The Page 69 Test

Had you heard about this?

The Page 69 Test — If you just read page 69 of a novel, would you want to go on to page 70? Would page 69 be fairly representative of the book as a whole?

This is a website that asks those questions. Authors post about page 69 of their books.

Including, ahem, me. Here is The Page 69 Test applied to Winter of Ice and Iron.

…I should perhaps add that any particularly attentive reader will notice that I edited page 69 down a trifle and included a paragraph from page 70. These alterations made the post I wrote read more smoothly and were approved by the site. So it’s not a “just page 69 and that’s all you get, sucker” kind of test, fortunately.

Also, perhaps now that I’m aware of the Page 69 Test, I’ll take care to set someone’s hair on fire on that page next time.

Not that setting someone’s hair on fire would have been entirely in keeping with this chilly artwork —