Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
Both word and page counts for ebooks can also be distorted by the inclusion of teaser chapters from other books. It can be a surprise when reading to find that, instead of the expected 50 pages to go, you've suddenly reached the end.
If, as haertig suggests, the real problem/complaint is not wanting to buy into an incomplete story (at least until it is finished), then length doesn't really matter. You can be just as disappointed in a long book that doesn't finish as a short one (perhaps more so because of the time spent).
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I remember reading a book about writing where the author complained about that. He/she had read the 1st book of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and didn't realize it was only the 1st third of a long novel that had to be split into 3 parts due to length. Now days of course with digital tech that isn't such a problem. I've found at least one book that was in 3 parts. I bought the epubs and joined them together in Calibre.
Another problem with ebooks is when a person initially offers a book for free and then down the road decides to charge for it. I understand that it is their right to do so but at the same time if you add such a book to your library over at a site like Smashwords and then it becomes a book you have to pay for you suddenly have to pay for a book that was already in your library. That's one problem at least that you don't have at sites like Amazon. If you buy it during a period when it's offered for free it still stays in your library even after the price changes.