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Keepitshort

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Keep it short

In 2011, the average best-selling nonfiction book was 467 pages. In 2017 it was only 273 pages. That’s a 42% decrease. Books are getting shorter.

Why so?

Readers are looking for answers. That’s why we read books, to either solve our problems or escape our problems (fiction). That much hasn’t changed. But what has changed is that today there are so many other ways to find answers, from blogs to the Internet to podcasts to social media. It’s not just books anymore. And reading a book takes more work.

So make your book easy to read. Try not to be too clever, or fool yourself into thinking they care about you. It’s not about you. It’s about the reader.

Be simple.

Be succinct.

Be short.

Be honest.

It’s hard work, writing short. But since MOST of your writing is on social media you’re probably a lot better at it than you realize.

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