# BIG books



## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Hello all you nice people.

In another thread, Leslie advised me to break up my big books into smaller books. Her irrefutable logic is that no traditional publisher will even look at a book that has more than 100,000 words. Mine have about quarter of a million words in each. 

Leslie is absolutely right about traditional publishing. Big books cost more to print and they take up the shelf space of two or three normal books. In fact, big books almost disappeared when they started putting books in carousels at the grocery store. I’m hoping that mobile reading devices and Print on Demand will change that.

So please tell me folks, what about you Kindle readers? Is there a big resistance to big books, or are there still readers out there that enjoy a long journey like James Clavell's Shōgun or The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand?

Thanks,


Jeff


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## jah (Oct 28, 2008)

For big book, I think a kindle version is better then a paper verison, you don't have the to worry about how much it weight, can stand lift, let alone read a heavy book, my arms hurt within a few mintues. I more willing to buy heavy big book on kindle then paper 

good luck with your books

Jodi


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

FWIIW: Your opinion is worth a lot, Tarma. Thanks.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Jeff,

If a book is well written and I get into the story, I can read a million pages. I have nothing against big books, in fact, some of my favorite things to read were long. I remember being immersed for days in *Gone With the Wind*.

Don't get me started on modern publishing practices! (Well, get me started if you want. We can rant away.) My comment to you was what I have heard from a number of agents and publishers. Books today are priced by the page. A book of X words sells for X and a book of Y words sell for Y. If you are a new, unknown author, an agent won't even read your letter if it says the book is longer than 100,000 words. Stupid, but true.

I do agree, I think ebook publishing has the potential to revolutionize publishing. And I hope it does because the industry needs it and the time is ripe for change.

L


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Hi Leslie,

In no way do I disagree with you. I know for a fact that publishers, agents and the like won’t look at big book because I’ve been writing them for over 30 years and have yet to get one published. But I write for the same reason that I read - it takes me somewhere else and I like to be somewhere else for as long as I can be.

My main reason in posting the question was that I’m old and out of touch so I just and wondered if today’s readers were at all interested in long books. I saw very few in the thread about favorite books.


JH


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## sharyn (Oct 30, 2008)

I *love* big books, if they're written well and I can escape into them. And they're so much easier to read on the Kindle...

Think the OUTLANDER series, most of Stephen King's books, Ken Follett's books, the Harry Potter series, etc.

In fact, some of those big books that I haven't read yet, I'm thinking about buying in Kindle version and passing along the print copies. (Not the OUTLANDER series, though.<G> I have it in Kindle, but am not letting go of my print copies.)

Sharyn


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Thanks for that, Sharyn. 

Diana Gabaldon's been very successful with her hard-covers but her paperback sales drop off sharply because of the physical size of her books. That's not her fault, her publisher's fault or her readers’ faults. The distributors only have limited space in their book racks. The worst part of that is that many readers who can't, or won't, spend the money for a hard-cover, never see Diana's books. The Kindle can fix that.

JH


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## Jen (Oct 28, 2008)

One of the main reasons I love my kindle so much is for the ease of reading big books that were a deterrent due to their size before.  Pillars of the Earth is the perfect example.  I absolutely love a big book when it's something I'm really enjoying and don't want to end, especially on the kindle.  There are a lot of valid points though, I'd be really skeptical to pick one up from an unknown reader, or at least without really good reviews and/or recommendations.  It's intimidating to pick up a 900 page book you know nothing about.    
I'd LOVE to see a kindle version of the Fountainhead, I've looked everywhere and can't find it.  I've never read Harry Potter (I know, I know) partly because of the size of them.  There's another one I'd read in a heartbeat if it were available on the kindle.  From what I've heard about Rowlings perspective on e-books though that will never happen.  
I don't know if that helps you or not, but there's my two cents!


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

To those of you who've said you'd be reluctant to read a big book by an unknown author I ask why? With Kindle you can preview 100 pages of a thousand page book at no cost.

Next question: as an unknown author who dosen't want to write small books, what can I do to intice you to read my books?

I've offered the first volume of my newest book free:

http://www.eliscopublishing.com/KindleBoards/The_Treasure_of_La_Malinche_Vol_1.prc

The only catch is you can't get it via Amazon Whispernet. You have to download it to your computer and upload it to your Kindle via USB.

