11-19-2010, 01:10 AM | #1 |
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How long is a book sample?
Anyone familiar with how long book samples are from Amazon?
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11-19-2010, 01:20 AM | #2 |
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Typically seem to be around 10% of the book.
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11-19-2010, 02:13 AM | #3 |
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I have had two sapmples. one was about 4 pages, the other about 10 pages. (both books would be around 200 printed pages.)
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11-19-2010, 02:18 AM | #4 |
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You can see for yourself. You can look at the samples on your computer or smart phone. Check out the free kindle apps. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...cId=1000493771
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11-19-2010, 02:41 AM | #5 |
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Sometimes samples are useful and sometimes not so much. But I think they are worth looking at, particularly before purchasing an expensive book, because they give you an idea of how well (or not) formatted the book is. There have been lots of book samples which have put me off buying a book due to the style of writing and a few because of poor formatting. But also I've read some samples which have been excellent and I've gone and bought the book immediately.
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11-19-2010, 04:01 AM | #6 |
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I had a sample once that was only the Table of Contents!
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11-19-2010, 04:34 AM | #7 | |
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Quote:
And sometimes you get an entire chapter which can ruin the experience a bit if you decide to buy the book because it's often not the first chapter. |
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11-19-2010, 07:42 AM | #8 |
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It sounds variable!!
Thanks for the help. |
11-19-2010, 08:46 AM | #9 |
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11-20-2010, 04:50 AM | #10 |
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i find samples next to useless, 99% of the samples I've downloaded do not get passed the forward which is written by a different author! So they usually give no indication what the content of a book is like.
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11-20-2010, 05:14 AM | #11 |
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Before I bought the ebook "Just Kids" I looked at the sample on Kindle and Borders. Neither sample was enough to warn me that the ebook did not contain the photographs that the original book has, and contained minor format errors.
Anyway, even if you have a lengthy sample - how do you know it is not a sample from the 'real book' and not the ebook? |
11-20-2010, 10:01 AM | #12 |
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Of the books whose samples get past the forwards and acknowledgements, I find them useful.
I can't stand certain writing styles so the sample gives me a chance to do just as promised: sample the content for "personal compatibility." |
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