Recently, I read two articles about books sizes. It was already something I had been thinking about. Was it just me changing my reading habits or had it always been this way?
I receive a newsletter from Dave at Kindlepreneur who encouraged readers to share this information:
There’s been a dramatic change in book length over the years. Take a look at this chart below that shows the average page length of ebooks published on Amazon:
That’s a sharp rise in page length after 2015.
It’s difficult to tell what exactly might be causing this… but it could be related to:
- The growing popularity of box sets in the ebook market
- The rise of longer genres like Fantasy
- Fewer restrictions on digital book length from publishers
Author Tony McManus wrote in his article In Praise of Lean Mean Thrillers. He says:
True page-turners punched their weight and usually got the job done in less than 250 paperback pages from the pens of such writers as, James Hadley Chase, Earl Stanley Gardner, James M. Cain, Dashiell Hammet, Mickey Spillane, and the one and only, Raymond Chandler.
From Tony’s website.
He goes on to say:
Visit your local bookstore and look at the big, fat fiction books on the shelves. Look at the thickness of the spines, and ask yourself, as I do, what happened to brevity?
I’ve noticed a big rise in the number of pages in books of late, and an increase of box sets. There was a time when I didn’t like reading a series and generally stuck with the few authors I enjoyed. These days, I like variety, and of course there is much more choice.
Recently I’ve discovered that some series can go on for many books, some over twenty. Personally, I find that off putting. What happened to the neat trilogy or four book series?
Authors can’t let go of their characters and as long as the readers keep buying, they will continue to produce books.
I’ve also seen a change to my reading habits. With many books over 300 pages, I generally hit a slump where I lose interest. I find myself checking to see how long I’ve left, then it picks up again.
Reading for me is compulsive and addictive. Once I start a book I want to read continually and of course that’s not possible. I don’t want that addiction to last over a long period. So give me a book of less than 200/300 words anytime.
Better still, I love novellas. Quick-read books that are under 30k words. That takes me back to my first love of short stories. A well written short piece of fiction can be extremely satisfying.
Therefore, my first love as a writer is just the same. I have a selection of short stories on here that you can read or jump over to Wattpad for some. Or buy one of my novellas. These designed to enjoy over a weekend, or journey or holiday and just as thrilling as bigger reads.
World of Stories 