What is the optimal E-reader story size? - Page 2

CWatkinsNash · 01-01-2011, 03:14 PM

Having an ereader has actually opened my scope when it comes to "size" of the content I read. Previously, I read novels of varying length, and I read short fiction either online or in collections or anthologies. I find I like breaking up my reading by reading a few short works in between the longer ones. With ebooks, this is breathtakingly simple to do because I can read all of those from one device, and the shorter works are more accessible.

As for any length limitations in either direction, I generally don't get much from flash fic (extremely short) pieces, but anything that is the equivalent of at least 7 or 8 pages works for me. On the other end of the spectrum, I'm a Stephen King fan and the unabridged ("author's cut") edition of The Stand didn't even phase me, and that hasn't changed since moving to ebooks.

Like others have mentioned, however long it takes to tell the story. As long as it doesn't stall out too horribly along the way, I'm good. I am wary of books that can't live up to their promise. If something is billed as "epic fantasy" then it should be of epic length (or part of a series). If something claims to have a complicated, involved story with many amazing characters but clocks in at 45,000 words I'm not even going to bother. Beyond those types of considerations, size doesn't really matter.

(Off topic but sort of related - I get really ticked off when I find out I'm being set up for a cliffhanger with no hint of it beforehand. If it's going to be a series, TELL ME! especially if the author has no clue when (or even if) the next one will be available. And each part should have some resolution, even if the primary storyline continues. Just chopping a long novel into three parts does not a series make. Serial, yes, but it should be billed as such. Okay, rant over.

)

HarryT · 01-01-2011, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidKitson

I'd hate to think of anyone writing a story and aiming at a specific length.

It's part of being a professional writer to be able to write a story to a specific length. It's an absolutely essential skill in journalism, for example.

susan_cassidy · 01-01-2011, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidKitson

I guess I hear some writers saying "130K pages max" so often, it had started to sink in.

130,000 pages would be quite a long book. (130K = 130000). I'm not sure if you meant 130K bytes as the size of the ebook/estory or 130 pages.

JP36 · 01-01-2011, 03:36 PM

For me when reading digitally the length doesn't matter, the 'intent' I have when selecting a piece does, if I want 'instant gratification' then it *might* be a short story unless just jumping back into a longer piece will do the same as I'm 'involved' in the story.

I generally prefer longer stories which colours my opinion to some extent, I usually only read short stories in a quest to get more out of an author, to get a view of an unknown/new-to-me author, or as part of a collection of similarly themed short stories in the hard cover days. When I say longer I mean of the 300-500page length longer books seem to stir the critic in me who asks why this was included or how that is needed. While shorter ones leave me more often than not feeling cheated, especially if there are additional 'thin' volumes seemingly done to spread out the tale, or simply let me down that more wasn't developed. As an example I prefer a 'fleshed out' book vs a short one that hooks you to get you buying the other short books to continue the story, I'd rather read a fleshed out longer book than two short books engineered as I describe.

Chapter length is hard to measure as I really only noticed too long or too short with paper books. I prefer the lengths be roughly the same, dislike tiny and giant chapters but it isn't a huge deal if they work.

screwballl · 01-01-2011, 04:07 PM

My preference on an ereader is pretty much the same as paper: longer in depth books. I have noticed I have grabbed a few short stories on my reader which make it convenient for reading sessions of an hour or two, but otherwise it is always longer books, ones that typically fall in 300 to 600+ pages if it were average sized paperback.

crich70 · 01-01-2011, 04:59 PM

Yes but journalism is mostly non-fiction (I say mostly since even the writer has a point of view about whatever issue is under discussion) isn't it Harry? So it's more a problem of just presenting the important facts fully but without bloat where as fiction is harder to quantify in the same way I think. I mean a subplot may seem to be important to the main plot though the reader might see it differently later.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

It's part of being a professional writer to be able to write a story to a specific length. It's an absolutely essential skill in journalism, for example.

wodin · 01-01-2011, 05:10 PM

I too like longer books, and would much rather have it on a 1/2 inch thick ereader than a 3 or 4 inch thick pbook.

I just don't like authors who insert unrelavent minutia in order to pad the word count.

DavidKitson · 01-01-2011, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

130,000 pages would be quite a long book. (130K = 130000). I'm not sure if you meant 130K bytes as the size of the ebook/estory or 130 pages.

Oops... Never post tired!

I should pay a little more attention to my units when rereading my posts.

I meant 130,000 words.

130,000 pages? That's about a lifetime isn't it?