Read more about The Treasure of La Malinche here:

http://www.eliscopublishing.com/treasure_of_la_malinche.asp

Thanks,

Jeff


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## quiltlvr (Oct 28, 2008)

I love big books, the bigger the better because I get so engrossed in the story I just don't want it to end. I would love to sample your book when I actually get my kindle, or can it be sampled online?
Lisa


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

This is an interesting conversation, Jeff.

I think one thing for me: I don't have as much time to read these days as I did when I was younger. So if I "commit" to a big book, that may be the only thing I get to read for the next few weeks/months. Reading shorter books gives me a bit more variety.

I have *Pillars of the Earth *on my Kindle but haven't read it yet.

L


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

FWIW, when downloading Jeff's book, I downloaded it to the computer and then sent it to my Kindle using my Kindle e-mail address.  Worked like a charm and I didn't have to find the usb connector.   And, I have a back up copy on my computer, which is a good idea with any non-Amazon books in case the worst happens. . . .

Ann


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Lisa,

You can read it on your computer with the Mobipocket reader:

http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/ProductDetailsReader.asp

Before you read my book let me warn you that the heroine has a dirty mouth.

Ann - thanks for the tip. I would have never thought of that.

Jeff


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## Jen (Oct 28, 2008)

That's a good point Jeff - with being able to download a sample you do have the choice to see if you like it before purchasing.  I think offering the first volume for free is smart (and thank you, by the way!) to start with.  I think my main deterrent of unknown authors in general at the moment is that there is SOOO much that I want to read - it's hard to pick up something unknown at that point.  Not to say that I wouldn't at some point.  
Plus I agree a lot with Leslie - I don't have as much time to read as I'd like, and knowing I'm getting into something huge is a bit overwhelming.  It took me a couple of months to read Pillars (granted I was moving and starting to plan a wedding) but that's a real commitment when reading time is so precious.  In that case though it was worth it!


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Thanks Columbusreader. 

You and Leslie are quite right. Big books take a lot of time to read and they just aren't for everybody. But I truly love reading and writing them.

The Pillars of the Earth has 400,000 words, by the way. My books are small compared to that.


Jeff


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Jeff said:


> Before you read my book let me warn you that the heroine has a dirty mouth.


Thanks for the warning.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Yikes. That could have been embarrassing. Leslie is usually the one that catches the adult language omission.


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## patrisha w. (Oct 28, 2008)

I really don't look at the length of an ebook before I buy. If the first few chapters pull me in, you've got my money!


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## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

Oh man I absolutely love big books...bigger the better.  For me I feel like I can really connect and learn everything about the characters (maybe that's why most of my favorite books turn out to be series...huh, never thought about that before).  I think one of the best feeling in the world is digging into an awesome big book where when you get to the end, you get totally bummed out.  I didn't really feel it for 'Pillars of the Earth' (read it for a special extra credit assignment for one of my history classes in high school), but I don't remember it being that long...but it could be my second hand paperback copy.  My personal ong book favs are 'Lord of the Rings' (all in one book as it was meant to be), 'Les Miserables', 'The Stand', and on the borderline of being long...'Lonesome Dove' and 'The Three Musketeers' (both the singular book and the continuing series).

I also have the fun classics Jules Vern, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jane Austen, H.G. Wells, and Jack London (hardcover omnibuses you can get for a cheap price at Barnes & Noble) all waiting in the wings.

I only wish I had some more money and less of my dad's view about money.  I just can't justify re-buying them just for my Kindle...it would be nice.

Tris


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## LDB (Oct 28, 2008)

I'm going to be the contrarian from the majority. I'm a book price shopper. I was at Border's today. They had a table marked buy 1 get one 1/2 price. These were assorted paperbacks and none were under $12.99 so it would have been $20 or more to get 2 of them. Even "normal" paperbacks of the page size typical for the last 20 years are now $7.99 or more. Now I see a lot of new paperbacks that are about an inch taller than usual and a couple dollars higher price. Anyway, since price and page count seem to often have a correlation I'd say a huge book prices itself out of consideration. I wouldn't buy a small dictionary sized book for $27.95 but if the cover and synopsis are very appealing and interesting I might pay $9.95 for the first of a trilogy and if I like it go back for the other 2.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Tris, you can get many of the books you've listed free from The Project Gutenberg EBooks:

www.gutenberg.org

There are also numerous web sites that offer free eBooks in various formats. I have a few on my site including Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen formatted for Adobe Reader:

http://www.eliscopublishing.com/PublicDomain/Pride%20and%20Prejudice/Pride_and_Prejudice.pdf

_______________________________________

My apologies, LDB. My original question wasn't very clear. I meant to address it specifically to the Kindle and eBooks in general where size and price have little or no correlation.

