Does the Publisher Name Matter?

Michael Hyatt, CEO of publisher Thomas Nelson, described in a blog post today a survey Thomas Nelson did recently asking readers to vote on a new Nelson logo that would appear on the spines of their books.

He commented about the survey,

Prior to this research, our internal position was that the publisher’s name and logo didn’t matter to the consumer. According to this view, consumers were primarily focused on the author’s name and the book’s title or subject matter.

However, more than 500 people actually left a comment on the survey. Many of them reported that “Thomas Nelson” did mean something positive to them, and they wanted to see it more prominently displayed on the spine.

I’m curious how you all think about that.  Does the publisher’s name play a role in whether you choose to buy or browse a book?  Or is the author and topic most important?

Based on the survey results, Nelson decided to go with this look and logo (see the post for a larger image) for the spine.