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Old 10-04-2012, 06:53 AM   #1
charlesvald
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Sample size of Books

Are you finding the fixed 10% sample size via KDP a bit restrictive? Or is it just me.
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Old 10-04-2012, 11:56 AM   #2
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You could always put a lot of junk at the end to make it bigger, but I think it would be a lot better if you could dictate your own sample end.
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Old 10-04-2012, 12:45 PM   #3
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IMO, 10% is plenty. If you do not sell them in the first 10%, your not going to get them in the next.
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Old 10-04-2012, 01:17 PM   #4
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Quote:
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IMO, 10% is plenty. If you do not sell them in the first 10%, your not going to get them in the next.
This isn't true when the first 10% consists of too many pages of copyright info, publlishing info, table of contents, dedication, etc. Some samples have no actual content to review.
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Old 10-04-2012, 01:59 PM   #5
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The shorter the book, the more sense it makes to move most of the front matter to the back.
Combine the Title and Copyright pages into one
For Non-fiction, next should be an abstract or introduction (this is your real sample hook).
Then Table of Contents, then the rest of the book.
This should assure that the intro and Table of Contents are in the first 10%.
Ebooks aren't print books. We shouldn't have to follow all the traditions of a print book.
Bob
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Old 10-05-2012, 03:16 AM   #6
charlesvald
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sample size

Yes I've moved somethings to the end of the book, a lot of my work is children's so the size of the book is small.
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Old 10-06-2012, 01:31 AM   #7
Edward M. Grant
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I put almost everything at the back, and usually set the sample to 50% where it's not a fixed size. I've seen one e-book where there was so much crud at the start that the Amazon sample literally ended with the words 'Chapter One'.
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Old 10-07-2012, 02:50 AM   #8
QuantumIguana
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I've read many samples where the sample runs out before it gets to any actual content.
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Old 10-07-2012, 03:52 AM   #9
WT Sharpe
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GeckoFriend View Post
This isn't true when the first 10% consists of too many pages of copyright info, publlishing info, table of contents, dedication, etc. Some samples have no actual content to review.
Very true, and it doesn't endear the book to anyone who has downloaded such a sample for evaluation. If anything, a sample with no actual content is counter-productive. It angers the potential customer by making them feel they've just wasted their precious time on a wild goose chase. It seems better to offer no sample than one devoid of content.
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Old 10-07-2012, 06:26 AM   #10
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Sure, but this question appeared to be asked form the authors POV. The author can move all that junk to the back so that the 10% has plenty of materiel. You only really need 1-2 pages tops in the front (TOC and Title Page). For fiction works you really do not need a TOC in some cases. That should leave plenty of room in the 10% for content even for a novella.

From the readers point of view... yea some authors really mess up their sample with garbage.
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Old 10-07-2012, 08:35 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe View Post
Very true, and it doesn't endear the book to anyone who has downloaded such a sample for evaluation. If anything, a sample with no actual content is counter-productive. It angers the potential customer by making them feel they've just wasted their precious time on a wild goose chase. It seems better to offer no sample than one devoid of content.
This is absolutely true for me. I immediately reject all such books.
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Old 10-10-2012, 02:03 PM   #12
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Hmm...Put the front matter at the back? That's an idea. I'm a little different than most (and maybe backwards?) I have to admit, I almost never look at the samples, myself. I tend to rely on the blurb and if the author has a site, nine times out of ten they'll have samples up, so I'll go look at those, before I download the sample from Amazon.
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