09-21-2010, 07:27 AM | #31 |
Author's pet-geek
Posts: 933
Karma: 1040670
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: North Queensland, Australia
Device: Kindle 3 Wifi, Onyx Boox M96
|
Robins777,
I'm wondering about samples - we've put a 20 chapter sample up as ePub and PDF for the latest book, however I'm actually starting to wonder if that's in fact too much (it's a 41 chapter Part-I book) if only because maybe it will take too long to reach 20 chapters and get distracted before considering buying the book. Of course, it depends a lot on the reader I guess. Don't want to give them only 2 or 3 chapters because they might not really get a good feel for it at that point. Paul. |
09-21-2010, 07:36 AM | #32 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
Posts: 35,872
Karma: 118716293
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Denver, CO
Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire
|
I think that's too much. Use Amazon samples as a guide. A couple of chapters at most should give the feel/tone/style (unless of course it varies wildly throughout the book).
in fact the first paragraph better be representative of the rest of the book. |
Advert | |
|
09-21-2010, 07:43 AM | #33 |
Author's pet-geek
Posts: 933
Karma: 1040670
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: North Queensland, Australia
Device: Kindle 3 Wifi, Onyx Boox M96
|
It was a dark stormy night...
It's a bit of a tough call as well because this is the debut novel, so the strategy at the moment is to lay down some foundations on which the successive books will follow. In our case Part II will be shared around a little less liberally. Paul. |
09-21-2010, 07:52 AM | #34 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,090
Karma: 6058305
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Paperwhite
|
Quote:
I've bought e-books where the first 20%, 25% and 50% was offered as a sample. I didn't get anywhere near the end of the sample before buying the books. I probably didn't read more than the first 10% before deciding to buy them. I wouldn't have thought offering 20 chapters of a 41 chapter book would be a problem, though. Surely if the reader gets distracted, they weren't really that interested and wouldn't have bought it anyway? |
|
09-21-2010, 07:54 AM | #35 |
Author's pet-geek
Posts: 933
Karma: 1040670
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: North Queensland, Australia
Device: Kindle 3 Wifi, Onyx Boox M96
|
Russ,
I suppose it depends on how you envisage someone's life-schedule. For some people, knowing they've got 20-chapters and they've only read 5, they can think "It's okay, got 15 more left... I don't need to get it yet..." (then something happens). There's a lot of scenarios that could come up, the above was what I was thinking of as opposed to the reader losing interest (in which case that's something else to worry about ). I'll go over to the writer's corner - thanks for the tip. Regards, Paul. |
Advert | |
|
09-21-2010, 07:57 AM | #36 | |
Information Acquirer
Posts: 436
Karma: 4265156
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Latvia, Rigas Rajons
Device: Kindle 3 International, Pocketbook Color
|
I wrote this in a thread in the "News" section . I feel like quote it in it's full here (incl spelling errors):
Quote:
Last edited by Bikeridr; 09-21-2010 at 08:04 AM. Reason: Hiccups in the copied urls |
|
09-21-2010, 10:11 AM | #37 | |
Member
Posts: 14
Karma: 10
Join Date: Sep 2010
Device: Kindle³
|
Quote:
She really doesn't have a point. At least for new books. They all are available digitally; and typesetting systems (I only know some TeX-derivates) make it fairly easy to convert a book into any form you want. Making an e-book is infact easier than making a print. As long as you have the source material with properly marked indents, paragraphs and other formatting. That's a problem for older books which have to be scanned and proof-read first. But really, that's it. |
|
09-21-2010, 10:25 AM | #38 |
Author's pet-geek
Posts: 933
Karma: 1040670
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: North Queensland, Australia
Device: Kindle 3 Wifi, Onyx Boox M96
|
[Ahmed],
We converted ours from a LaTeX system, though it had to be exported as HTML first. Sadly (as I've moaned about in the past around here) the on-fly formatting tends to still lose a lot A shame to many of us who really appreciate the finer details of typesetting and why it matters. Paul. |
09-21-2010, 10:26 AM | #39 |
monkey on the fringe
Posts: 45,597
Karma: 158546452
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Seattle Metro
Device: Moto E6, Echo Show
|
|
09-21-2010, 10:28 AM | #40 |
Resident Curmudgeon
Posts: 75,917
Karma: 134368292
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
|
Does anyone know how much DRM adds to the cost of an eBook?
|
09-21-2010, 10:46 AM | #41 |
Connoisseur
Posts: 59
Karma: 480
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Atlanta, GA
Device: Kindle Wifi, Kindle US
|
|
09-21-2010, 10:47 AM | #42 |
Resident Curmudgeon
Posts: 75,917
Karma: 134368292
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
|
|
09-21-2010, 01:08 PM | #43 |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
It probably doesn't cost anything. Amazon own their own DRM technology, so it's not costing any more for them to deliver a book to a customer via a DRM server than not.
|
09-21-2010, 01:49 PM | #44 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
Posts: 35,872
Karma: 118716293
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Denver, CO
Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire
|
|
09-21-2010, 02:25 PM | #45 |
Connoisseur
Posts: 59
Karma: 480
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Atlanta, GA
Device: Kindle Wifi, Kindle US
|
I agree with HarryT - the only real cost is the development of the DRM in the first place. The implementation of it would be fractions of a penny in CPU time and electricity. It may add a few clock cycles when the file is added to the serving library and delivered to the purchaser, but these costs are already accounted for in the hosting anyway.
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
ANOTHER "Why Do Ebooks Cost So Much?" ARTICLE | SameOldStory | General Discussions | 113 | 09-23-2010 09:40 AM |
Understanding the Cost of eBooks | Randolphlalonde | Writers' Corner | 15 | 02-18-2010 06:54 AM |
Future of Ebook Sales - Cost of Ebooks to Amazon | poohbear_nc | News | 32 | 11-07-2009 12:08 PM |
Amazon states sometimes ebooks will cost more than pbooks. | GatorDeb | Amazon Kindle | 32 | 03-22-2009 10:30 PM |
Cost of ebooks | Amanda | iRex | 1 | 12-19-2007 03:12 AM |