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Kindle: Look inside?

by Marhelper
7 replies
Can you determine what pages or chapters are provided for the "Look inside?" or is it automatically taken from the first chapters?
#inside #kindle
  • Profile picture of the author TinkBD
    Hi

    As far as I know, the Look Inside is automatically generated, based on a certain percentage of the content length.

    So, if you have a really short book, you may want to be careful about how much you put at the beginning in terms of copyright etc.

    Bundling books can also create a problem. I have three shorts bundled together. In this case, much of the first and shortest story is displayed in the Look Inside for the bundle. I'm not worried, because it isn't the entire story, but I can see that being a problem in other circumstances.

    As part of my Kindle Marketing, I also include a EXCERPT from the book in the product description. I want to be sure that potential readers can see the quality of my writing ;-)

    For my novel length works I choose a portion that isn't displayed in the Look Inside, thus giving TWO different samples

    HTH,
    Tink
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    • Profile picture of the author Marhelper
      I was wondering because I had a dedication page but did not want to put it in the front if that would be a part of "Look Inside," people don't care about that.


      Originally Posted by TinkBD View Post

      Hi

      As far as I know, the Look Inside is automatically generated, based on a certain percentage of the content length.

      So, if you have a really short book, you may want to be careful about how much you put at the beginning in terms of copyright etc.

      Bundling books can also create a problem. I have three shorts bundled together. In this case, much of the first and shortest story is displayed in the Look Inside for the bundle. I'm not worried, because it isn't the entire story, but I can see that being a problem in other circumstances.

      As part of my Kindle Marketing, I also include a EXCERPT from the book in the product description. I want to be sure that potential readers can see the quality of my writing ;-)

      For my novel length works I choose a portion that isn't displayed in the Look Inside, thus giving TWO different samples

      HTH,
      Tink
      Signature
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      • Profile picture of the author TinkBD
        If the book is fairly long, I'd probably put the dedication in the front and let people slide past in when they use the Look Inside.

        If the book is short, I'd probably put it in the back to maximize the amount of content shown. I think that what you want to avoid is having no content, just front of book stuff.

        You might just publish and see what is shown in Look Inside. You can always make adjustment and republish.

        HINT - If you do republish, make a small change or notation in the first pages so you can tell at a glance if the new version is displayed in the Look Inside.

        I put a period in the center of a line somewhere on the title page. It is barely visible unless you are looking for it ;-)
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        • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
          I remember reading somewhere that Amazon uses the first 10% of a book for the Look Inside feature. Based on items in my own library, that looks to be about right.
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  • Profile picture of the author TinkBD
    From Amazon itself:

    Amazon.com Help: Participation and Submission Guidelines
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  • Profile picture of the author iSoftware
    This is a good question actually. Ideally if an author could control this, showing them "cliffhanger" portions of your content would draw in the reader. Powerful!
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  • Profile picture of the author GoodFE
    The look inside will display the first 10% of your book. You can't choose what it shows unfortunately but once you are aware of it you can take advantage of it.

    Start your book off with a bang, something interesting to grab the readers attention and you can turn this apparent negative into a massive positive.

    P.S.

    If the book is short then consider dropping the dedication. If you put it in the front then it will take up a large chuck of that 10%, leading to less sales and if you put it in the back some will see it as an underhanded tactic to boost your word count. One bad review and your efforts could be wasted.

    I like to start my book with a table of contents, no matter how short it is. I then include excerpts from other books, sometimes free copies or bonus stories, as well as 'message from the author', to thank the reader and ask for reviews.
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