How big is that e-book anyway? - Page 4

Abecedary · 09-01-2009, 08:51 AM

As others have said, the ADE page numbers tend to be fairly close (+/-10%) to the page numbering in the paper versions of the same books. For instance, in the book I'm reading now, the chapter I'm on starts on page 429. Looking up the same book in Google Books shows that the chapter starts on page 434 in the print edition. Close enough for me!

Jack Tingle · 09-01-2009, 09:04 AM

Word count would seem to be the best of all suggestions, since it's usually available. Many publishers, including Fictionwise, list it, since it's often tied to payment. As to sizes and nomenclatures:

SFWA Nebula Award Categories:
Novel — 40,000 words or more
Novella — 17,500–39,999 words
Novelette — 7,500–17,499 words
Short Story — 7,499 words or fewer

As an aside: Flash Fiction <750 words (or 1000 or 300 or ...)

Note that 40,000 words is short for a novel nowadays. Some wrist rupturing megavolumes turgid with the author's inviolable prose approach 300,000 words.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

rcrh · 09-01-2009, 09:08 AM

Actually, it's not so much the length of the book that I find absent in ebooks, it's the length of chapters. It's nice to put a book down at chapter breaks and I find it impossible to know if I have to fight off sleep for another minute or two or an hour when I'm readying an ebook. It's dead easy to flip ahead and eye-ball a chapter break with a paper book. It would be nice if ebooks had some sort of progress bar for chapters.

BTW, it would also be nice if the spell checker on a forum about ebooks would stop trying to correct the spelling of ebook!

montsnmags · 09-01-2009, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcrh

...
BTW, it would also be nice if the spell checker on a forum about ebooks would stop trying to correct the spelling of ebook!

The forum has a spill chucker?

Abecedary · 09-01-2009, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcrh

Actually, it's not so much the length of the book that I find absent in ebooks, it's the length of chapters. It's nice to put a book down at chapter breaks and I find it impossible to know if I have to fight off sleep for another minute or two or an hour when I'm readying an ebook. It's dead easy to flip ahead and eye-ball a chapter break with a paper book. It would be nice if ebooks had some sort of progress bar for chapters.

When I want to find out how many more pages are in the chapter, I bump out to the TOC and see where the next chapter starts. From there, just hit the Menu key and the Continue Reading button (this is the sequence on the 505, not sure about other readers). It takes maybe 5 to 10 seconds--a tiny bit longer than it would take to flip through the paper book to find the end of the chapter.

Abecedary · 09-01-2009, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by montsnmags

The forum has a spill chucker?

I think he's talking about the spell checker in his browser.

Slite · 09-01-2009, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abecedary

I think he's talking about the spell checker in his browser.

Nope, there is a spellchecker on the forums, if you reply to a thread, there is in the upper right corner of the editwindow a check mark with abc over it. That says "Check spelling" if you hover over it

Sweetpea · 09-01-2009, 09:37 AM

Not with me, so you must have a plugin!

Abecedary · 09-01-2009, 09:48 AM

Maybe it's a browser-specific thing? I don't get it in Firefox on the Mac. *shrug*

=X= · 09-01-2009, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Russell

... I can't think of any other alternative besides word count, and that seems to incredibly unsatisfying and aesthetically crude. It reminds me too much of school days...

That was my same impression the first time I saw the word count and expected time of reading (ETR) associated with eBooks. But after seeing it for some time, I've found I rather like that method. It's consisten across book and it also tells me about how long I should take to read the eBook.

Its a far more accurate measurement than page numbers of a paper books, where one knew the approx length only from experience, yet this was not very accurate because page numbers changed based on font size and margins.

With word count/ETR that is a fixed value that will be consistent across books.

Just my 2 cents.

=X=

pedgarcia · 09-01-2009, 11:12 AM

Nice thoughts. I don't pay attention the size of the book, but I do for the chapter. As Superlucky I like to know if I should start a new chapter or wait for the next day.

Paulo

Daithi · 09-01-2009, 11:14 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.

The Kindle DX does have a chapter indicator and I love it, because I do the same thing as Zero9.

Shiren · 09-01-2009, 11:26 AM

I often check on amazon the book's paperback version page count. Also, if the font is standard, I check the number of pages on my Sony reader. An average length novel (300-400 pages in paperback) will be around 600 pages on my Sony. Longer novels are around 1000-1500 pages long. The Pillars of the Earth is 2258 pages long on my reader.

I googled about the word count in books and found out that amazon sometimes has a text stats page (search for "text stats" on the book page). Click here for an example.

Oh and the number of characters would be even more accurate than the number of words to describe a book's length (what if someone decides to write a book using only lengthy words?!). Sorry, I'm an engineer

.

delphidb96 · 09-01-2009, 01:37 PM

I guess the problem I've always had with page numbering in a fiction ebook is that if I'm so bored by the story that I feel compelled to discover just how far I've read and how far it is to the next chapter - then that's a good sign the story isn't worth the read.

There are far too many GOOD novels out there which suck me into the story deeply enough that I don't even really notice what chapter I'm on. And with all these great reads out there, I don't have time to waste on a story that doesn't reach that level.

