How big is that e-book anyway? - Page 2

CO'Neil · 08-31-2009, 09:27 PM

Don't know how he does it, but Mr. McClintock over at manybooks.net lists word count and page count for all his titles.

I really thought the page count was accurate for the small font on the Sony 500, but now I'll have to double-check.

Good thread.

Chris

Steven Lyle Jordan · 08-31-2009, 09:34 PM

Well, just listing word count is easy enough... I write in Word, and it gives me the count as I go. Page count is too dependent on what you read and how you read it. It might be slightly useful as a rough comparison, but no more than that.

carlobee · 08-31-2009, 09:41 PM

yes. in the future, i guess everyone will be saying.. "this book has a word count of xxx and i was able to read it at appproximately xxx days"

weights and pages of books doesn't really have to matter already.

Zero9 · 08-31-2009, 09:43 PM

The page numbers in ePubs tend to be pretty close to at least one edition of a given book; not close enough to switch between eBook and paper book without scanning a few pages to find where you are, but close enough to say "I'm half way through my 300 page book" and know you'd be saying the same thing if you were reading paper.

igorsk · 08-31-2009, 09:44 PM

I go by pagecount on my Sony, e.g. 300 pages is short, 600 is average and 1000 is on the thick side.
BTW, the picture in the first post is 404.

doreenjoy · 08-31-2009, 09:48 PM

I've never wondered how long an E-book is, and I've read hundreds of them. Just doesn't matter to my reading experience.

Zero9 · 08-31-2009, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doreenjoy

I've never wondered how long an E-book is, and I've read hundreds of them. Just doesn't matter to my reading experience.

I totally understand how you could feel way that, even though I'm completely different. I'm the kind of person who pages ahead (trying to avoid reading any words that would spoil what's coming up) just because I wonder how many pages are left before the end of a CHAPTER. Now that's something I'd like to be able to turn on in an e-book reader: a CHAPTER progress meter.

I expect I'm practically alone on this.

igorsk · 08-31-2009, 09:58 PM

I don't really pay attention to chapters. Some writers don't even use them (e.g. Sarah Hoyt).

Ankh · 08-31-2009, 10:27 PM

The very first device that I used to read books (aside from computer screen) was Palm Vx. The resolution was so small compared to gizmos that we use today, the experience was so different... It was convenient, it allowed me to carry a decent library everywhere. No bells and whistles, just barely "formatted" text.

I found out that it was sufficient. One could read the book, even on that tiny screen. Stripped of all excess baggage, the meaning of a "book" was forever changed for me.

They come in two forms: good reads, and those written for someone else. If a book can not make me forget that I am reading it on Palm Vx screen, it is not worth my time. I don't care how it is bound, I don't care how much effort was invested into typesetting, how nice is the font... it is not for me.

The size? Ten pages of boring text are too much, thousands of pages of interesting read are not enough.

zacheryjensen · 08-31-2009, 10:32 PM

Personally I favor the word count method. I don't agree at all that there is some kind of aesthetic problem. In fact, I've always hated the whole page count concept in books because rarely are two books' page "value" equal whether it be because of lots of paragraph breaks, font sizes, margins, paper size, etc. page count has always been fairly meaningless in books, paper or otherwise.

Word count is used in an industry where judging length of content is far more important than casual reading of books. I'm speaking of course of media industries like radio or television. It's important to be able to estimate the time it will take to read a copy with relative accuracy. This is done almost universally by word count. Clearly word count has its own flaws, where you have 1 vs. 7 syllable words but in any work of meaningful length that averages out quite quickly, whereas in a book, the page size vs. another book's page size will never reach equilibrium because it will not change throughout the course of a book.

At any rate, there's obviously going to be some kind of... nostalgia for aspects of paper books for people who have read their whole life. I just hope we can all realize how meaningless those elements really were and smile at the potential progress on offer with eBooks as we look forward.

zacheryjensen · 08-31-2009, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zero9

I totally understand how you could feel way that, even though I'm completely different. I'm the kind of person who pages ahead (trying to avoid reading any words that would spoil what's coming up) just because I wonder how many pages are left before the end of a CHAPTER. Now that's something I'd like to be able to turn on in an e-book reader: a CHAPTER progress meter.

I expect I'm practically alone on this.

I don't think you're alone on what you want, just where you assume the barriers are drawn. As was also mentioned, not all authors use chapters. But also worth mentioning is that some authors, especially those honoring more classic book layouts, use breaks within a chapter, scene breaks or whatever you want to call them usually indicated by some frilly symbol.

I like the idea of breaking a book down into its consumable portions, but the author's got to be able to indicate that some way, and not be limited to calling those breaks chapters.

zacheryjensen · 08-31-2009, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlobee

yes. in the future, i guess everyone will be saying.. "this book has a word count of xxx and i was able to read it at appproximately xxx days"

weights and pages of books doesn't really have to matter already.

I rarely hear anyone saying such specific info about their progress through books now, "e" or otherwise. Usually I hear "I'm about halfway through" or something like 'I just barely started' or 'I'm about done' it's really only my wife that bothers to give me page numbers and I'm always quick to point out that I have no idea what that means because I don't know how much stuff fits on a page in whatever book she's reading so...

Maybe percentages will become the defacto way of vaguely indicating progress? My Kindle tells me percent as well as some magical number specific to amazon. At this point I've been using the percentage if I cared to indicate my progress through a book. I've yet to worry about indicating how long the book is in total because frankly, that metric seems unimportant to me. I've read short books in long times because of boringness, and the inverse as well.

It's funny how easily we can get hung up on measurements though.

BenG · 08-31-2009, 11:45 PM

Paper books can mislead you also. I remember buying a thick hardcover Stephen King novel. I think it was Insomnia, but the margins were very wide and book wasn't as long as it seemed at first.