Thanks for pointing it out -

David

DavidKitson · 01-01-2011, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crich70

Yes but journalism is mostly non-fiction (I say mostly since even the writer has a point of view about whatever issue is under discussion) isn't it Harry? So it's more a problem of just presenting the important facts fully but without bloat where as fiction is harder to quantify in the same way I think. I mean a subplot may seem to be important to the main plot though the reader might see it differently later.

This is the other side of bloat isn't it. Unintentionally increasing the size of a story.

Sometimes, removing content will improve a story by increasing the pace of an action-oriented chapter or by keeping the story threads where they should be.

Oftentimes, I read a story and take note of the threads that are started early on in the piece and wonder where they went after the last page is read and the back cover closed.

Except for some authors who have a habit of opening a thread in one book and closing it several books later, it's rather annoying to see authors simply dropping threads because they can't think of how to tie them off in the ending.

Likewise I hate it when I get to the climax of the story and realize the writer has simply run out of steam and just wants to get the story finished. Both are likely to result in a needlessly shorter story and less satisfaction.

And both are good examples of how a great story is devalued by what could essentially be classified as professional behavior.

Writing to a size is an important skill to have for many reasons, but used poorly I think it detracts from the quality of the final product.

Regards
David

The Terminator · 01-01-2011, 09:30 PM

I like longer books like stieg larssons i read most of his in about 4 days

dwig · 01-01-2011, 09:33 PM

I too don't find any difference in my ebook and pbook reading with respect to my preference of story length.

Over the last decade and a half that I've been a serious ebook reader (~60-70% of my reading over that period on average, though more like 90% now) there is no significant difference with one exception. Ebooks make it practical to "publish" single short stories. This has caused me to read a somewhat larger percentage of short stories. I often find a single story that I would have not noticed if it was buried in a collection.

leebase · 01-02-2011, 12:13 AM

Just like I think in miles and gallons, I still think in "pages" even though there really is no "page" in an ebook. I've even gone as far as looking up the page count for a boom and then set my font size to get the same number of pages only iPad.

I like longer works....even series of longer works. I do miss the satisfaction of finishing a "big book". There is no sense of size for ebooks.

Lee

crich70 · 01-02-2011, 01:27 AM

Actually I think it depends on what you mean by size myself. Granted there are no actual 'pages' as such in an ebook, but there is the byte size. I mean ebooks come in different sizes as regards how many kb's or mb's of space they take up though I imagine part of that is dependant on the format (epub vs. mobi for example) and whether or not there are image files included in the book itself. Still it's a good bet that a book of say 80 kb is going to have a shorter text length than one that's 1.5 MB's in size since most fiction books (at least) don't have a lot of image files unlike perhaps a non-fiction book which could have many.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leebase

Just like I think in miles and gallons, I still think in "pages" even though there really is no "page" in an ebook. I've even gone as far as looking up the page count for a boom and then set my font size to get the same number of pages only iPad.

I like longer works....even series of longer works. I do miss the satisfaction of finishing a "big book". There is no sense of size for ebooks.

Lee

CWatkinsNash · 01-02-2011, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leebase

Just like I think in miles and gallons, I still think in "pages" even though there really is no "page" in an ebook. I've even gone as far as looking up the page count for a boom and then set my font size to get the same number of pages only iPad.

I like longer works....even series of longer works. I do miss the satisfaction of finishing a "big book". There is no sense of size for ebooks.

Lee

The "no pages" thing has been a tough transition for me too. I'm glad for the fact that I no longer have to read books that weigh a pound or more, but I kind of miss that aspect. I don't think I actually realized that till this morning.

I know some Kindle owners don't like the progress display at the bottom of the screen, but I like it because it's the only visual feedback I have as to how far I am and how far I have to go.

theducks · 01-02-2011, 12:27 PM

Long enough to tell the story.
Short enough not to bore me
And NEVER drag along, just to meet a word count.

Costco sizing books, is a Publisher/Retailer thing (mostly

)
I have bee Cataloging my DT Library with Calibre. It is amazing how thin some of the books were (and only $0.95. No ISBN

)