Printed books are priced based upon the printing time, the amount of paper, ink and glue. The eBooks that I sell for $3.00 are $25.00 in print simply because printed books cost a lot to manufacture, stock and ship.

Thank you both for your comments.

Jeff


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## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

Jeff said:


> Tris, you can get many of the books you've listed free from The Project Gutenberg EBooks:
> 
> www.gutenberg.org
> 
> ...


Jeff,

Thanks for the links! I have used the Gutenberg website for other classics, but I had bought all of those omnibuses from Barnes & Noble months before I got my Kindle. However I did want to have a hardcover version as well in those books...yes, I buy books in hardcover editions if I want something to be kept forever and perhaps pass down. 

All this talk about big books reminds me of when I was in college and my roommate and I were taking the same Shakespeare class. Our books literally weighed 8lbs. (yes we grabbed a scale to weight it, a small hardcover book of all of Shakespeare's work), and we had bunk beds in our dorm. We were both reading our assignment in our beds (I was on the bottom and she was on top) when I decided I needed to get out of bed to get a new highlighter from my desk when *WHAM*!!! My roommate's book fell off her bed and missed my head as it came out from under the bottom bunk...and I mean by the TINIEST millimeter! It made such a loud noise that everyone on our floor came by to see what had happened (luckily no one was below us), and I was breathing pretty heavily in shock for the first few minutes.

Now wouldn't the problem be easily handled if it was a Kindle?


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Tris said:


> All this talk about big books reminds me of when I was in college and my roommate and I were taking the same Shakespeare class. Our books literally weighed 8lbs. (yes we grabbed a scale to weight it, a small hardcover book of all of Shakespeare's work),


Was that the Riverside Shakespeark? Definitely a Big Fat Book.

Ann


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## Tris (Oct 30, 2008)

Ann Von Hagel said:


> Tris said:
> 
> 
> > All this talk about big books reminds me of when I was in college and my roommate and I were taking the same Shakespeare class. Our books literally weighed 8lbs. (yes we grabbed a scale to weight it, a small hardcover book of all of Shakespeare's work),
> ...


Ah...Ann, it wasn't Riverside. I remember it had a green/gold cover (red dust jacket) with light beige paper...the Norton Anthology book. Funny enough after that incident (and the fact that the university bookstore wouldn't give us enough credit back for the book-by-back at the end of the quarter), we kept it and it is currently stored away in a plastic bin somewhere. Though my roommate and I (we both keep intouch regularly) laugh about it now.

"Books are dangerous..." 

Tris


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## Guest (Nov 1, 2008)

Jeff,
I am a big fan of big books, multi-volumes (like Shelby Foote's Civil War series) and, in fact, before hitting the Buy button at Amazon I check to see what the length is and try to figure out if it is long enough to warrant the purchase.  I had bought some of their books without doing that and found that I blew through them too quickly.  I like getting into a story and spending time there - that being said, I was glad when Rhett told Scarlet that he didn't give a damn and it faded to black!


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Ethan,

I’m a long war-novel nut. The only exception being Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe’s series which are (maybe) a dozen smaller books about various battles. Have you read William Safire’s Freedom?

Jeff


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## Selcien (Oct 31, 2008)

I've always used page count in order to get an idea of book length so the number of words in a book holds no meaning to me.

You mentioned _The Pillars of the Earth_ (which I've added to my "Modern books to look into" list, which I just started today), and using that I was able to put the number of words into a page count (the translation worked out to 411.099 words per page).

100,000 words came out to 243 pages. The first thing that I look for when considering a book is page count. When I see the page count is in the 200 page range I naturally feel that it's a rip off, if money is involved, as I feel that it's highly unlikely that the author will be able to develop their story well enough to satisfy me within such limited confines. I like for a book to at least make it into the 300 page range, the closer to the 400 page range the better.

