The Page 99 Test

Madam Broshkina · 10-26-2010, 07:02 PM

http://www.page99test.com/

From the Website:

Quote:

For decades, readers have used the Page 99 Test to judge the writing of a book before buying it. That's the idea here... but with a twist.
Here, published and unpublished writers share their page 99s with readers like you. And you get to rate their writing (without knowing if it's published or who the author is). It's fast. Fun. Addictive.

Note I found this site via Nate's great website "The Digital Reader."

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/

ASparrow · 10-26-2010, 11:22 PM

I put up Page 99s from three of my books and it's been a lot of fun.

Some of the criticism is so harsh it's very amusing. I get accused of using a thesaurus (I never open one) for one of the selections because I use the word 'lacunae.'

Sometimes the praise is surprising, too. What I consider my weakest work (Lethe) gets the most raves. My best stuff gets panned. Sometimes the criticism is diametrically opposed.

I also have fun critiquing and rating all of the other Page 99s. One thing that's surprising is how often I hate work that is professionally published. There are some classics strewn in as well. 'Little Women' had a totally nonsensical sentence in the middle of its Page 99.

chrischance · 10-27-2010, 01:10 PM

Hmm...

http://www.smashwords.com/extreader/...9/satans-arena

ASparrow · 10-27-2010, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrischance

Hmm...

http://www.smashwords.com/extreader/...9/satans-arena

Works for me. I'd turn the page.

DavidRM · 10-27-2010, 04:59 PM

I just posted page 99 from The Summoning Fire. I'd give a link if there was one to give...

I got a thumbs up right away, but no comments yet. I'm curious how it'll go.

-David

markuskane · 10-27-2010, 06:39 PM

I just loaded page 99 of Ameriqaeda. I'm eager to see the response.

M T McGuire · 10-27-2010, 07:23 PM

What a great idea, I've never gone to a specific page, I just read the blurb and then open the book at random.

That said, my page 99 is dead in the water, it's the middle of a long conversation between two characters and it won't mean a thing to anyone! boy is it compulsive though I've just spent half an hour on there.

Fun though, thanks for the heads up.

Cheers

MTM

DavidRM · 10-27-2010, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M T McGuire

...That said, my page 99 is dead in the water, it's the middle of a long conversation between two characters and it won't mean a thing to anyone! boy is it compulsive though I've just spent half an hour on there...

Yeah. It's an arbitrary page #.

Me, when I'm at a bookstore and considering buying a book (which does still happen occasionally), I usually read the first page or three. Flipping into the middle isn't something I would ever do.

-David

basilsands · 10-27-2010, 08:16 PM

Interesting site, this. I posted the page 99 of all three of mine just now. We'll see what happens.

ASparrow · 10-27-2010, 08:16 PM

I stuck 3 books up and so far I'm only scoring 51%, 34% and 33% for page-turning. I have to admit that I probably would only turn the page for one of them (the 51%er).

markuskane · 10-27-2010, 08:42 PM

Very interesting. I posted one and have so far received three out of three thumbs-up. I just posted another page from an old manuscript.

DavidRM · 10-28-2010, 12:21 AM

My opinion of the "page 99 test" has dropped with just one comment:

"There were a lot of characters to keep track of on this one page..."

If you wanted to meet the characters, maybe you should start from the beginning.

I would guess, for most novels, page 99 is quite "en media res".

Ah, well.

-David

James_Wilde · 10-28-2010, 05:22 AM

I'm in there with "Prince on a Red Dragon" and wondering what the effect will be.

One disappointment: page 99 is limited to 2200 characters, and a page is roughly 400 words, and a word is reckoned to be 6 characters, 7 with the space after, so that's 2800. I was forced to edit my page - no bad thing, I suppose.

Now I'll have to go to my anti-spam email address and see if anyone has said anything!

Later: Nothing in the mailbox, although I've asked for monitoring. But I went into the site and got 63%!!!!! 5 would turn the page and 3 wouldn't. Now if only I could get hold of the 5!

Now _this_ is what I call feedback: from actual readers. Wow! And now, in all fairness, I must read some others' entries.

James_Wilde · 10-28-2010, 05:53 AM

This - page99.com - is such a good idea that I'm going to suggest to the mods that they make this a sticky thread. The value of the feedback is enormous.

