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I found a fun little website the other day for authors. You upload a brief description of your book, and then page 99 from your book. Then anyone who cares to can read your submission and comment on whether or not they'd read your book!
The whole concept here is that by page 99 you've settled into your rhythm and style-you're no longer over thinking every word, you have any idea where you're going-or you should!-and the real writer in you is starting to show up: good, bad or ugly!
I'm not so sure about the concept. If you are being totally honest (and you know the Pollyanna in me made me be a good girl--well, pretty good!) and posting your real page 99, it's kind of a crap shoot what you come up with. Some page 99's are full of action, thrills, spills and S-E-X. Others find your protagonists in a contemplative mood, which a reader might not totally appreciate if they haven't already covered 98 pages of character development.
I've posted page 99 from both The Shell Keeper and Framed (my upcoming book) and if ever there were two different as night and day examples, I think these are the two! Check them out, see what you think, and let me know what you think of the whole Page 99 concept.
The Shell Keeper: http://www.page99test.com/read-my-page/1515
I find it fascinating that the page from Framed-which I think on its own is more fun, is not doing as well as the page from The Shell Keeper, which is perhaps more thoughtful in nature. My thoughts in general about Page 99 are that it's an interesting concept, but a real crap shoot. Not sure I'd use it to choose a book to read. I think I'll stick with reading the first page or two-after all, that's what editors do, right?
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