Online Book Browsing
Posted by annastan on January 21st, 2010. Filed under: A Closer Look, Books.As I was looking for an excerpt from a book the other day, I found something pretty interesting. HarperCollins has a new “Book Browse” feature on its website that allows you to read several chapters of certain books online.
Being able to browse inside books is nothing new, of course, but this was the first time I’ve seen such long excerpts available on a publisher’s website. For example, you can read the first 60 pages (!!) of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book online.
I know this kind of thing might make some people nervous since it’s essentially putting chunks of authors’ work online for free, but I think it can be a great marketing tool. For example, when I read the first chapter of The Forest of Hands and Teeth online, I was intrigued and bumped the book up to the top of my “To Buy” list.
Have any of you been influenced by online excerpts of books? Are you wary of having so much of a writer’s work available on the internet?
January 21st, 2010 at 6:31 am
60 pages??? I’ve always wanted to read it but never found the time. I have no more excuses.
Thank you for the info, Anna.
January 21st, 2010 at 6:43 am
No, that doesn’t bother me at all. If I had a book coming out, the more attention the better. Of course, if it is well written, this strategy will work. Better hope the first few pages really draw in that reader. As a reader, I love having the choice of reading the first few pages – that usually makes or breaks my decision to read a book. For me, it’s a good thing.
January 21st, 2010 at 9:03 am
You’re welcome, Nathalie. I see you have no problem with long excerpts being available online.
Laura, I think you’re right that it does put a bit more pressure on the writing. If the excerpt is good, people will be hooked and want to go buy the book. Longer excerpts mean that readers have more time to lose interest – the book needs to really grab them so they want to see how it ends.
January 21st, 2010 at 9:55 am
I’m in agreement that if the excerpt doesn’t grab the reader, this sales tool will backfire. But I’m sure publishers realize this and won’t e-excerpt books with slow beginnings, for example.
January 21st, 2010 at 10:11 am
I’m sure that’s true. While it can be a good marketing technique, it doesn’t work for all books. And in the case of shorter works, like picture books, I imagine it wouldn’t really work at all.
January 21st, 2010 at 11:51 am
I’ve read very little online, and even less since my new philosophy is to try to go into reading a book totally unknowing of the plot if I can. This makes it so much better when huge surprises come along.
That said, I’d consider putting a chapter up before a release.
January 21st, 2010 at 12:11 pm
It’s funny, I was playing with my new Kindle last night and downloaded the first couple chapters of The Maze Runner. I keep hearing how good it is. But somehow it left me off balance and I didn’t really want to read more beyond the excerpt. But I don’t know if that’s a reflection on the book or on the Kindle. I have a feeling that if I had the actual book, I might keep reading.
January 21st, 2010 at 7:40 pm
PJ – I think you’re right that there’s something to be said for not knowing much about a book before you start reading. I feel that way about movies a lot of times – often the trailers show you all the good parts so that when you actually see the movie, it doesn’t seem that exciting!
Sherrie – That’s really interesting. You’re probably right that once we have a physical book in hand, we’re more likely to keep reading. It seems like more of an investment that way, even if we haven’t actually purchased the book.