James_Wilde · 10-28-2010, 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidRM

My opinion of the "page 99 test" has dropped with just one comment:

"There were a lot of characters to keep track of on this one page..."

How did you get to see this comment, David? I checked "Show all feedback" and all I saw was a bar chart with different levels of interest. Or did this come anonymously to your email address?

10-28-2010, 05:22 AM	#13
James_Wilde Guru Posts: 802 Karma: 4727110 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Iriver Story	I'm in there with "Prince on a Red Dragon" and wondering what the effect will be. One disappointment: page 99 is limited to 2200 characters, and a page is roughly 400 words, and a word is reckoned to be 6 characters, 7 with the space after, so that's 2800. I was forced to edit my page - no bad thing, I suppose. Now I'll have to go to my anti-spam email address and see if anyone has said anything! Later: Nothing in the mailbox, although I've asked for monitoring. But I went into the site and got 63%!!!!! 5 would turn the page and 3 wouldn't. Now if only I could get hold of the 5! Now _this_ is what I call feedback: from actual readers. Wow! And now, in all fairness, I must read some others' entries. Last edited by James_Wilde; 10-28-2010 at 05:28 AM. Reason: Added result of check

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10-26-2010, 11:22 PM	#2
ASparrow Addict Posts: 355 Karma: 600000 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Boston Device: Palm TX	I put up Page 99s from three of my books and it's been a lot of fun. Some of the criticism is so harsh it's very amusing. I get accused of using a thesaurus (I never open one) for one of the selections because I use the word 'lacunae.' Sometimes the praise is surprising, too. What I consider my weakest work (Lethe) gets the most raves. My best stuff gets panned. Sometimes the criticism is diametrically opposed. I also have fun critiquing and rating all of the other Page 99s. One thing that's surprising is how often I hate work that is professionally published. There are some classics strewn in as well. 'Little Women' had a totally nonsensical sentence in the middle of its Page 99.

10-27-2010, 01:10 PM	#3
chrischance Member Posts: 11 Karma: 695354 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, England. Device: PC	Hmm... http://www.smashwords.com/extreader/...9/satans-arena

10-27-2010, 04:59 PM	#5
DavidRM Addict Posts: 203 Karma: 1007768 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma Device: Kindle	I just posted page 99 from The Summoning Fire. I'd give a link if there was one to give... I got a thumbs up right away, but no comments yet. I'm curious how it'll go. -David

10-27-2010, 06:39 PM	#6
markuskane Markus Kane Posts: 49 Karma: 50000 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kindle	I just loaded page 99 of Ameriqaeda. I'm eager to see the response.

10-27-2010, 07:23 PM	#7
M T McGuire Addict Posts: 231 Karma: 1006970 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England Device: kindle	What a great idea, I've never gone to a specific page, I just read the blurb and then open the book at random. That said, my page 99 is dead in the water, it's the middle of a long conversation between two characters and it won't mean a thing to anyone! boy is it compulsive though I've just spent half an hour on there. Fun though, thanks for the heads up. Cheers MTM

10-27-2010, 08:16 PM	#9
basilsands Arctic Warrior Posts: 85 Karma: 50000 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Anchorage, Alaska Device: kindle	Interesting site, this. I posted the page 99 of all three of mine just now. We'll see what happens.

10-27-2010, 08:42 PM	#11
markuskane Markus Kane Posts: 49 Karma: 50000 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kindle	Very interesting. I posted one and have so far received three out of three thumbs-up. I just posted another page from an old manuscript.

10-28-2010, 12:21 AM	#12
DavidRM Addict Posts: 203 Karma: 1007768 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma Device: Kindle	My opinion of the "page 99 test" has dropped with just one comment: "There were a lot of characters to keep track of on this one page..." If you wanted to meet the characters, maybe you should start from the beginning. I would guess, for most novels, page 99 is quite "en media res". Ah, well. -David

10-28-2010, 05:53 AM	#14
James_Wilde Guru Posts: 802 Karma: 4727110 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Iriver Story	This - page99.com - is such a good idea that I'm going to suggest to the mods that they make this a sticky thread. The value of the feedback is enormous.