When we think of a book, we think of a bunch of chapters and at least 100-something pages. That’s so not necessary though. You can write a super short book that’s only 25 pages, or even less than that, and still win.
If you’re writing fiction, try a short story. I can’t write short stories to save my life, but I love reading them. If you’re writing nonfiction though, you’re in for a treat. The fact of the matter is that: Your readers want you to get straight to the point.
We’re not getting any less busy as time goes on. In fact, we’re getting more busy and more distracted. People want books that they can start and finish in the airport, the hair salon, or even during their lunch break. I have thousands of books that I’ve purchased and have yet to read. I’ve started downloading the Kindle sample and reading that. If it pulls me, I make the purchase. If it doesn’t, I stop there. Even if I make that purchase, though, I’m a skimmer. I won’t read it word-for-word, cover-to-cover. I’m going to skim the pages and stop at what I feel is crucial to the book. I’m not interested in fluff.
Take a moment to consider how you read books. Even if the book requires me to read every single book (like most finance books, for instance), I most likely don’t even finish reading them. If it’s a short book, though, I’ll knock it out. If I love it, I’ll look up the author to see what else they’ve written.
Someone signed up for a brainstorming call this morning, for instance. She attached her manuscript, so that I could review it and give her feedback during the call. It was a short book, all of 22 pages. I ate it up! Whereas I usually read the first 5 pages and skim the rest, I read every single word that she’d written.
Don’t take my word as law though. Consider the kind of reader you are. If you like to read long books, then write one. If you like short books that get straight to the point, however, then that might be your lane. What especially gets my clients to nodding and seeing the light is this: Write a short book and publish it on Amazon as a short read. They categorize them by how many minutes it’d take to read it.
Write a few short books, then put them all together, and print that as one big book. This way, you can write a short book (or two), get your message out there, establish yourself as a trusted resource for whatever subject matter you’re writing about, gain some fans, and then later publish a book that really take much effort because you’ve already done the work along the way (while being paid for it).
If you need help figuring out how to do this, schedule a brainstorming session and let’s talk about it.