The Foretelling by Alice Hoffman is a scam!

[JSWolf]

The Foretelling by Alice Hoffman is a scam. As you can see, the cover says it's a novel. But it's only 75 ePub pages with a word count of 29196 which makes it a novella. The Amazon eBook price is $9.99 for a novella. When did a novella get to be called a novel and be charged the price for a novel?

[issybird]

Well, according to Amazon, the paperback has 192 pages. I agree., there's a lot of white on those pages. But it's also targeted to grade 6 and up, and I can see that a novel for this age group might be shorter.

Oh, well, caveat emptor. I don't think this quite reaches scam level. Buy a used paper copy for a penny plus shipping.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

Well, according to Amazon, the paperback has 192 pages. I agree., there's a lot of white on those pages. But it's also targeted to grade 6 and up, and I can see that a novel for this age group might be shorter.

Oh, well, caveat emptor. I don't think this quite reaches scam level. Buy a used paper copy for a penny plus shipping.

It's printed with a large font, large line height, and large margins. Sure it's written for kids, but it is not a novel. The word count prevents it from being a novel. A novella is 17,500-40,000 words and this si not even close to 40,000 words. Also, the price is atrocious. $9.99 for a novella is stealing.

[DrNefario]

A novella is only 17,500-40,000 words according to some specific award rules. It's not an actual definition. If they want to call this a novel, they can call it a novel.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

A novella is only 17,500-40,000 words according to some specific award rules. It's not an actual definition. If they want to call this a novel, they can call it a novel.

It is an actual definition. Where do you see that it's just a suggestion?

[DrNefario]

Well, if I google "definition of novella", it tells me it means:

a short novel or long short story.

The Wikipedia page also doesn't go for a solid word count, and indeed lists several different ranges used by awards.

17,500-40,000 has become fairly standard in SF/F/H simply because different awards using different numbers would be incredibly confusing. It also isn't a hard limit even in that context.

[JSWolf]

But given that we now have word counts for different types of books, calling a novella length book a novel and charging as though it was a true novel is very wrong and misleading.

[AnemicOak]

If you really have a complaint about it then contact Open Road. They're the ones who put out the eBook and put that cover on it.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

If you really have a complaint about it then contact Open Road. They're the ones who put out the eBook and put that cover on it.

I had that same sort of response from a local store when I wanted to rent "The Stand" on VHS. It was split into 2 boxes (with 2 tapes in each). So I was charged for two movies. I didn't like that as it is just one long movie but the studio that put it out listed it that way.

[barryem]

Here's what Wikipedia says on their word count page:
"Novelist Jane Smiley suggests that length is an important quality of the novel.[3] However, novels can vary tremendously in length; Smiley lists novels as typically being between 100,000 and 175,000 words,[4] while National Novel Writing Month requires its novels to be at least 50,000 words. There are no firm rules: for example, the boundary between a novella and a novel is arbitrary and a literary work may be difficult to categorise.[5] But while the length of a novel is to a large extent up to its writer,[6] lengths may also vary by subgenre; many chapter books for children start at a length of about 16,000 words,[7] and a typical mystery novel might be in the 60,000 to 80,000 word range while a thriller could be over 100,000 words.[8]"

That page is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_count

I think if I paid $10 for a 29,000 word novel I'd be unhappy but I have to agree that it doesn't seem to be a scam so much as too-slick marketing.

Considered among the many sneaky things publishers do I can't see this as a major one.

Barry

[Ravensknight]

I take personal responsibility for this fiasco.

I "made" Jon buy this book, using my super secret psychic mind control powers.

I have brought dishonor on my clan...

[Katsunami]

When I saw the cover, I thought at first that it was some sort of companion story to the Farseer novels from Robin Hobb, written by another author.

[GeoffR]

A complete novella for $9.99 is not a scam. A bit expensive, but not a scam.

A free sampler for $4.99 is a scam.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The Foretelling by Alice Hoffman is a scam. As you can see, the cover says it's a novel. But it's only 75 ePub pages with a word count of 29196 which makes it a novella. The Amazon eBook price is $9.99 for a novella. When did a novella get to be called a novel and be charged the price for a novel?

That's a completely ordinary word count for a middle-grade novel. The Amazon for-sale page for the Kindle edition says clearly that it's 72 pages. Get over it.

[Apache]

Who ever owns the rights to a book can charge whatever they think it is worth. The customer then has to decide if it is worth it. If not don't buy it.
Apache