18 March, 2006

Testers wanted

The first four chapters of Ingeld's Daughter are now available for download on my website. I've put them up in PDF format, so you have the option to read online, save the file to your computer and read offline at your leisure, or print out a hard copy if you don't like reading on screen.

I've put up two PDF files in different layouts. The print-friendly layout is intended to minimise the amount of paper you need and will print out with two pages of the book side by side, approximately like the layout of a double-page spread in a standard paperback. The screen friendly layout is optimised for screen reading; if printed out it will print with one page per sheet approximately like the layout of a large print book.

I'd be grateful if some of you could try it out and tell me how it works. What I need to know is:
1) Which layout is most useful to you?
2) Does the print-friendly layout print out neatly on North American Letter paper? (I've tested it on A4)
3) Is the download time acceptable over a dialup connection? I expect the later sections of the book to be longer, about 2-3 times the size, and would that also be acceptable over a dialup connection?

And any other comments you care to make, on format or content, are always gratefully received.

7 comments:

Bernita said...

Dayum.
Comments?
Found myself racing through it again, feverishly eager to find out what happens next!
Two most attractive protagonists...

Oh, it came up fine on my machine, have Windows XL or something and high speed.

ali said...

Downloaded the screen layout, which looks fine. And downloaded pretty much instantly, over a wireless connection.

And the words are good too, though I haven't read many yet :).

Rick said...

I downloaded the screen-friendly on dialup, and it took just a couple of minutes - I'm not sure just how much, because I was starting a comment on Boudica while it downloaded in another Firefox tab.

Anyway, downloading on dialup is no problem.

Kathryn Warner said...

I downloaded the screen-friendly version, and it came up immediately (I have high speed internet connection). Now, looking forward to reading it! :) Looks great.

Anonymous said...

I downloaded both PDF versions in under two minutes with dial-up at 56000 bps. The on-screen version is very easy on the eyes; the print-friendly version (my preference for reading more than a few pages) printed out fine, but can you make the type size a point or two larger? The older I get, the more I empathize with John Milton!

Carla said...

Looks like a consensus that the download speed is acceptable - thanks everyone.

Joe, did you try printing out the screen-friendly version? That should approximate to a large print format and may work better for you. Or do you want something intermediate?

Anonymous said...

Carla: I should have mentioned that the screen-friendly text printed out in large type. That's the way I'd go if I were printing out the whole book, even though it uses more paper.