250,000 words came out to 608 pages. This would be what I'd consider to be the upper range of a normal book (400 - 600 pages is a normal book to me).

If an author wants to scare me away they can write short stories, which, to me, are nothing more than undeveloped stories which only tease as to what could have been. Short books of 200 pages or less will also steer me away. I followed a link on the amazon forum that was dedicated to books by independent writers, one of the first books that I looked at had around 99 pages, the moment that I saw that I stopped considering the book. Too bloody short.

I'm a slow reader so I'll never get through anything quickly, but I wouldn't have it any other way.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Page count depends on paper size, font size and margins. One of my books, with about 250,000 words, is 802 pages in a 5.5 X 8.5 paperback but only 650-something pages when formatted at 8.5 x 11. The Kindle version would probably be even smaller because there are no gutter margins to account for the book binding.
Jeff


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## Selcien (Oct 31, 2008)

My Kindle has made me well aware of how many variables there are in page count (I use the largest text size), unfortunately there is only one book that I've ever read in which I was actually aware of the word count, _Battlefield Earth_ by L. Ron Hubbard, but I've long forgotten how many words that book has. So, in order to even begin to get an idea of how big a book would be based on word count I had to use page count.

If word count was the standard used to show book length then I'd be happy to use it, but when all you get is page count, and the size of the format, then that is what you have to use. Granted, I'm going to pay more mind to the size of the format from now on, but beyond that I really don't see how I'm supposed to get any idea of the size of a book.


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2008)

Selcien, I have a suggestion, but I don't know if it will work for you or not. On your home page, below each title, there are a row of dots that show you the book length. The longer the book, the longer the row of dots. If you go to the regular book section at Amazon and bring up your title, you can see under Product Details the page number count of the book. You can then get an idea of the size of all your other books by seeing how long the row of dots is for that one. It certainly won't give you numbers, but it will give you something to go on.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

You are quite right of course; generally the only information readily available is page count which really only applies to books on paper. Digital books are a relatively new idea that are just coming of age so it will take some time for traditional publishers to find better ways of indexing books for their readers.  

I wish I could offer you something more concrete, but I can't.

JH


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## Selcien (Oct 31, 2008)

asordu said:


> Selcien, I have a suggestion, but I don't know if it will work for you or not. On your home page, below each title, there are a row of dots that show you the book length. The longer the book, the longer the row of dots. If you go to the regular book section at Amazon and bring up your title, you can see under Product Details the page number count of the book. You can then get an idea of the size of all your other books by seeing how long the row of dots is for that one. It certainly won't give you numbers, but it will give you something to go on.


 I don't think that that would work at all. _Animal Farm_ has three dots, any sample I've downloaded has had three dots, so I have to think that the final location number given for a book would have to be used. But that brings up the question as to how the books get their location numbers and whether the location numbers are used in all books in such a way that it can be used to determine length, but then there's the matter that whatever you find will only work for books you have on your Kindle, not books that you're looking into. So regardless, it wouldn't do me much good as it would be after the fact.



Jeff said:


> You are quite right of course; generally the only information readily available is page count which really only applies to books on paper. Digital books are a relatively new idea that are just coming of age so it will take some time for traditional publishers to find better ways of indexing books for their readers.
> 
> I wish I could offer you something more concrete, but I can't.
> 
> JH


All I need is enough information to minimize the risk of purchasing books that are small enough that I'd consider them to be short stories, you've helped in that. Albeit, I'll still read short stories as long as they're classics, maybe someone like Mark Twain can get me to change my mind 'cause George Orwell has certainly failed to do so (both _1984_ and _Animal Farm_, while enjoyable reads with very good points to be made, left me feeling disatisified.)

I need to add this. The reason that I bought a Kindle was in hopes that it would get me to read again. My stance of book length is a leftover from when I was really into reading, which was around the late eighties. Since then there have only been two series that I've felt inclined to read, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, both of which are dominated by thick books. So for all I know I may actually require books that are longer than I had before, I'll just have to figure that out.

