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I don't find the current samples all that bad--they are on the short side. But even with that, I'm not going to go and browse a few pages in with the paperback. If I don't like the book that much or am unsure, I usually look for a borrow option (if it's indie) or a library option (local or interlibrary loan). I've seen polls done on other forums and by and large most people do not sample. They DOWNLOAD a lot of samples, but there's only a subset who actually read and use that to choose.
I've seen authors get pretty hung up on wanting to know the number of samples downloaded, but like freebies, it doesn't matter. The more important number probably how many people read the freebie or sample. Of course, even if we knew, what would we do about it? Rewrite the book? Okay, okay, if I knew that people were downloading the sample and reading it, but not buying, I'd probably make the sample longer. But for most retailers, that simply isn't an option. Off the top of my head the only place I can specify is Smashwords.
FWIW, I don't put much front matter in mine so that the sample is longer. Most authors didn't-but that is apparently changing because of KU and probably SCRIBD and other subscription models. There is no way I'm going back to add front matter. Good grief. I have my hands full just juggling jobs, current WIP, life and so on. I mean, I do worry/think about sales and how to gain sales, but I can't waste time on piddly things like that. I think authors do it more because they feel somehow cheated by the subscription model, not even because they are trying to trick the reader. But what do I know?
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