Now if you want to talk about non-fiction books and page-numbering, well, the situation is completely different!

Derek

Sydney's Mom · 09-01-2009, 02:02 PM

I read junk for pleasure. A large minority is written badly. I like being able to judge how far I have left, to see if I can hold my nose and finish. I have actually been pleasantly surprised a couple times in my life, so I feel obligated to finish every book I start. Of course, I have a huge number of books I have started, just like knitting projects that don't stop me from starting something new.

09-01-2009, 09:37 AM	#53
Sweetpea Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,707 Karma: 32763414 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Krewerd Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	Not with me, so you must have a plugin! Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Sweetpea; 09-01-2009 at 09:40 AM. Reason: Added proof

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09-01-2009, 08:51 AM	#46
Abecedary Exwyzeeologist Posts: 535 Karma: 3261 Join Date: Jun 2009 Device: :PRS-505::iPod touch:	As others have said, the ADE page numbers tend to be fairly close (+/-10%) to the page numbering in the paper versions of the same books. For instance, in the book I'm reading now, the chapter I'm on starts on page 429. Looking up the same book in Google Books shows that the chapter starts on page 434 in the print edition. Close enough for me!

09-01-2009, 09:04 AM	#47
Jack Tingle Punctuation Fetishist Posts: 557 Karma: 1070000 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: The Bluest Commonwealth In East America Device: Kindle PW, Nexus 7 (2013), Galaxy S5 phone, Galaxy Tab 4 8.0	Word count would seem to be the best of all suggestions, since it's usually available. Many publishers, including Fictionwise, list it, since it's often tied to payment. As to sizes and nomenclatures: SFWA Nebula Award Categories: Novel — 40,000 words or more Novella — 17,500–39,999 words Novelette — 7,500–17,499 words Short Story — 7,499 words or fewer As an aside: Flash Fiction <750 words (or 1000 or 300 or ...) Note that 40,000 words is short for a novel nowadays. Some wrist rupturing megavolumes turgid with the author's inviolable prose approach 300,000 words. Regards, Jack Tingle

09-01-2009, 09:08 AM	#48
rcrh Enthusiast Posts: 39 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Sony PRS-505	Actually, it's not so much the length of the book that I find absent in ebooks, it's the length of chapters. It's nice to put a book down at chapter breaks and I find it impossible to know if I have to fight off sleep for another minute or two or an hour when I'm readying an ebook. It's dead easy to flip ahead and eye-ball a chapter break with a paper book. It would be nice if ebooks had some sort of progress bar for chapters. BTW, it would also be nice if the spell checker on a forum about ebooks would stop trying to correct the spelling of ebook!

09-01-2009, 09:48 AM	#54
Abecedary Exwyzeeologist Posts: 535 Karma: 3261 Join Date: Jun 2009 Device: :PRS-505::iPod touch:	Maybe it's a browser-specific thing? I don't get it in Firefox on the Mac. shrug

09-01-2009, 11:12 AM	#56
pedgarcia Connoisseur Posts: 63 Karma: 250 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: PRS-505	Nice thoughts. I don't pay attention the size of the book, but I do for the chapter. As Superlucky I like to know if I should start a new chapter or wait for the next day. Paulo

09-01-2009, 11:26 AM	#58
Shiren Connoisseur Posts: 70 Karma: 712 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: Sony PRS-505/iPod Touch	I often check on amazon the book's paperback version page count. Also, if the font is standard, I check the number of pages on my Sony reader. An average length novel (300-400 pages in paperback) will be around 600 pages on my Sony. Longer novels are around 1000-1500 pages long. The Pillars of the Earth is 2258 pages long on my reader. I googled about the word count in books and found out that amazon sometimes has a text stats page (search for "text stats" on the book page). Click here for an example. Oh and the number of characters would be even more accurate than the number of words to describe a book's length (what if someone decides to write a book using only lengthy words?!). Sorry, I'm an engineer .

09-01-2009, 01:37 PM	#59
delphidb96 Wizard Posts: 2,999 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Citrus Heights, California Device: TWO Kindle 2s, one each Bookeen Cybook Gen3, Sony PRS-500, Axim X51V	I guess the problem I've always had with page numbering in a fiction ebook is that if I'm so bored by the story that I feel compelled to discover just how far I've read and how far it is to the next chapter - then that's a good sign the story isn't worth the read. There are far too many GOOD novels out there which suck me into the story deeply enough that I don't even really notice what chapter I'm on. And with all these great reads out there, I don't have time to waste on a story that doesn't reach that level. Now if you want to talk about non-fiction books and page-numbering, well, the situation is completely different! Derek

09-01-2009, 02:02 PM	#60
Sydney's Mom Wizard Posts: 2,895 Karma: 6995721 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Idaho, on the side of a mountain Device: Kindle Oasis, Fire 3d Gen and 5th Gen and Samsung Tab S	I read junk for pleasure. A large minority is written badly. I like being able to judge how far I have left, to see if I can hold my nose and finish. I have actually been pleasantly surprised a couple times in my life, so I feel obligated to finish every book I start. Of course, I have a huge number of books I have started, just like knitting projects that don't stop me from starting something new.

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