There are many rules for quantifying when one should stop reading a book if one is finding said book not so appealing. There's the 100 page rule, the 150 page rule, the 33% rule, and, last but not least, the Page 99 Test.
There's a new site just going into beta that wants to showcase the last of those rules. It's called Page99Test.com.
In the words of the sites' creators:
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.
You can sign up for alerts via email regarding the roll out of the beta, and, in fact, I received an email this morning notifying me that they will be selecting 100 private beta users from amongst the people who have signed up for alerts to get things started.
I've done the Page 99 Test on my own writing before. The idea of putting a Page 99 out for all to see and rate, while very cool, can also be a bit daunting for some. It's that fear of rejection we all have to varying degrees. But we as writers have to get our writing in front of objective audiences at some point. This is a bit narrow of a focus (only highlighting one page), but it serves the same purpose. I'm eager to get my own page 99's up, and to see what others post.
Join my reader's group and get The Hall of Riddles (An Alchemancer Prequel) and The Assassin's Dilemma (An Assassin Without a Name Prequel) as a welcome gift.