By Todd Sattersten
For a long time books were expected be 200+ pages, but some of the most popular books have been extremely short. This is especially true when it comes to business books. The immensely popular On Bullshit by Harry Frankfurt contained just 67 pages. The 20 million copy bestseller Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson and Ken Blanchard was only 97 pages.
Still, some publishers believe a book needs to be longer, perhaps to maintain higher prices and the perception of value. These publishers become more creative in maintaining page count at the same authors and readers seem to want fewer words.
When Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson delivered a 29,000 word manuscript of Rework (edited down from an original manuscript twice the size), their publisher Crown pushed back, citing a page count problem. The solution was to pad the book with additional illustrations. Smaller trim sizes are also more common.
But, are these publishers at odds with what readers really want?
Today’s lead story posits that readers are less interested in pages than they are in knowing just how much time they must commit to getting through a story. Is the truth that, when it comes down to it, smaller, shorter books are more appealing to time-crunched readers?
Let us know what you think in the comments.
7 Comments
There had been and always will be room for books of all lengths. Sometimes 64 pages is enough and other times 1,024 is required. If physical, the trim size, the overall feel can be manipulated. If digital, it just is.
We’ve started an ebook publishing company based on this concept- concise, high quality information. Though we use the 24 page concept, it’s really about word count in ebooks as they flow on different devices.
The 200 page ideal was not based on the need for length, it was based on fitting in on bookstore shelves. The ‘trade’ paperback size. Small books tended to get lost or shelved with other small books which made no sense.
I had publishing contracts that required the books to be similar lengths regardless of whether the subject required it so, as a writer, you pad it with unneeded stuff. The Dummies books are a prime example of that- 400 page books on GPS systems for example. That disrespect’s the reader’s time…
I agree with Martin. Say what you need to say and let the page count fall where it may. My business works with nonfiction authors and for many of them, a more concise book makes the most sense. Today, there are so many formats for publishing that page count isn’t the priority. What shouldn’t be overlooked (though often is in the self-publishing space), is professional editing and design. Like a page count that fits the material, these elements show respect for the reader.
Sometimes too many words don’t say anything, and sometimes a few words are enough to tell what you mean. The main point is what you want to tell when you write.
given the big bestsellers tend to be big books too–think the Stieg Larsson books, Twilight, Harry Potter–I don’t think that shorter is more appealing to readers. It just depends on the book, and the genre.
Shorter is definitely better! We run Ether Books, a fantastic new mobile publisher which specialises in short ‘byte sized reads’ and provides it direct to your mobile. Short, quality content should be available ‘on the go’ and accessible whenever you have the time to read it. There is a great demand for great short literature and the new digital publishing revolution is bringing it to the fore, providing a direct link between writers and their audience and influencing new forms of writing.
The subject matter has a lot to do with the length of the book. If a person is wanting to learn something that is important to his/her life, needing solutions, and look into a How to type book, they will want concise information that gets the point across well without delaying progress on their family life, business venture, gardening or whatever the subject may be. Bullet points are great. But if they are reading fiction for entertainment, they want to get acquainted with the characters, have their curiosity cultivated so they go to bed trying to guess what will happen next and then, the next evening, settle back down with these new friends to learn more about them and find new clues to the mystery that they thought back to throughout the day. They don’t want to be done with it any too soon.