Odd ramblings of an obsessed reader

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Why I Hate the Sneak Peek

sneak peek

sneak peek

Why I Hate the Sneak Peek

We are talking about sneak peeks, one of my bookish pet peeves, the few chapters of the author’s next book found at the back of the book you’ve just read…  

What I wish publishers knew? They are a waste of time! Well, I think so anyway.

I don’t read them and here’s why…

It’s the feels

When I’ve just finished a book I want time for the story to soak in, time to revel in the experience before I start another book. Depending on the book I’ve just finished this may last a minute or an entire day.
What I don’t want is another book experience, especially one that I haven’t chosen myself.

I feel cheated

But most of all – it’s that feeling that a book I am enjoying still has a while to go… While reading, especially a physical book, I have an idea of how much more of the story I can look forward to by the thickness of the unread part. When it’s a really good book I feel cheated that it ends way before the pages end…
Surely I am not alone in this?

I want it all

If I loved the book I’m going to want to read more of the authors work. But I want to read a whole book. What’s the point of reading a few chapters and then having to wait until I can get my hands on the book? I would prefer to keep the specialness of starting a new book written by a really good author to when I can actually finish the book!

What do you think? Do you read the sneak peeks? Love them / hate them?

 

More about the things I think authors and publishers knew here

16 Comments

  1. Wow, I was going to email you asking for a review of my book Silver Knight, but changed my mind because it hits two of your pet peeves–the dreaded cliffhanger AND a sneak peek. Let me just say as a reader, if I did not like the book, the cliffhanger doesn’t bother me because I don’t plan on reading the next one. With a cliffhanger, I’m excited for the next one, in fact, I hold on to my excitement and anticipate quite a bit. If the book includes the first chapter of the next book, that’s fabulous because it let’s me close off the first story (without it really being a cliffhanger). As an YA author, I was requested by students at schools I visit to include a couple chapters of the next book in the series or of the next book that I am writing even if it doesn’t pertain to the series.

    This is a great topic. You all make excellent points but

    • Oops, kids interrupted and I accidentally hit post! 😉

      But…I think it would be interesting and fun to find out how many don’t like them or how many Love to hate them.

  2. What an interesting post! I used to read them, but found that I would rather wait and read the whole book together- so I tend to skip them now.

  3. Amen to this post! The sneak peek always gets me so excited to read the whole book. And then it doesn’t give me enough.

    For example, I read a speak peek of Winter by Marissa Meyer and all it did was get me anxious and a bit overwhelmed to get the real book!

    Thanks for your thoughts 🙂

  4. SO much yes. I agree with this completely. WHY are these a thing!? I get like, a small excerpt, just to get a feel for the writing or something, but several chapters? NO! That is MEAN. Especially because when you finally DO get the book, you either have to start over and get bored re-reading, OR forget half the stuff that happened that you’d read months ago. I like neither option. I’d rather nothing as opposed to a sampler! Fabulous post!

  5. I also don’t read sneak peeks, mostly because I don’t want a cliffhanger XD Plus, I feel like it’s completely unnecessary at times, I’d rather have the entire book in my hands than a few chapters from it. XD

  6. Oh, this is the worst with Kindle books – because I see that percentage and I think I have more book, and then suddenly the book is OVER! It KILLS me!!

    Or – even worse – sometimes there are sneak peaks for books that came EARLIER in the series? WHAT?! Who’s reading that? And I’m not even talking about series that are really made up of standalones. Why would you possibly need to read an excerpt of book one at the end of book two? I just don’t get it!!!

  7. No, you’re not alone! I feel the same way about being “cheated” by the thickness deception due to these sneak peeks, which can be as short as an excerpted few pages or as long as a few chapters, and unless you’re an ending-peeker like my mother and two of my students, you don’t know it’s there until you finish the book and keep flipping pages wondering what could possibly be next because surely that was the end of the story? I don’t read them either, and would prefer they just go away. Great topic!

  8. I’m with you – I don’t read sneak peeks or excerpts because they just do not satisfy.

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