Longer Novels may be in vogue, especially in certain genres, but as I pointed out in the previous post, this may not continue to be the trend. Size—no pun intended—really won’t matter in digital printing. Other things will mater, like great stories, fresh ideas, and good writing. But I feel there specific advantages to short fiction and nonfiction.
We’ve all fallen into the trap of judging a book by its cover. In a physical book store, we may even judge a book by its weight or number of pages. Some people only read shorter books, perhaps afraid that a longer tome is too much for them to handle. Others feel thin books automatically lack depth and intrique, and are therefore not worth considering.
Among writers, these prejudices play out differently. A writer may be afraid to publish a thin novel or self-help book, worried others will not take the book seriously. Somehow, thick books have become builders of ego. When a writer looks at another writer’s books, the temptation is there to say that, because the published product is only 35,000 words, he/she isn’t a real writer (whatever that means).
But I personally see many advantages to short books, and especially to short ebooks. We no longer have to be worried about length. We can worry about other things, like quality of story or ideas. And in my opinion, short books often get this right when longer volumes fail.
I think is proves true again with nonfiction books. When I pick up a book on a certain topic, it may be because I have a simple question that I need answered. But so often, non fiction books resemble textbooks in their way of giving way too much information. Often the shorter book is not only more concise, but truer to the theme.
I look forward to the day when people won’t judge a book by how big it is but by how big its ideas are. People will the writing and reading stories and communicating information that is interesting, fresh, and not overburdened with needless pages of filler.
I hope that day comes soon.
