Free Previews --- Why Bother!

PeterT · 07-30-2011, 03:41 PM

I just downloaded to the Kobo Desktop the free previews of two books by Marc Strange; Body Blows and Follow Me Down. This is after, many month ago, buying Sucker Punch by the same author.

Body Blows has a missing graphic on the cover page, and a grand total of 10 pages

the aforementioned cover page
a page with just the title
a title page
three copyright pages
a dedication page
two pages of contents
an acknowledgement page!

How on earth am I meant to get a feel for a book from this type of preview!

At least Follow Me Down is a bit better

four pages comprising cover image and and other book front matter
eight pages of contents
a page of Author's Notes
a single Preface page
Nine pages of Chapter 1

immsm · 07-30-2011, 05:11 PM

I agree. I've even tried a couple and didn't get any content pages at all - just title page, dedication, other books by author, copyright pages and that's it. It's impossible to judge a book with no content.

fbrII · 07-30-2011, 05:12 PM

While I've noticed that the preview amount varies from book to book. I would say based on my experience you have about a one in ten chance of seeing something like a full chapter. And, if you don't have an opening chapter it is a pretty useless tool for making buying assessments, at least for me.

On the other hand, they have come a long way since they first got their bookstore started so hopefully this will be addressed.

jswinden · 07-30-2011, 06:56 PM

If it varies quite a bit from book to book then I wonder if it is up to the publisher to decide what is included in the sample? It seems to me that two things are very helpful in choosing a book based on a sample thereof: one, does it have a decent TOC (though this is probably more important for non-fiction), and two, how well written is the first chapter.

I've been very interested in books after reading their supposed content description but then looked at the TOC in the sample and realized the content of the book was not what I initially thought it would be. The total lack of a TOC is often a turn off too as it makes navigation a major pain.

Perhaps if they required a sample to contain the TOC and at least ten pages of the first chapter one could better decide whether to purchase or not.

Maybe they should look at how Amazon does samples as I've never encountered one of their samples that didn't have at least several pages of text to preview.

HarleyB · 07-30-2011, 06:56 PM

I've stopped even looking at samples - IMO they are a complete waste of time. A large number of the samples I have attempted to view haven't had any content. The final straw for me was a "sample" which consisted of 15 pages and 6 of them were blank!

anonymoose · 07-30-2011, 08:17 PM

Most previews I've seen have had at least a couple of pages or even a whole chapter so far, although I have had a couple that were just chapter titles. If they don't want to give me at least a small sample I am not going to bother buying their book.

To my surprise, I was just looking at the preview for the Michael Connelly Lincoln Lawyer bundle and there was 6 whole chapters there!

SensualPoet · 07-30-2011, 09:37 PM

There is no question that previews under Amazon work as expected and at Kobo simply do not. Kobo offers lots of value and a very strong platform ... but there are areas of improvement open in the bookstore end of things. Reader reviews, improved search controls, recommendation engine ... Amazon will hold this lead for the foreseeable future.

taming · 07-30-2011, 09:48 PM

I wonder if the reason the previews are so bad is related to the reason that GO TO never really worked right for Chapters, but worked just fine for pages within chapters. In the world of Kobo/Kepub, all sorts of things are Chapters that are not, in fact, Chapters of books. So, for example, when using my Kobo Wifi, I wanted to use GO TO to get to Chapter 3, I would end up at the third thing Kobo saw as a chapter, which was probably the TOC,or an image, or Chapter 1--you get my drift. I am willing to bet that whatever way they determine what we get as a preview is counting differently than we do as readers.

I use the previews as my wish list.

PeterT · 07-31-2011, 12:03 AM

I never used Goto for skipping chapters! I always just went to the Table of Contents

OneandonlyDoc · 07-31-2011, 07:02 PM

It tends to be the publisher (or the author, in cases of books published through Smashwords) that dictates how much of a book is going to be available as a preview. The Kobo store really doesn't get a vote.

Dave@Kobo · 07-31-2011, 07:11 PM

Each book's preview is determined by the publisher.

PeterT · 07-31-2011, 07:47 PM

Interesting then that in the case of Follow Me Down, the Kindle US preview is for the exact same ISBN but goes to the what the index calls "Day One - Monday, October 11" / "Three" while the Kobo preview goes as far as the end of just "Day One - Monday, October 11".

Unfortunately, Amazon does not have the other Marc Strange available in eBook format.

OneandonlyDoc · 07-31-2011, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

Interesting then that in the case of Follow Me Down, the Kindle US preview is for the exact same ISBN but goes to the what the index calls "Day One - Monday, October 11" / "Three" while the Kobo preview goes as far as the end of just "Day One - Monday, October 11".

Unfortunately, Amazon does not have the other Marc Strange available in eBook format.

You could always try hitting Google Books and see what you can find.

PeterT · 07-31-2011, 08:46 PM

Well... Body Blows has 68 pages on Books.google.com. Follow me down is not available on Google. And the book I own Sucker Punch has 64 pages.

I suppose I would just like to see some consistency between the various eBook offering firms as to what IS available.

