Earlier quoted context omitted.
Put concisely, so nobody can inject content in-transit.
Use an ISP that you can trust.
For most of us in the US, that isn't an option. Also, your ISP isn't the only point of attack for injections.
Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked
31–40 of 126 posts
Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
that's why judging a book by one page is basically impossible and will never actually become popular aside from a fun little project
You can judge writing style by reading only one page. Soemtimes that's a good indicator.
writing style, true. but i've also read some really bland books written by great authors. to each their own i guess
Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked
#33It's interesting to think what might happen if something like this became really popular. I'd imagine many novels might start adding super oddball stuff in the first page, just to stand out from the crowd and pique peoples' curiosity. Kind of the literary equivalent to clickbait headlines.
Amazon already does this. They allow you to download first n pages of as an ebook for free.
It's not the same thing. On amazon you judge a book by its cover. On this site you judge it by its content
Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked
#34I'm currently hooked to this free book "Stories on the Go: 101 Very Short Stories by 101 Authors" https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Go-Very-Short-Authors-ebook/d... Each story is <1000 words (5-10mins), from a distinct author, and if you like the writing style, you can buy more books from the author.
Reminds me of "100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories" edited by Asimov. The format works really well for hard sci-fi, gets straight to the point. Some of them have stuck with me for decades.
Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked
#35How is this done? Where do you get the books and their first pages? I am wondering if Amazon API gives book preview also.
Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
In pretty much any writing medium (novels, screenplays, short stories, etc), standard advice involves hooking the reader within the first paragraph or so. This is partly why "in medias res" tends to be such a popular opening technique - it drops the reader straight into the action, which is theoretically more interesting than "She woke up, got dressed, and went downstairs for her daily breakfast of toast and juice...…
My forever favorite opening line to a novel remains “We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold” How can you not want to keep reading after that? While at the same time it’s still at the beginning, not assaulting you with action, etc
God bless Hunter.
Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked
#37It's interesting to think what might happen if something like this became really popular. I'd imagine many novels might start adding super oddball stuff in the first page, just to stand out from the crowd and pique peoples' curiosity. Kind of the literary equivalent to clickbait headlines.
Something similar has happened in pop music - because on Spotify (and probably other streaming services, too) a play counts if you listen to at least 30 seconds, there's been a definite shift towards songs that start off with a pared down version of the main hook, or at least start their build much more obviously early on. There's fewer long, drawn out intros (which are normally saved just for videos now).
In fairness, wasn't this also true for radio? I recall quite a number of songs where the full version (from a CD or similar) had an intro that I'd never hear on the radio.
Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked
#38It's interesting to think what might happen if something like this became really popular. I'd imagine many novels might start adding super oddball stuff in the first page, just to stand out from the crowd and pique peoples' curiosity. Kind of the literary equivalent to clickbait headlines.
I think this might already happen. This is just anecdata but I often get turned off from books by overwrought first page(s). Eventually someone convines me to go back and the rest of the novel is good. I'd love to hear an author's perspective on this, if any of them notice it. My guess is that they stew on opening passages for years before writing, causing them to get a little neurotic about them, then eventually the…
Yeah, read page sample(1:150, 1) of novels sounds like a better approach.
Funnily enough, there is a (French) Page 112 prize: https://www.prix-de-la-page-112.com/
Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked
#39It's interesting to think what might happen if something like this became really popular. I'd imagine many novels might start adding super oddball stuff in the first page, just to stand out from the crowd and pique peoples' curiosity. Kind of the literary equivalent to clickbait headlines.
A lot of young adult novels used to do it, and it turned me off books for long time as a kid. It felt like it was pandering to idiots.
Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think this might already happen. This is just anecdata but I often get turned off from books by overwrought first page(s). Eventually someone convines me to go back and the rest of the novel is good. I'd love to hear an author's perspective on this, if any of them notice it. My guess is that they stew on opening passages for years before writing, causing them to get a little neurotic about them, then eventually the…
In pretty much any writing medium (novels, screenplays, short stories, etc), standard advice involves hooking the reader within the first paragraph or so. This is partly why "in medias res" tends to be such a popular opening technique - it drops the reader straight into the action, which is theoretically more interesting than "She woke up, got dressed, and went downstairs for her daily breakfast of toast and juice...…
An interesting example, one of the best-known book openings in French literature ("Aujourd'hui, maman est morte."), and the difficulties translating the sentence in English:
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/lost-in-translat...