Oh, and just so you know, I did add _The Treasure of La Malinche_ to my "to look into" list after The Pillars of the Earth, a classic book will be interspersed among the "modern" titles, so it could be a while before I get to it (I have three books on my Kindle to read before looking for new books), but I *will* be taking a look at your book. Just thought that you'd like to know.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Thank you Selcien,

You're going to laugh but - *don't buy The Treasure of la Malinche*, it's free to members of this forum for a limited time.

http://www.eliscopublishing.com/KindleBoards/The_Treasure_of_La_Malinche_Vol_1.prc

Be advised that it contains bad words; the heroine's fault, not mine. 

Jeff


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## Selcien (Oct 31, 2008)

I truly appreciate that you're offering your book for free but I cannot put your book ahead of the other books that I'm interested in just because it is free, and if I got your book now then it would have, in effect, cheated it's way past the other books, and would open the door for other books to cheat their way in, and then I'd be reading books because they're free, not because I wanted to read them.

Waiting may mean having to pay for your book but I'm perfectly fine with that.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Sorry. It was intended as a gift, not to cheat you.


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## Selcien (Oct 31, 2008)

Did I come across that badly?

There's absolutely no need to apologize when you're being nice and you were very clearly being nice, this is all on my end. If _The Pillars of the Earth_ and/or _The Treasure of La Malinche_ turn out to be good reads then you have given me a gift that's far greater than the monetary price of a book as you're the one that helped me find them. I hope this makes sense as I know that some of the logic I use can be really bizarre.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Well Selcien, I have to admit that I was a little put off by the word cheating. As I’ve gotten older, I’m afraid I’ve gotten thin-skinned in more ways than one.

At the risk of offending you, do you know that you can download my book (or any Kindle compatible book on the internet) to your computer and upload it to your Kindle, or not, at your leisure? It’s like having a book on the shelf – read it or throw it away.

Jeff


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## Selcien (Oct 31, 2008)

I'm very thick skinned in regards to posting on forums as the vast majority of my experience with them has come from the IGN Boards (August 2000 to present). Those boards can be very hard on people that have a tendency to take things seriously, I've seen a number of people, including Moderators, just lose it because they couldn't handle the strength of other peoples opinions (sometimes when a person loses it they'll go on a rampage until a Moderator bans them).

So it's highly unlikely that you'll be able to offend me unless you *really* go out of your way to do so, and if you managed it you'd be banned for posting links to very nasty pics, which is about the only way that you could really offend me.  Personally, I'm worried that I may inadvertantly offend people than I am about getting offended myself. People are nice here and I don't know if I can be just as nice.

To move on.

I have serious issues with self control, which my credit card bill, prior to getting a loan to pay most of it off, could fully attest to, so it's really in my best interest if I try to maintain control as best as I can. The approach that I want to take with reading is to only have two books to read at any given time (one classic/one modern). I slightly lost control already as I overly compensated for the free books that I had gotten because they were free (deleted all of the books I had gotten because they were free and got books I was truly interested in to replace them), and ended up with four books to read, it's now three, but once I get back to two that's where I'd like it to stay. Get two books, read them, choose my next two books, read them, choose my next two books, read them, etc...

I could put books onto my computer until I'm ready for them but to my way of thinking I would be choosing books before I'm ready to choose them by doing so. The reason it's so crucial is that I want to make sure that the books that I'm currently reading have a direct influence over the books that I choose to read next.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

I understand, Selcien. Let me know if I can be of any help to you.

Jeff


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

Ooh, Selcien, it's not easy, is it? I think human nature is to _want_. I am always wanting something. Once it arrives, I am looking for the next thing.

Thankfully, I don't get emotionally attached to stuff, it's as easy to get rid of as it was necessary to buy. But it's not cheap.


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## Selcien (Oct 31, 2008)

Jeff said:


> I understand, Selcien. Let me know if I can be of any help to you.
> 
> Jeff


Actually, I could use some recommendations for long books that are well written, and are self contained, and are available on the Kindle (i.e. _The Fountainhead_ by Ayn Rand is not available on the Kindle otherwise that'd be on my list to check out too).

Basically, I've decided on some changes so I'll be getting around to looking into _The Pillars of the Earth_ and _The Treasure of La Malinche_ much sooner than anticipated. One of the changes came about because I finally read a little of the Mark Twain collection that I bought and quite frankly I felt like tossing it into the trash, so no more forced classics, it's a free for all from now on. *explanation* I was so focused on following up a strong recommendation, "...favorite book..." for _Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court_ that I never bothered to do more than check the formatting. Huge mistake.

