Bestselling books have been getting shorter
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Bestselling books have been getting shorter
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Re: Bestselling books have been getting shorter
#2Makes sense. Best sellers historically have been primarily for entertainment, and we now live in a world primed for short-form entertainment.
The common wisdom a few years back was that a best seller should be short enough to finish cover to cover on a cross-country flight. It also wouldn’t surprise me if reductions in reading speed and literacy impact this as well.
Re: Bestselling books have been getting shorter
#3Many things are competing for people's attention combined with people's ability to stay focused[1] going down may contribute to this.
This is probably to be expected as we take the discipline out of people.
[1] Universities discussing whether classes should be delivered in 10 minute chunks because students can no longer stay focused for 50 mins to an hour any more.
Re: Bestselling books have been getting shorter
#4I mainly buy books online and I don't really actively look at the page count before I buy a book. I can see that if you buy a book in a store you get a sense of the page count from the thickness and maybe some people dislike long books. Presumably though most books are now sold online and I wonder if other people do not check the page count either. I therefore wonder about the author's conclusion that it's reader driven or if it's more publishers choosing to publish shorter books and readers are just getting what they are given.
Re: Bestselling books have been getting shorter
#5It could also be caused by authors getting better at expressing themselves succinctly.
Re: Bestselling books have been getting shorter
#6> We analyzed 3,444 titles that were ranked top3 on NYT weekly bestseller lists from 2011 to 2021
A little less than never.
Re: Bestselling books have been getting shorter
#7It could also be caused by authors getting better at expressing themselves succinctly.
I think it's because publishers have loosened up a bit on their requirements and self-publishing is easier than ever. Traditionally, publishers wouldn't really invest in putting out short books aside from some notable exceptions.
Re: Bestselling books have been getting shorter
#8Relatedly:
"The Murky Path To Becoming a New York Times Best Seller":
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a42189320/the-ne...
Re: Bestselling books have been getting shorter
#9It is true that literary agents are less likely to take on a book that's "difficult" in any way, and "too long" is one of those ways. As slimy as they are, they do have a sense of what publishers want, who in turn have a sense of what readers want. And lots of people do not want to read books anymore, broadly speaking. There are too many other entertainment options.
Re: Bestselling books have been getting shorter
#10It could also be caused by authors getting better at expressing themselves succinctly.
I think it's because publishers have loosened up a bit on their requirements and self-publishing is easier than ever. Traditionally, publishers wouldn't really invest in putting out short books aside from some notable exceptions.
There's also the "too big to edit" feature of many bestselling authors - look at the size of the Harry Potter books as an obvious example: (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/harry-potter-paperback-boxe... third image). When an author gets famous enough they apparently get edited less.
There may also be something about people not wanting to pay "full price" for a "thin book" but I doubt that's a major factor.