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01-01-2011, 03:14 PM	#16
CWatkinsNash IOC Chief Archivist Posts: 3,950 Karma: 53868218 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12	Having an ereader has actually opened my scope when it comes to "size" of the content I read. Previously, I read novels of varying length, and I read short fiction either online or in collections or anthologies. I find I like breaking up my reading by reading a few short works in between the longer ones. With ebooks, this is breathtakingly simple to do because I can read all of those from one device, and the shorter works are more accessible. As for any length limitations in either direction, I generally don't get much from flash fic (extremely short) pieces, but anything that is the equivalent of at least 7 or 8 pages works for me. On the other end of the spectrum, I'm a Stephen King fan and the unabridged ("author's cut") edition of The Stand didn't even phase me, and that hasn't changed since moving to ebooks. Like others have mentioned, however long it takes to tell the story. As long as it doesn't stall out too horribly along the way, I'm good. I am wary of books that can't live up to their promise. If something is billed as "epic fantasy" then it should be of epic length (or part of a series). If something claims to have a complicated, involved story with many amazing characters but clocks in at 45,000 words I'm not even going to bother. Beyond those types of considerations, size doesn't really matter. (Off topic but sort of related - I get really ticked off when I find out I'm being set up for a cliffhanger with no hint of it beforehand. If it's going to be a series, TELL ME! especially if the author has no clue when (or even if) the next one will be available. And each part should have some resolution, even if the primary storyline continues. Just chopping a long novel into three parts does not a series make. Serial, yes, but it should be billed as such. Okay, rant over. )

01-01-2011, 03:36 PM	#19
JP36 Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 20 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: East Coast of America Device: Ipaq 2200, Pocketbook IQ 701, Sony PRS350	For me when reading digitally the length doesn't matter, the 'intent' I have when selecting a piece does, if I want 'instant gratification' then it might be a short story unless just jumping back into a longer piece will do the same as I'm 'involved' in the story. I generally prefer longer stories which colours my opinion to some extent, I usually only read short stories in a quest to get more out of an author, to get a view of an unknown/new-to-me author, or as part of a collection of similarly themed short stories in the hard cover days. When I say longer I mean of the 300-500page length longer books seem to stir the critic in me who asks why this was included or how that is needed. While shorter ones leave me more often than not feeling cheated, especially if there are additional 'thin' volumes seemingly done to spread out the tale, or simply let me down that more wasn't developed. As an example I prefer a 'fleshed out' book vs a short one that hooks you to get you buying the other short books to continue the story, I'd rather read a fleshed out longer book than two short books engineered as I describe. Chapter length is hard to measure as I really only noticed too long or too short with paper books. I prefer the lengths be roughly the same, dislike tiny and giant chapters but it isn't a huge deal if they work.

01-01-2011, 04:07 PM	#20
screwballl NewKindler Posts: 504 Karma: 1865773 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: NWFL Device: Kindle3 Wifi	My preference on an ereader is pretty much the same as paper: longer in depth books. I have noticed I have grabbed a few short stories on my reader which make it convenient for reading sessions of an hour or two, but otherwise it is always longer books, ones that typically fall in 300 to 600+ pages if it were average sized paperback.

01-01-2011, 05:10 PM	#22
wodin Illiterate Posts: 10,279 Karma: 37848716 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: The Sandwich Isles Device: Samsung Galaxy S10+, Microsoft Surface Pro	I too like longer books, and would much rather have it on a 1/2 inch thick ereader than a 3 or 4 inch thick pbook. I just don't like authors who insert unrelavent minutia in order to pad the word count.

01-01-2011, 09:30 PM	#25
The Terminator Retired Posts: 2,552 Karma: 37638420 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver Island Canada Device: Kobo Touch, Optimus One (2.3), Nexus 7 (4.2)	I like longer books like stieg larssons i read most of his in about 4 days

01-01-2011, 09:33 PM	#26
dwig Wizard Posts: 1,613 Karma: 6718541 Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Paradise (Key West, FL) Device: Current:Surface Go & Kindle 3 - Retired: DellV8p, Clie UX50, ...	I too don't find any difference in my ebook and pbook reading with respect to my preference of story length. Over the last decade and a half that I've been a serious ebook reader (~60-70% of my reading over that period on average, though more like 90% now) there is no significant difference with one exception. Ebooks make it practical to "publish" single short stories. This has caused me to read a somewhat larger percentage of short stories. I often find a single story that I would have not noticed if it was buried in a collection.

01-02-2011, 12:13 AM	#27
leebase Karma Kameleon Posts: 2,976 Karma: 26738313 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: iPad Mini, iPhone X, Kindle Fire Tab HD 8, Walmart Onn	Just like I think in miles and gallons, I still think in "pages" even though there really is no "page" in an ebook. I've even gone as far as looking up the page count for a boom and then set my font size to get the same number of pages only iPad. I like longer works....even series of longer works. I do miss the satisfaction of finishing a "big book". There is no sense of size for ebooks. Lee

01-02-2011, 12:27 PM	#30
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,267 Karma: 61916422 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Long enough to tell the story. Short enough not to bore me And NEVER drag along, just to meet a word count. Costco sizing books, is a Publisher/Retailer thing (mostly ) I have bee Cataloging my DT Library with Calibre. It is amazing how thin some of the books were (and only $0.95. No ISBN )