I've also decided that I want to avoid tying myself into a series until later on, a trilogy should be okay, but anything beyond that will have to wait. Which brings me to this question. The Treasure of La Malinche is only two volumes? It seems to me that it's a book that got split in two but I want to make sure.

And thanks for your help. 



pidgeon92 said:


> Ooh, Selcien, it's not easy, is it? I think human nature is to _want_. I am always wanting something. Once it arrives, I am looking for the next thing.
> 
> Thankfully, I don't get emotionally attached to stuff, it's as easy to get rid of as it was necessary to buy. But it's not cheap.


I've been doing alot better with buying stuff since getting a debit card late last year. This year I have used my credit card twice, once for a game, which ironically enough I haven't even played yet, and for the Kindle.

Getting rid of stuff though, I'm not so good at. I mean, I hate Cloverfield, but I still have the movie. *shrug*


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Selcien,

The only Ayn Rand eBook that I know of is Anthem. 

As for other recommendations, Mark Twain is one of my all time favorite authors so it appears that your reading taste and mine are far apart.

You are correct, The Treasure of la Malinche is one book split into two because of printing size restrictions. Volume 1 does reach a climax but the story line is unresolved until the end of volume 2.


Jeff


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## chynared21 (Oct 28, 2008)

Jeff said:


> Before you read my book let me warn you that the heroine has a dirty mouth.


*My kind of heroine ;-p

I love "fat" books...my mom always told me there was good in fat books. I'm about 2/3 the way through Pillars of The Earth...I'm really enjoying it. I've been thinking of buying the Kindle version and starting from the beginning (yes, that good for me) to ease the strain on my hands )*


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

chynared21 said:


> Jeff said:
> 
> 
> > Before you read my book let me warn you that the heroine has a dirty mouth.
> ...


Somebody recently asked me why I made Maggie de Vega use such foul language and my answer was that it wasn't me, Maggie has a dirty mouth.


This is a little off topic but I've been puzzled for years. In about 1989 my wife read Pillars of the Earth and gave it to me when she was finished. I read about a chapter and told her that I'd read it. She said that wasn't possible because it was just published. I then proceeded to tell her the whole story line. Anybody know how that might be possible?

Jeff


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Jeff said:


> chynared21 said:
> 
> 
> > Jeff said:
> ...


Tom the Builder spoke to you and you knew the story.

L


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## chynared21 (Oct 28, 2008)

Jeff said:


> Somebody recently asked me why I made Maggie de Vega use such foul language and my answer was that it wasn't me, Maggie has a dirty mouth.
> 
> 
> This is a little off topic but I've been puzzled for years. In about 1989 my wife read Pillars of the Earth and gave it to me when she was finished. I read about a chapter and told her that I'd read it. She said that wasn't possible because it was just published. I then proceeded to tell her the whole story line. Anybody know how that might be possible?
> ...


*Now that is interesting...*


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

I walked into that, Leslie.


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## Suzanne (Nov 3, 2008)

Jeff, thank you so much for the copy of your book. I now have it on my Kindle and am looking forward to reading it. Your generosity is appreciated!

I am a big book lover. I just finished Katherine by Anya Seton and had my hubby take it back to the library today. It was 700 pages. Not a War & Peace size, but I got to spend some time with the characters. That is one of my big gripes about smaller books, no sooner do you get to know them and you are turning the final page.


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## chynared21 (Oct 28, 2008)

KnitOnePurlTwo said:


> That is one of my big gripes about smaller books, no sooner do you get to know them and you are turning the final page.


*That is the reason why I don't like skinny books...I end up feeling sad that a really good book is over way too soon.*


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

KnitOnePurlTwo said:


> Jeff, thank you so much for the copy of your book. I now have it on my Kindle and am looking forward to reading it. Your generosity is appreciated!
> 
> I am a big book lover. I just finished Katherine by Anya Seton and had my hubby take it back to the library today. It was 700 pages. Not a War & Peace size, but I got to spend some time with the characters. That is one of my big gripes about smaller books, no sooner do you get to know them and you are turning the final page.


My pleasure. I hope you like it.