KarenH · 09-01-2009, 12:51 AM

I like to have at least a general idea of the length of the books, mostly because there are times when I prefer a shorter or longer book, for a variety of reasons. I think for my purposes a word count would be the best indicator (once I figure out how the numbers translate into my current perception of book length). After I start a book though, knowing what chapter I'm in and/or approximate percentage would be all the information I would care about.

Superlucky · 09-01-2009, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zero9

I totally understand how you could feel way that, even though I'm completely different. I'm the kind of person who pages ahead (trying to avoid reading any words that would spoil what's coming up) just because I wonder how many pages are left before the end of a CHAPTER. Now that's something I'd like to be able to turn on in an e-book reader: a CHAPTER progress meter.

I expect I'm practically alone on this.

You're not alone. I don't like putting a book down between chapters, and with paper books I usually flip ahead at bedtime to decide if I should start a new one.

I didn't know about the Kindle feature that showed (roughly) the size of books. Pretty cool. I wish my Sony did that.

08-31-2009, 09:27 PM	#16
CO'Neil Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 154 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: upstate NY Device: PRS500	It's nice to know before downloading, anyway Don't know how he does it, but Mr. McClintock over at manybooks.net lists word count and page count for all his titles. I really thought the page count was accurate for the small font on the Sony 500, but now I'll have to double-check. Good thread. Chris

08-31-2009, 09:43 PM	#19
Zero9 Zealot Posts: 129 Karma: 550 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Iowa, USA Device: Kindle Touch	The page numbers in ePubs tend to be pretty close to at least one edition of a given book; not close enough to switch between eBook and paper book without scanning a few pages to find where you are, but close enough to say "I'm half way through my 300 page book" and know you'd be saying the same thing if you were reading paper. Last edited by Zero9; 08-31-2009 at 09:46 PM.

08-31-2009, 10:27 PM	#24
Ankh Guru Posts: 714 Karma: 2003751 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Ottawa, ON Device: Kobo Glo HD	The very first device that I used to read books (aside from computer screen) was Palm Vx. The resolution was so small compared to gizmos that we use today, the experience was so different... It was convenient, it allowed me to carry a decent library everywhere. No bells and whistles, just barely "formatted" text. I found out that it was sufficient. One could read the book, even on that tiny screen. Stripped of all excess baggage, the meaning of a "book" was forever changed for me. They come in two forms: good reads, and those written for someone else. If a book can not make me forget that I am reading it on Palm Vx screen, it is not worth my time. I don't care how it is bound, I don't care how much effort was invested into typesetting, how nice is the font... it is not for me. The size? Ten pages of boring text are too much, thousands of pages of interesting read are not enough. Last edited by Ankh; 08-31-2009 at 10:30 PM.

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08-31-2009, 09:34 PM	#17
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	Well, just listing word count is easy enough... I write in Word, and it gives me the count as I go. Page count is too dependent on what you read and how you read it. It might be slightly useful as a rough comparison, but no more than that.

08-31-2009, 09:41 PM	#18
carlobee Fanatic Posts: 535 Karma: 972 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: The new iPad	yes. in the future, i guess everyone will be saying.. "this book has a word count of xxx and i was able to read it at appproximately xxx days" weights and pages of books doesn't really have to matter already.

08-31-2009, 09:44 PM	#20
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	I go by pagecount on my Sony, e.g. 300 pages is short, 600 is average and 1000 is on the thick side. BTW, the picture in the first post is 404.

08-31-2009, 09:48 PM	#21
doreenjoy 01000100 01001010 Posts: 1,889 Karma: 2400000 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Polyamorous	I've never wondered how long an E-book is, and I've read hundreds of them. Just doesn't matter to my reading experience.

08-31-2009, 09:58 PM	#23
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	I don't really pay attention to chapters. Some writers don't even use them (e.g. Sarah Hoyt).

08-31-2009, 10:32 PM	#25
zacheryjensen Addict Posts: 229 Karma: 887 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Utah, USA Device: iPad, iPhone 4	Personally I favor the word count method. I don't agree at all that there is some kind of aesthetic problem. In fact, I've always hated the whole page count concept in books because rarely are two books' page "value" equal whether it be because of lots of paragraph breaks, font sizes, margins, paper size, etc. page count has always been fairly meaningless in books, paper or otherwise. Word count is used in an industry where judging length of content is far more important than casual reading of books. I'm speaking of course of media industries like radio or television. It's important to be able to estimate the time it will take to read a copy with relative accuracy. This is done almost universally by word count. Clearly word count has its own flaws, where you have 1 vs. 7 syllable words but in any work of meaningful length that averages out quite quickly, whereas in a book, the page size vs. another book's page size will never reach equilibrium because it will not change throughout the course of a book. At any rate, there's obviously going to be some kind of... nostalgia for aspects of paper books for people who have read their whole life. I just hope we can all realize how meaningless those elements really were and smile at the potential progress on offer with eBooks as we look forward.

08-31-2009, 11:45 PM	#28
BenG Home Guard Posts: 4,729 Karma: 86721650 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Alpha Ralpha Boulevard Device: Kindle Oasis 3G, iPhone 6	Paper books can mislead you also. I remember buying a thick hardcover Stephen King novel. I think it was Insomnia, but the margins were very wide and book wasn't as long as it seemed at first.

09-01-2009, 12:51 AM	#29
KarenH Addict Posts: 281 Karma: 37762 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: NW Washington State, USA Device: K3	I like to have at least a general idea of the length of the books, mostly because there are times when I prefer a shorter or longer book, for a variety of reasons. I think for my purposes a word count would be the best indicator (once I figure out how the numbers translate into my current perception of book length). After I start a book though, knowing what chapter I'm in and/or approximate percentage would be all the information I would care about.