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View Poll Results: Would a visual clue to book size influence your purchasing decision? | |||
Hell yes! |
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33 | 30.56% |
Couldn't care less |
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46 | 42.59% |
I'm a tad ambivalent |
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20 | 18.52% |
What is a visual clue? |
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9 | 8.33% |
Voters: 108. You may not vote on this poll |
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#16 |
IOC Chief Archivist
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA
Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12
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I would like some sort of indication - not necessarily utilizing the cover image, but more consistent info in the product description would be nice. File size doesn't always mean anything, especially if there are any images in the book.
My reasoning is NOT that bigger=better, but I like to keep a variety of reading material and it's helpful to know which group I'm adding to - short story, novella, novel, doorstop, Stephen-King-sized doorstop. Plus, as has already been stated, I really don't want to pay novel-rates for something I can read in minutes. |
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#17 |
Retired
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Vancouver Island Canada
Device: Kobo Touch, Optimus One (2.3), Nexus 7 (4.2)
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Yes I think size matters somewhat.
Last edited by The Terminator; 01-11-2012 at 07:52 PM. |
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#18 |
Zealot
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Device: Samsung Galaxy S
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A word count or a file size suits me. Someone else's idea of small/medium/large adds a layer of subjectivity/translation that gets in the way. I don't mind if it is there if other people want it, of course, but I find a number more useful.
It isn't that I mind if it is a short story or a doorstop, but I do want to know which it is. |
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#19 | |
Wizard
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Nova Scotia Canada
Device: ipad, Kindle PW, Kobo Clara; iphone 7
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#20 |
Wizard
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Chicago, IL
Device: Kindle PW2, Kindle Voyage, Kindle DXG, Boox M90, Kobo Aura HD
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If I cared, I'd look at the number of pages on a print version of the book.
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#21 |
Member Retired
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Limbo
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Damn, another hidden poll.
And yeah I would like to know what I get into before getting a book. But it's mostly out of curiosity, just to know that the story is very long or very short. But ultimately I get both small and long books so I cannot say knowing the length of the book will in itself determine my choice. |
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#22 |
Addict
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Germany
Device: Kobo Aura HD
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I'd rather have a numerical value than a visual clue (word or page count).
I don't want to find out that I just bought a 100 page "novel" for 10 € after I bought it. |
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#23 | |
Series Addict
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Florida, USA
Device: Kindle Paperwhite (2nd Gen)
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Quote:
![]() Although, as stated above, I would be upset about spending $9.99 for a short story or a novella. |
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#24 |
秋子 permanently lurking
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Europe
Device: Oasis 3, Pocketbook Era
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I didn't vote yet. I must be darn spoiled. Where I buy my non-English books it clearly says whether it has DRM or not and what kind, what other types are available (epub or pdf) file size and number of pages (free sample available as well) All this to see before I buy. Never occured to me it is not so in other places (didn't pay attention while buying from Kobo and Kindle doesn't show page numbers anyway) I even quickly rechecked my bookstore before posting here. Yep.
I must admit I do go for big books, so numerical value of page count is more useful than file size. |
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#25 |
Grand Sorcerer
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Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA
Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)
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I mostly buy at Smashwords & multiformat from Fictionwise; I know word count before I buy. Lack of word count at DRM stores is one of the many reasons I won't deal with DRM. I don't buy ebooks that don't give me a solid idea how much content they contain.
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#26 |
Wizard
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Device: sony PRS-T1 and T3, Kobo Mini and Aura HD, Tablet
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Good topic.
I think the information should be easily available. Not that it is that hard to find but... With paper books you can tell by thickness or flipping to the back. I have found though that some authors/publishers equate length to price.Not true in my experience. I prefer 150 pages of pure entertainment to 150 pages of entertainment interspersed with 250 pages of blah blah blah. Helen |
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#27 |
Cozy Bumpkin Stories
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Karma: 351904
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Sprague River, Oregon
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Word-count alone can be deceptive. I've never seen a good story over 10,000 words, though some could sure be sifted out of higher counts. Writers should have enough respect for people's time to git'er done, share a cigarette, and move on. Hard to compare value though - maybe how long the smile lasts.
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#28 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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Quote:
If you only like short fiction, that's fine, but a lot of us enjoy the kind of worldbuilding and character insights that can't be packed into a few thousand words. A good story *concept* can fit in ten thousand words. But not every sequence of events packs down that small, and certainly anything involving fantasy or science fiction is relying on common tropes or hints without foundations when it's written that short. Which can be great--but it means using suggestions rather than details, the framework of a setting with a detailed close-up on a single situation, rather than a full tapestry of a world. |
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#29 |
Nameless Being
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The size of a book is fairly important to me since I tend to prefer large novellas or small novels. Anything that's too long feels drawn out. Anything that is too short leaves me wanting for more. (The only exception are collections of short stories, which I read with an entirely different mindset.) Maybe I'm a bit of an oddball here, but I would actually pay more for a good short novel than I would pay for one of those massive tomes that seem to be popular these days simply because I know that I will finish it.
So yes, size is very important. Oh, and I'm going to kinda second Quexos' comment on hidden polls. I don't mind hidden polls, but it would be nice if it was only hidden for a week. Attention span issues ... you know, the thing that leads some of us to read shorter books. ![]() |
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#30 |
Cozy Bumpkin Stories
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As I said, some can be sifted out. There've been times I had time. The first Dune mighta had 10,000 good words. The rest altogether didn't. The different values all cost the same, which was sorta my point, albeit poorly stated.
I basically take your thoughts relating world-building and word-count as the norm, but they only reinforce my own opinion that there's far too little attachment to where we are in the world. Rooting stories in common ground grows a place where a few words can tell a thousand pictures - some of which might simply be respectful space for companionable silence. A small market though. |
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