Bonus is not a bonus

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rixte

I just like to know how much of a book is left. Sometimes for practical reasons (should I push through to the end before bed or just finish it in the morning? ) but mostly just because I like to KNOW - to start my mental wrap up of the characters/story before I leave them. If it ends unexpectedly, it's a bit of a jolt, even if the story itself wrapped up, because I don't always get closure ... I prepared for a 'more' that didn't come.

Books can finish "early" for all sorts of reasons. In quite a few of the SF books that Baen publish, for example, the last 10-15% of the book is a lengthy list of all the names, places, technologies, animals, plants, weapons, etc, that appear in the book. In other books (especially non-fiction) there'll be a long index at the end.

[mrscoach]

I finished a book this morning and was 58% through. I was expecting to hit at least the 60-70% mark. That was quite the shock. Don't know what else came next because I closed it out. I don't really care, now.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by mrscoach

I finished a book this morning and was 58% through. I was expecting to hit at least the 60-70% mark. That was quite the shock. Don't know what else came next because I closed it out. I don't really care, now.

You didn't want to know what was occupying almost half the book? I would have at least looked to see what it was .

[QuantumIguana]

An excerpt may not be a bonus you like, but it is a bonus. It would only be a lie if it gave you nothing extra at all. A difference of opinion on what constitutes a bonus doesn't make it a lie.

I find it a bit jarring to reach the end of the book with a significant percentage of the document remaining. How much is left gives me a feel for my position in the story. I can look at what page I am at if the book supports page numbers, but that is independent of the percentage. I have to click a button to see the page number, but the percentage is always displayed. If a book has a large number of notes at the end of the book, for example, I might reach the end of the main part of the book at 85%.

If the percentage was based on the percentage of the main part of the book, that would be an improvement. It would be a great help with bundles. Let's say I have a 10 book bundle, the percentage will show the percentage for the entire 10 book bundle. It would be much more useful to have the percentage of each book rather than the percentage of the entire document.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by mrscoach

I finished a book this morning and was 58% through. I was expecting to hit at least the 60-70% mark. That was quite the shock. Don't know what else came next because I closed it out. I don't really care, now.

Sometimes this happenstance can be worthwhile though.
Often in military biographies the book proper will end when the war ends. Details of the person's subsequent life, pictures taken throughout their life, an account of how the book was compiled, and a bibliography can add up to as large an addition as you described.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

An excerpt may not be a bonus you like, but it is a bonus. It would only be a lie if it gave you nothing extra at all. A difference of opinion on what constitutes a bonus doesn't make it a lie.

An excerpt is not a bonus. It's an excerpt. So call it what it is and then the lying will stop. A bonus is an author interview or book club questions and other things like that. But a space wasting excerpt is not a bonus at all.

So calling an excerpt a bonus is a lie. There is no two ways about it.

If I am reading a book in a series, I don't need an excerpt from the next book as I'll either buy it or not based on what I've read so far of the series. The excerpt won't change my mind. The book(s) I've read will help me decide to continue the series or not.

[burnafterreading]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

An excerpt is not a bonus. It's an excerpt. So call it what it is and then the lying will stop. A bonus is an author interview or book club questions and other things like that. But a space wasting excerpt is not a bonus at all.

So calling an excerpt a bonus is a lie. There is no two ways about it.

If I am reading a book in a series, I don't need an excerpt from the next book as I'll either buy it or not based on what I've read so far of the series. The excerpt won't change my mind. The book(s) I've read will help me decide to continue the series or not.

um, a bonus is something additional that you did not originally pay for, given at no charge to you from whoever is selling or marketing the product.

if you don't like it, that's your own problem. it's not a lie. if the bonus is a hamster wheel, it's still a bonus whether you like hamsters or not.

[Demingy]

Originally Posted by rixte

I just like to know how much of a book is left. Sometimes for practical reasons (should I push through to the end before bed or just finish it in the morning? ) but mostly just because I like to KNOW - to start my mental wrap up of the characters/story before I leave them. If it ends unexpectedly, it's a bit of a jolt, even if the story itself wrapped up, because I don't always get closure ... I prepared for a 'more' that didn't come.

These are my reasons as well. With the example I gave earlier in this thread, it was somewhat frustrating because I had decided to set the book aside earlier because I though there was so much more to get through. It was a little annoying when I found I only had a chapter left and I could have finished the book the night before.

Sometimes I like having the excerpts, especially if I find myself on the fence about reading the next book, but I agree that it would be better to have the percentage reflect the portion of the book that is the actual story. I also agree with the idea of having the percentage based on each book in a multi book collection, especially those that include short stories and full length novels.

[eschwartz]

Warning! Opinions up ahead!

Originally Posted by JSWolf

An excerpt is not a bonus. It's an excerpt. So call it what it is and then the lying will stop. A bonus is an author interview or book club questions and other things like that. But a space wasting excerpt is not a bonus at all.

So calling an excerpt a bonus is a lie. There is no two ways about it.

If I am reading a book in a series, I don't need an excerpt from the next book as I'll either buy it or not based on what I've read so far of the series. The excerpt won't change my mind. The book(s) I've read will help me decide to continue the series or not.

[QuantumIguana]

Yes, it is a bonus. It might not, in your opinion, be a bonus you are interested in, but it is a bonus nonetheless. It's something you get in addition to the book. A mint on my pillow at a hotel is a bonus, even if I don't like mints. There's just no definition of bonus that precludes excerpts from being bonuses.

Perhaps you don't base your purchasing decisions on a excerpt (which is, in fact, a bonus), but the publishing industry doesn't base their decisions on what particular individuals will do. There are people for whom an excerpt will make them more likely to purchase another book from that author. Since we can get a sample of an e-book whenever we want, a bonus excerpt is of less utility, but that doesn't mean it isn't a bonus.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

Yes, it is a bonus. It might not, in your opinion, be a bonus you are interested in, but it is a bonus nonetheless. It's something you get in addition to the book. A mint on my pillow at a hotel is a bonus, even if I don't like mints. There's just no definition of bonus that precludes excerpts from being bonuses.

Perhaps you don't base your purchasing decisions on a excerpt (which is, in fact, a bonus), but the publishing industry doesn't base their decisions on what particular individuals will do. There are people for whom an excerpt will make them more likely to purchase another book from that author. Since we can get a sample of an e-book whenever we want, a bonus excerpt is of less utility, but that doesn't mean it isn't a bonus.

It's not a bonus. It's actually advertising.

[latepaul]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's not a bonus. It's actually advertising.

It's a floor wax and a dessert topping!

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's not a bonus. It's actually advertising.

Why would you think something could never be both?

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's not a bonus. It's actually advertising.

Those are not exclusive categories. If I buy a product, and there is a trial size of some other product, the company is giving me this trial size in order to entice me to buy more of it. It's advertising, yes, but it's still a bonus, even if I have no interest in that sample. An excerpt is no different.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Books can finish "early" for all sorts of reasons. In quite a few of the SF books that Baen publish, for example, the last 10-15% of the book is a lengthy list of all the names, places, technologies, animals, plants, weapons, etc, that appear in the book. In other books (especially non-fiction) there'll be a long index at the end.

That's one of the nice things about the progress bar with chapter tick marks. It is usually possible to spot where the end of the main part of the book will be.