On September 16, 2010, Galley Cat's Jason Boog explained how The Page 99 test works, which may leave some Kindle owners struggling to recognize the archaic term. Pages are to ebooks what leeches to medical technology. Sure, some people might still find uses for them, but the sun has set on their glory. It is time for ebook fans to paginate their ebooks, or least hope for reasonable accommodations.
The Page 99 Test News
On his "Trends" page, Boog alerted his audience to some interesting upcoming opportunities for writers The idea behind a Page 99 test is simple. Look at page 99 in a paper book, and then decide if the book is a keeper. Boog reported about the next level of The Page 99 Test. "In October, Page 99 Test will expand this simple reading game online. Authors and aspiring authors can upload page 99 of their book and see how readers react to this crucial page."
Beyond Page 99 has more information on how the process works for authors who want people to review their books for free.
- Writers go to Page 99 and sign up to submit the 99th page of a book for readers to review.
- Readers have a set number of days or a set number of available peeks at the page.
- Readers review the books and offer feedback for writers.
The idea is generous and inspired. It is great for readers because they get to share their thoughts with an author and be certain that the writer will be interested in their comments. Authors benefit from having authentic feedback from willing readers.
Adapt The Page 99 Test to Kindles
How will ebook authors manage to accomplish participating in The Page 99 Test when the Kindle does not have any page numbers? The Nook has page numbers, but the Nook isn't the the lion of the ereader zoo. Amazon's Ian Freed told CNET's David Carnoy in August 2010 that Amazon is "pretty sure we're 70 to 80 percent of the market." Aspiring ebook authors, especially self-published ebook authors, will want to offer ebooks that are properly formatted for Kindles, but there is no page 99 on a Kindle, and figuring out page numbers is nightmarishly hard.
Here are a few suggestions for playing Page 99 with a Kindle, using Russell Brand's Booky Wook as an example.
- Do some math that involves thinking. Go to Amazon or Google Books and look up the number of pages in the book. (Booky Wook is 368 pages.) Then do some math. 368/99= 3 something.
- On Kindle 1, go to the location that is between 3 and 4, and consider that page 99. On Kindle 2 and Kindle 3, estimate to get to 35%.
When I did the math properly, I was not far off. The paper edition's page 99 of Booky Wook is location 1368 in the Kindle edition, and that is 3.44 of the total 4714 locations.
For even less math, follow the example of Wisegeek in How Much Text is in a Kilobyte or Megabyte. Assume that the average book is 200 pages. This means Page 99 for a Kindle book is 50%. On any Kindle, "Go To Location" and divide the available number of locations in half. Interestingly, on Booky Wook this process led to different pages, but both pages had the same curse word.
There is a page 99 on an iPad, but readers prefer Kindles to iPads, and if there is any question why reading on a Kindle is better than reading on an iPad, just watch Amazon's September 13, 2010 Kindle vs iPad commercial.
Sources:
- "Take the Page 99 Test" was written by Jason Bogg and published by Galley Cat on September 16, 2010.
- Information about The Page 99 Test was accessed on page99test.com on September 16, 2010.
- "Amazon: We have 70-80 Percent of E-book Market" was written by David Carnoy. It was published by CNET on August 2, 2010.
- Wisegeek was accessed on September 16, 2010.
- My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, Drugs, and Scandal was released for Kindle in March 2009 by Harper Collins. The ASIN is B001NLKXYI. It has a publisher's limit of 5 simultaneous devices. It was originally printed by Hodder & Stoughton, Ltd in October, 2007.
Alex Sharp - Alex Sharp is a teacher who has been keeping Suite101 readers up to date with the latest in audio- and e-book gadgetry since 2008.