In a week or so I'll take down the free version of volume 1 and put up volume 2.

The downside of big books for me is that I get so attached to the characters that I feel like I've lost a friend when I turn the last page. Do you ever feel like that?

Jeff


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## Suzanne (Nov 3, 2008)

Yes, I feel exactly that way. I feel I'm saying Goodbye to a friend. With some big books, I deliberately allow myself only so many pages per day so that our time together is longer! Nuts, I know! But that's me!


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

You’re a crackup.


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## Selcien (Oct 31, 2008)

Jeff,

I guess that I should have mentioned that I did find _Anthem_, it seems that everybody has it.

As far as Mark Twain goes, it's really a matter of language. With _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_, at least the beginning of it (I only read a little), his writing is meant to be that of the character, and I can't stand it. I know what he was doing but the result is reading something that's poorly written, in my opinion of course.

_Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court_, outside of trying to figure out where the story is supposed to start, has the main character running into characters that speak a very old language, might as well be trying to read Shakespeare.

I also tried reading a story called _1601_ but I was never able to figure out where the story starts, or even if the story was there, what little I did read was a story about the story, not interesting...

I did take a peek at _The Fountainhead_ (using Amazon's "Look Inside" feature) and it's *very* readable for me.

Basically, if the author uses a modernish writing style than it's worth a shot. I'll be reading samples first so no harm can possibly be done.

Oh, and good to know about your book, if I get it then I'll get the whole thing at once. I'm going to go ahead and get the sample for your book (and for _The Pillars of the Earth_), as I'm getting a bit impatient to find out whether I'd like them (putting them off has made me *really* curious to try them).


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Just to remind you, The Treasure of la Malinche has a lot of rough language in it. When I finished it I was afraid that I’d unintentionally written a man’s book, but the women in my life said that they liked it. I’m not sure if they were just being nice because so far only men have bought it.

JH


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## Selcien (Oct 31, 2008)

Just for the record, I'm male. My icon, if that is what threw you off, will change to match whatever I happen to be reading at the time. I'm reading _The Mermaid Chair_ so I have an icon of The Mermaid Chair. I already have an icon waiting for when I start _The Graveyard Book_.

Oh, before I go any further. Jade green eyes. *Very* nice touch. 

I didn't bother reading even half of the sample as I didn't need to (I start from the beginning of a book so the more of a sample that I read the more I have to re-read). It's very well written and the character interactions have brought smiles, I see no reason why I won't enjoy your book.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Selcien said:


> Just for the record, I'm male. My icon, if that is what threw you off, will change to match whatever I happen to be reading at the time. I'm reading _The Mermaid Chair_ so I have an icon of The Mermaid Chair. I already have an icon waiting for when I start _The Graveyard Book_.
> 
> Oh, before I go any further. Jade green eyes. *Very* nice touch.
> 
> I didn't bother reading even half of the sample as I didn't need to (I start from the beginning of a book so the more of a sample that I read the more I have to re-read). It's very well written and the character interactions have brought smiles, I see no reason why I won't enjoy your book.


My face is red.  I should have looked at your profile instead of relying on the avatar.

Thanks,

Jeff


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## Selcien (Oct 31, 2008)

It wouldn't have done any good as I had neglected that portion of my profile until I read your post. Oh well, got it fixed now.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

I won't make that mistake again, I hope.  

Jeff


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## Sailor (Nov 1, 2008)

I love all books and especially big books that I can get totally lost in for days. I would be more inclined to purchase more of them because the Kindle will make holding, storing and carrying them easier now. Also, I love to lay in bed and read before falling asleep and I want to lay on my back and hold a book above me, or slightly at my side with one hand. Big books have to be propped up against pillows, my cats, hubby...anything I can find to give me the right highth...then to hold the pages open...yikes!!! The Kindle will help with all of that. The Harry Potter series was a pain to read in bed as the volumes continued to get bigger and bigger...LOL, I haven't read the last book, just started watching the movies as they came out instead. Kindle would have helped me there. I tend to look for bigger books because if they are good, I can be lost in the content for a long time, vs a movie that is over in a few hours. And I would buy from an unknown, with Kindle you get to 'test the waters' and see if you like the style, I think that is totally awesome. BTW...Kenny will be arriving today or tomorrow USPS...can hardly wait!!!


