Buyer Beware

As the title suggests this is a consumer warning. I have just had another free day for ‘The Rugby Blanket’ . A surprising number of people downloaded it so thank you to those who have. These free days are good for a writer who is just starting out because it brings some exposure that would otherwise not be there. There may well be another free day in the not too distant future, so keep your eyes peeled.

The world of eBooks has meant that now reading material is much more affordable than at any time before however there are aspects of ePublishing that some readers may not be aware of and I myself am only just picking up on it. This has to do with the length of books or more accurately word count.

Years ago let’s say from Dickensian(Victorian) times right up to the late twentieth century the length of a classic novel was a fairly stock standard 250 pages. They rarely went longer ( with the exception of tomes like ‘War and Peace’). With the establishment of Sci-Fi and Fantasy as popular genres (from the sixties onward) these page lengths increased. It’s not unusual to see 800 pages in a fantasy epic and that might only be part of a trilogy. However with eBook publishing, things are changing again.

On e-reader’s page numbers are non-existent. The kindle and others use something called a location number and this simply points you to an exact location in a book [i.e. a single line]. This is because the formatting is different across all devices and there are a number of different eBook file types in circulation. There is no single format in epublishing and because of this, page numbers are a thing of the past. This brings me to a slightly worrying trend. The pricing and sizing of eBooks now varies wildly. I will give you an example without naming any names of course.

If I set a standard marker that a well known writer sets his/her 70,000 word (280 page) eBook for ten dollars on Amazon. This is what most people would be content to pay for. However I have noticed more new writers charging a range of prices because they don’t have to state the number of pages. One example was for a 5,000 word (20 page) pamphlet being sold for €2.50. Because the number of pages isn’t being stated the buyer thinks they are getting a good deal (i.e. a book for  €2.50). Another example would be the number of writers who are publishing sub-50,000 word books. Their short length means some can put up four or more per year on Amazon but the problem is they are charging prices that would have been paid for a traditional 250 page novel. Essentially the ePublishing industry has created the micro novelist. In busy times perhaps the micro novel has its place. The content of these novella’s may well be excellent but it is the price you pay for them that should be scrutinised.

My advice to you – Simply have an idea of how much you are prepared to pay per word. There’s no doubting that Charles Dickens could do more in three hundred pages than most could do in five hundred so it’s down to quality and taste. But don’t get ripped off. Ladies should be aware this is prevalent in the plethora of woman’s erotic fiction that is being written at the moment. While it may be that a short erotic novel may do its job, a longer one may be more satisfying (tee hee).

Finally here is a recommendation for a book that provides bang for your buck. ‘Different Seasons’ by Stephen King is a collection of four novellas (prob 600 pages in total). It contains ‘Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption’, ‘The Body’ (Stand By Me), ‘Apt Pupil’ as well as The Breathing Method. This is quality story telling at a reasonable price. I know Stephen King already has millions but there is good reason for that. Happy Reading!

‘Different Seasons’ – plenty of bang for your buck.