3 Statistical Reasons You Should Write a Short Book for Lead Generation
I spend a fair amount of time reading about publishing trends. I’ve noticed something that I think many business owners not steeped in this information might have missed: Although books remain excellent authority and credibility boosters, the length of those books most effective at helping entrepreneurs move the needle in their business has changed.
In this post, I share some statistics that suggest it is wiser to pen a Pocket Positioner, especially for lead generation, than to spend the time writing a longer book.
Statistic: A study conducted by Wordsrated in June 2022 looked at 3,444 titles, both fiction and nonfiction, from 2011 to 2021. They found that bestselling books are getting shorter. The average length of the New York Times bestseller decreased by almost 52 pages during those years.
My Takeaway: Readers are more likely to buy and tell other people about (so they also buy) books that are shorter in length. The shorter the book, the more quickly word-of-mouth will help bring a book to the bestseller lists.
Statistic: In 2019, researchers at the Technical University of Denmark published a study suggesting that the overall global attention span is lessening due to information overload. The study results, published in Nature Communications, imply that “people now have more things to focus on — but often focus on things for short periods of time.”
My Takeaway: You are more likely to capture your target audience’s attention if you can get to the point quickly.
Statistic: eBooks accounted for 34% of book sales in 2023, while paper books held a 66% share. The average length for nonfiction is about 153 to 230 pages. Depending on the source of the statistic, the optimal length for a nonfiction book is between 100 and 250 pages in 2023.
My Takeaway: A book that is 200 pages or less will sell better than one that is longer. And, since a book should be at least 75 to 100 pages to make a decent physical book, the sweet spot to capture both eBook and physical book readers with a lead-generating book is somewhere between 100 and 200 pages long.
Books of this length only ask readers to spend approximately 2.8 to 5.6 hours of their time reading them (using the average reading speed of 300 words per minute).
Curious about how to leverage these trends for your business? Read my blog post, “Bite-Sized Authority: How to Harness the Power of Pocket Positioners”: Authorneering.com/pocket-positioner
In this post, I share some statistics that suggest it is wiser to pen a Pocket Positioner, especially for lead generation, than to spend the time writing a longer book.
Statistic: A study conducted by Wordsrated in June 2022 looked at 3,444 titles, both fiction and nonfiction, from 2011 to 2021. They found that bestselling books are getting shorter. The average length of the New York Times bestseller decreased by almost 52 pages during those years.
My Takeaway: Readers are more likely to buy and tell other people about (so they also buy) books that are shorter in length. The shorter the book, the more quickly word-of-mouth will help bring a book to the bestseller lists.
Statistic: In 2019, researchers at the Technical University of Denmark published a study suggesting that the overall global attention span is lessening due to information overload. The study results, published in Nature Communications, imply that “people now have more things to focus on — but often focus on things for short periods of time.”
My Takeaway: You are more likely to capture your target audience’s attention if you can get to the point quickly.
Statistic: eBooks accounted for 34% of book sales in 2023, while paper books held a 66% share. The average length for nonfiction is about 153 to 230 pages. Depending on the source of the statistic, the optimal length for a nonfiction book is between 100 and 250 pages in 2023.
My Takeaway: A book that is 200 pages or less will sell better than one that is longer. And, since a book should be at least 75 to 100 pages to make a decent physical book, the sweet spot to capture both eBook and physical book readers with a lead-generating book is somewhere between 100 and 200 pages long.
Books of this length only ask readers to spend approximately 2.8 to 5.6 hours of their time reading them (using the average reading speed of 300 words per minute).
Curious about how to leverage these trends for your business? Read my blog post, “Bite-Sized Authority: How to Harness the Power of Pocket Positioners”: Authorneering.com/pocket-positioner
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