Stan Musial is a hero.
Not only is he in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and one of the top one hundred best baseball players of all time, he’s ninety years old and he’s been married to his wife for seventy of those ninety years. Way to go, Stan the Man!
My husband provided me with the above information. He was very impressed by the longevity of Stan’s marriage.
Also, thanks to hubby’s love affair with his Kindle - I gave it to him last Chrismukah - he provided me with some additional, and very writer-pertinent information.
By his calculations, when you upload a book sample to your Kindle, you get approximately 5% of the total number of pages. He recently uploaded a sample of Something In the Air, by Richard Hoffer. The book chronicles the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City. My husband loved the 5% he read, but when he looked at the Kindle price of $17.99, he declined to purchase the book…for about an hour. Then he bought it because he said the sample was so damn good he couldn’t resist.
His take-home message to me? Hook your reader in the first 5% of your story, especially when it comes to books on Kindle. I asked what he thought that meant…what I mean is - does this indicate that our attention span as a reading species is decreasing? Or does this mean that we have a decreased tolerance for spending our hard-earned dollars on something we likely will not enjoy? And I asked him - How many pages are you willing to give a book before you decide it’s not for you?
He and I agree that while our attention may be drawn to many things, the reason is not a decreasing attention span, but rather an increasing need to choose wisely when it comes to spending money earmarked for entertainment. And he says 5% of a book is enough to help him make up his mind. That could mean 12 pages or 40. So hook ‘em early, ladies, and reel ‘em in.
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November 30th, 2010 at 2:21 am
You have a great husband.
It always makes me warm inside to see a marriage last through the sands of time. 70 years is wonderful. Stan is the man!
November 30th, 2010 at 6:43 am
Stan is an amazing man, it’s wonderful to know people like him exist!
I’ve read the average reader will allow a book 18 pages of grace time to get hooked-beyond that is a gamble. They might get hooked, they might give it a bit more time or they might set it down and use it as a door stop… but those first 18 pages are crucial. These studies were done in the days before e-readers but I’ll bet the same averages apply.
XXOO Kat
November 30th, 2010 at 9:22 am
I know nothing about baseball, so I’m keeping mum. I do agree though about hooking the readers early on. I usually put down a book if it drones on and I’m like okaaay, so where is this going. I know I’m probably missing out some good books because of this, but I like to delve right into the story. As for romance, I once read that it’s good to have the central characters meet within the first two chapters. I like that.
November 30th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Amber and Kat - 70 years of marriage. Wow! They must be happy to live so long!
Kat - I agree - I give a book maybe 30 pages. Hubby is more patient, he says 50. If I don’t see potential in 30 pages, I’m outie.
Delilah - nonfiction, depending upon why I’m reading it, might get a bye from me, but fiction needs to hook me pretty quick. The first two chapters rule is probably pretty accurate.
November 30th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Amazing! My parents have been married 45 years out of 63. They married three days before my dad went to Vietnam. I love to hear these kind of stats.
I love this post. You know, I own a Kindle, but never dowloaded a sample. I’ll have to check into that.
November 30th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Oh Ciara, how cool! My parents have been married 45 years too. It’s pretty amazing!
Yes, definitely start downloading samples. You get a really good idea of what the book is about. Hubby loves that feature.
November 30th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
I love baseball. When I was five I just knew I was going to grow up and marry a professional baseball player. Of course that didn’t happen. Oh well, I’m blessed with the man I have and pray we’ll have 70 years together.
November 30th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
Hi Renee! Thanks for stopping by. I think if I was a guy, I’d want to be a professional baseball player!
I hope you and your husband have 70 wonderful years together!