick up the next installment, but I didn't know *which* book in the series came next. I picked up a copy of Frostbite and flipped the first few pages, looking for a list of books in chronological order. Nothing there. So I turned the book over and saw little pictures of other books in the series gracing the back cover. The first in line was the cover for Vampire Academy. The next one in line was for Shadow Kiss. I didn't see the cover for Frostbite on the list anywhere. OH MY GOD, I thought. I am holding the last book in the series in my hands and OH MY GOD! What if I read the back cover and something on it spoils the entire series for me?

Of course my eyes immediately flew to the words and one leapt out at me. "Dimitri." I nearly screamed. Dammit!!! Now I know he lives!!! I dropped the book instantly, but the damage was done. But I remembered that the book cover next to the Vampire Academy book cover had been Shadow Kiss, so I picked that one up and bought it.

And that, my friends, is how I skipped Frostbite. Apparently they didn't feel the need to put a picture of the book I was actually holding between Vampire Academy and Shadow Kiss, even though that was where it placed, chronologically, in the series order. I think I figured it out somewhere around book 4 or so. Which leads me to wonder...how many sales are lost by this phenomena? Why can't books in a series be better about listing the series titles, in order, including the book you are currently holding in your hot little hands?

I know this is not really up to the author, that book design is a different animal entirely. Can someone get the Pimp My Novel guy on this please?

Just FYI, I probably will go back at some point and purchase and read Frostbite, because my "no stone unturned" nature will not allow me to leave a series unfinished, even if I'm fully aware of everything that happened in the missed book. But it will probably be a few years. You should see my TBR pile.