07-30-2011, 03:41 PM	#1
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,141 Karma: 73448616 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS	Free Previews --- Why Bother! I just downloaded to the Kobo Desktop the free previews of two books by Marc Strange; Body Blows and Follow Me Down. This is after, many month ago, buying Sucker Punch by the same author. Body Blows has a missing graphic on the cover page, and a grand total of 10 pages the aforementioned cover page a page with just the title a title page three copyright pages a dedication page two pages of contents an acknowledgement page! How on earth am I meant to get a feel for a book from this type of preview! At least Follow Me Down is a bit better four pages comprising cover image and and other book front matter eight pages of contents a page of Author's Notes a single Preface page Nine pages of Chapter 1

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07-30-2011, 05:11 PM	#2
immsm I'll never grow up. Posts: 23 Karma: 1986 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Canada Device: Kobo touch edition	I agree. I've even tried a couple and didn't get any content pages at all - just title page, dedication, other books by author, copyright pages and that's it. It's impossible to judge a book with no content.

07-30-2011, 05:12 PM	#3
fbrII F. BluDevil Posts: 428 Karma: 1152548 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: St. Louis Missouri Device: Pocketbook Inkpad3 pro, Kobo Libra, Kindle Paperwhite	While I've noticed that the preview amount varies from book to book. I would say based on my experience you have about a one in ten chance of seeing something like a full chapter. And, if you don't have an opening chapter it is a pretty useless tool for making buying assessments, at least for me. On the other hand, they have come a long way since they first got their bookstore started so hopefully this will be addressed.

07-30-2011, 06:56 PM	#4
jswinden Nameless Being	If it varies quite a bit from book to book then I wonder if it is up to the publisher to decide what is included in the sample? It seems to me that two things are very helpful in choosing a book based on a sample thereof: one, does it have a decent TOC (though this is probably more important for non-fiction), and two, how well written is the first chapter. I've been very interested in books after reading their supposed content description but then looked at the TOC in the sample and realized the content of the book was not what I initially thought it would be. The total lack of a TOC is often a turn off too as it makes navigation a major pain. Perhaps if they required a sample to contain the TOC and at least ten pages of the first chapter one could better decide whether to purchase or not. Maybe they should look at how Amazon does samples as I've never encountered one of their samples that didn't have at least several pages of text to preview.

07-30-2011, 06:56 PM	#5
HarleyB Fanatic Posts: 565 Karma: 1113286 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast Australia Device: Kobo (RIP), iPad, iPhone 4, Kobo Touch x2, Kobo Glo	I've stopped even looking at samples - IMO they are a complete waste of time. A large number of the samples I have attempted to view haven't had any content. The final straw for me was a "sample" which consisted of 15 pages and 6 of them were blank!

07-30-2011, 08:17 PM	#6
anonymoose bookaholic Posts: 108 Karma: 1032718 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Glo, Kobo Aura, Kobo Touch, Kobo app on iPhone	Most previews I've seen have had at least a couple of pages or even a whole chapter so far, although I have had a couple that were just chapter titles. If they don't want to give me at least a small sample I am not going to bother buying their book. To my surprise, I was just looking at the preview for the Michael Connelly Lincoln Lawyer bundle and there was 6 whole chapters there!

07-30-2011, 09:37 PM	#7
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	There is no question that previews under Amazon work as expected and at Kobo simply do not. Kobo offers lots of value and a very strong platform ... but there are areas of improvement open in the bookstore end of things. Reader reviews, improved search controls, recommendation engine ... Amazon will hold this lead for the foreseeable future.

07-30-2011, 09:48 PM	#8
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	I wonder if the reason the previews are so bad is related to the reason that GO TO never really worked right for Chapters, but worked just fine for pages within chapters. In the world of Kobo/Kepub, all sorts of things are Chapters that are not, in fact, Chapters of books. So, for example, when using my Kobo Wifi, I wanted to use GO TO to get to Chapter 3, I would end up at the third thing Kobo saw as a chapter, which was probably the TOC,or an image, or Chapter 1--you get my drift. I am willing to bet that whatever way they determine what we get as a preview is counting differently than we do as readers. I use the previews as my wish list.

07-31-2011, 12:03 AM	#9
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,141 Karma: 73448616 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS	I never used Goto for skipping chapters! I always just went to the Table of Contents

07-31-2011, 07:02 PM	#10
OneandonlyDoc Fearless Writer Posts: 210 Karma: 375317 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: In a mitten! Device: Kobo Wifi	It tends to be the publisher (or the author, in cases of books published through Smashwords) that dictates how much of a book is going to be available as a preview. The Kobo store really doesn't get a vote.

07-31-2011, 07:11 PM	#11
Dave@Kobo Member Posts: 23 Karma: 12 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kobo	Each book's preview is determined by the publisher.

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07-31-2011, 07:47 PM	#12
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,141 Karma: 73448616 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS	Interesting then that in the case of Follow Me Down, the Kindle US preview is for the exact same ISBN but goes to the what the index calls "Day One - Monday, October 11" / "Three" while the Kobo preview goes as far as the end of just "Day One - Monday, October 11". Unfortunately, Amazon does not have the other Marc Strange available in eBook format.

07-31-2011, 08:46 PM	#14
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,141 Karma: 73448616 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS	Well... Body Blows has 68 pages on Books.google.com. Follow me down is not available on Google. And the book I own Sucker Punch has 64 pages. I suppose I would just like to see some consistency between the various eBook offering firms as to what IS available.