Kindle and the First 30 Pages

There’s an interesting phenomenon that’s bound to happen with books in general and their first 30 pages. The Amazon.com Kindle, both on the specialized device as well as generic devices like the iPhone, removes the traditional friction involved in the purchasing of a book. With the Kindle, potential book buyers can read the first 20 or 30 pages of the book at no charge — why not since there’s no marginal cost for the distribution of the digital media.

Here’s my prediction: successful book authors are going to focus even more on their first 20 or 30 pages to get readers sucked into the story so that they purchase the entire work. In the offline world, readers might browse at a local bookstore, but there is much more work involved to read 20 pages at the store to decide if the book is worth purchasing. At home, on the plane, or on the train, there’s much more down time where reading 20 pages to see if a book is interesting has less opportunity cost. With the Kindle, there will be more serious trying before buying.

Only time will tell if this prediction comes true.