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## Guest (Nov 5, 2008)

Sailor,

Another good reason for JK to let us have Harry on Kindle. If you haven't noticed, they are doing a pitiful job with the later movies. With the last movie, if I had not read the book I would have been at a total loss as to the plot. You MUST read the last book or else you just won't get the movie, I suspect. In a lot of ways, Book 7 was one of the best. "I laughed, I cried........." hehehe


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## Sailor (Nov 1, 2008)

Yeah LuckyRainbow...the movies were complicated if you didn't read the books. The first movie I was explaining lots of things to hubby so he could understand more of the story...he got things after I explained them...after the second movie he thought "why bother", cause he didn't 'get it' without me explaining it to him...we lost interest in it. We never did see the last of the Potter movies and he never read any of the books. I will just wait for the series to get Kindle-ized and then I'll read it start to finish that way...Hope JK gets cooking on that brew for us.


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## Sailor (Nov 1, 2008)

Jeff, thank you sooo much for the free book. Now explain something since I am new here on the boards and to this ebook thing and authors and such.. and haven't recieved my 'Kinny' yet. Did you write this book If so, this will be my first book to read that I actually...well 'virtually' know the author of a book!!! If you didn't write it, thank you for the book also. This will be the first book I read as soon as I can figure out how to get it off my computer and onto Kinny. I guess there is software and a USB cable and it should be as simple as that. I have the other 2 free books from amazon that I got before they took them down a few days ago, but I will read this one first. So, since it has rough language will this give me a 'Sailor Mouth'...LOL

As for guessing how you knew the story...were you a publisist (sp) and read the book to see if it was good enough to submit to the general public?

I really like Mark Twain also, though I haven't read too many of his works thus far...but I LOVE Tom Sawyer again and again. I LOVE Twain's 'wit'. If you read Mark's works, a lot of people don't catch his funny enuendos (sp)...{{{we need a spell checker on here}}} and I love that about his works. I have large unabridged leather volumes of his works but yet again, they are so heavy and combersome that I don't pull them out much. Also, a couple of years ago I got to see the ACTUAL cabin where he wrote all of his stories at here in California. It is so small. Amazing how a great mind actually lived and walked in the forested area and cleared his head and thought of great literature. Been to Calavaras too but didn't watch the frogs jump...too crowded with bikers every year.


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## vg (Oct 28, 2008)

I prefer big books - the story and characters really have a chance to develop and I can lose myself in a story that won't be neatly wrapped up in a few hundred pages.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

I'm reluctant to say "Hi Sailor", especially since your profile omits your gender so...

Yes, I wrote the book. It has no copy protection so you can read it on your computer before your Kindle arrives. Just install the Mobipocket reader:

http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/default.asp?Language=en

I'm not sure if I understand your question about how did I know if it was good enough to submit but I'll take a shot. I know what I like to read and I enjoyed writing _The Treasure of La Malinche_ so it seemed logical that people who liked the same books that I like would like my book. How's that for a confusing sentence?

Those bikers have no respect for frogs, do they?

Thanks for trying my book and please tell me what you think.

Jeff


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## Sailor (Nov 1, 2008)

> This is a little off topic but I've been puzzled for years. In about 1989 my wife read Pillars of the Earth and gave it to me when she was finished. I read about a chapter and told her that I'd read it. She said that wasn't possible because it was just published. I then proceeded to tell her the whole story line. Anybody know how that might be possible?
> 
> Jeff


Jeff, this was what I was trying to answer to your post that I didn't make clear...and your answer was good...LOL This is my answer to your above question as I love mind-bogglers: As for guessing how you knew the story...were you a publisist (sp) and read the book to see if it was good enough to submit to the general public?

And, I will go to the mobipocket site and download the software, I guess I need it for other books from other sites from what people are talking about.

And, I guess you don't say "Hi Sailor" to just anyone do you...LOL


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## Guest (Nov 5, 2008)

Sailor, 

To get books onto Kindle from your computer does not require any software, only the USB cable. Or you can e-mail the file to your Kindle, this works really well and although Amazon says they will charge you $.10, no one reports ever being charged.

LR


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Sailor,

I wasn’t very clear in my previous post. You only need the Mobipocket reader to read my book BEFORE your Kindle arrives.

JH


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