Quick–grab the nearest book. Turn to page 99 and read that page. Would you buy the book based on that page alone?
In October, Page 99 Test will expand this simple reading game online. Authors and aspiring authors can upload page 99 of their book and see how readers react to this crucial page. The site was co-founded by Joanna Wiebe and Lance Jones. Read more at the Beyond Page 99 blog.
A sample entry image is embedded above. Here’s the simple concept behind the start-up: “People in bookstores often read page 99 of a book to get a taste for the writing – to determine if they’d buy the book. Same goes here. Writers upload page 99 of their manuscript, and you get to read & rate it. Tell writers if (based on reading page 99) you’d buy their book.” (Via Blake Gernstetter)
UPDATE: An alert reader pointed out that Marshal Zeringue has been running The Page 99 Test blog on Blogspot since 2007. We caught up with Marshal Zeringue to find out more about his original Page 99 Test blog.
Zeringue explained: “I started The Page 99 Test blog back in March 2007. For several years now authors have been good enough to contribute posts letting readers know if Ford Madox Ford’s notion is valid for their books.”
He added: “I’ve also been producing a blog called The Page 69 Test somewhat longer. (Several hundred authors contributed entries about The Page 69 Test to my flagship Campaign for the American Reader blog before I started the site dedicated solely to the test.) The idea is basically the same: authors weigh in on whether Page 69 gives a skimmer a good idea about the book as a whole.”
Zeringue concluded: “While both ‘Test’ blogs started out with a mix of books, of late The Page 99 Test has been mostly home to non-fiction and the The Page 69 Test dedicated to fiction.”