Quote:
Originally Posted by fjtorres
It's not *just* about hooking anybody; the purpose of a *free* sample is to show off the quality of the product. It should be as much as needed to achieve that and no more. Otherwise, you're really doing the "crippleware" version of shareware.
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I think you've got it reversed here.
First, "just" is misplaced. A short free sample is JUST for showing that you can spell. It doesn't allow for any other purpose. The reader can't tell anything about your plotting and pacing and follow through.
Second a short sample really is crippleware, because it doesn't actually let the user do anything with it - it only gives a spoon fed sample. The reader can't use the product as he or she would in life. While I see nothing wrong with crippleware, it has limited usefulness.
Third - and most important - it limits what the consumer can do with the sample. Someone like you, who only wants to make a quick check for "writing quality" can do so. Someone who judges writing quality as an ability to handle character development and plot arcs also has the ability to do so, which they can't with a short sample.
Across all kinds of sales practices, short samples are notorious for being false come ons. It's easy to create those. It takes guts to let your reader really judge the full value of the product.
But, to get back to the point, it's irrelevant to a book review and should not be taken into consideration, and it's also irrelevant to the price.
Camille