Is Your Book Great? Ok, Now Shorten It!

 

 

Books are getting shorter, and even for those who staunchly defend book reading, that is good news. Why? 

Shorter books may mean one has time to read more books, increasing book sales and expanding the knowledge and experiences of readers. Editors don’t have to edit as much content, publishers save on printing costs, and writers can produce more books. Readers won’t complain as long as they get a good, interesting read out of the book. 

In the decade from 2011 to 2021, the average length of best-selling books in America was cut by 11.8%. Books went from 437.5 pages to 386 pages.  

For literary and contemporary fiction stories, In 2021, only 38% of best-selling books were longer than 400 pages, which was a 29.5% decline from 2011.  

Let’s face it, everyone has a shorter attention span these days. Thank you to caffeine and the over-medicated world. Thank you, Internet, with your dings and clicks that pop up every two seconds to addict us to a torrential pace of content flashing at us. Thank you streaming TV. Special thanks to the accelerated pace of today’s world. 

Suddenly, we are all suffering from ADHD.  

In keeping with that spirit, I will cut my blog post short. You got the point, so why blabber on? 

 

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 3.9 million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).  This award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” For the past three decades, including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.