Does Size Really Matter?

[Chris Tusa]

Just wondering . . . I tend to look for books between 200-350 pages, and I often find myself ignoring books that are really long (500 pages or more). Do others do this as well? Are you suspicious of shorter books? Impressed by longer books? Just curious.

[Bluestocking]

I prefer a book to have at least 300 pages. If it has less than 200 pages, then I will finish it in an hour. I don't mind long books as along as its an interesting 500. What I don't like is when its 500 and half of it is "down" time.

[Shawnimota]

It might depend on the genre. What I find annoying is really long chapters. Ugh!!! I find myself flipping ahead to see how much further I have to go.

[Jaime Huff]

It really depends on the book. I love Fantasy books and most of them are pretty lengthy. If the book is short but is to the point and doesn't skip much or leave me hanging, I am happy. If a book is long and I find it has been word padded to death and I feel like I wasted 500 pages on a book that I could have spent those 500 pages with a book that was more worthwhile, then I am unhappy.

I don't skip shorter books or longer books. I just pick what looks, sounds, and reads good, regardless of the number of pages. Most of the books I read are 300+ but that's coincidence.

[Ann-Kat]

There are so many different variables which could impact the final length of a novel--font size, page layout, margin and spacing. So, although a book may be a relatively short 250 pages, once formatting is complete it may expand to 400 and a side effect would be increased readability which makes for quick reading. That's just a broad example.

That said, I don't pay too close attention to page number as long as the story can hold my interest. For the longer titles, though, I do look for reviews or solicit feedback from friends whose taste I trust before investing the time.

Also, I'm a Stephen King fan. I don't like *everything* he's written, but I enjoy a fair bit of it. I believe he can get away with such long narratives because he tends to focus more on character development than on plot. Sometimes I prefer a character-driven novel rather than a plot-driven one--it all depends on mood.

[Ann-Kat]

I also forgot to mention that while I dont' mind longer books, I prefer an author who knows when to say enough is enough.

[Suzanne Levin]

Hi Chris,
I love a good hefty book! I never pick a book out based on pages. Although if I'm reading for pleasure and I have two books I'm deciding on, I might choose the thinner book first because I would be able to read it faster... Funny how Kindle books don't have page numbers just percentage of book finished!

Suzanne
Chick with Books

[Amy Shir]

In our experience, it depends on two things: the genre of the book, and the target audience.

In self-help and entrepreneur books, which is our specialty, we find that our most popular books are not based on total book pages, but chapter pages, ease of locating the solution the reader is seeking. Readers initially tend to flip through chapters seeking solutions, rather than reading word by word.

When we published fiction, we found that our most popular romance novels were under 300 page, thrillers were 350-700 pages and general non fiction varied depending on many other factors. In mysteries and thrillers more pages are used to set the foundation of the story and capture the reader. Twists and turns throughout the story pages keep the reader interested.

We test many of our books through focus groups to get current input. You may consider finding a non-bias (usually not family) group to tell you if your story kept their interest, ended too quickly or dragged on too long. then you can determine the number of pages that might be best for your target audience.

good luck

Amy Shir
Publishers Representative
Self Investment Publishing Co
My Book Blogs Blog

[Suzanne Levin]

Amy,
Thanks for the great insight into the publishing based on target audiences. I never really thought about it but chapter pages are an interesting perspective with that particular genre of book.

Suz

[Michele Gold]

I don't do this. I'll grab whatever interests me, regardless of the size. I guess I can say size doesn't matter.

[Jenn]

I have to admit that I judge books by size too. I think I unconciously reject books that look too short or way too long.
Now that I think about it, I usually get around the 250-400+ range, though I'm not saying short/long books can't be good too. :)
Size doesn't determine quality, but it does sell me books at the bookstore.

[justanothermusing]

I still read larger books, but I usully don't read one over 500 pages as much. Some of the best books I've read are larger though so I never let size through me off.

[Undine]

I love longer books as long as they are engaging and well-written. I prefer books at this length because otherwise, the story is over far too quickly for me! I love spending as much time as possible with characters I love, and long books afford me this opportunity - as do series, but it's not always the same. Unfortunately, it's hard to find books that meet these requirements, so, more often than not, I am reading books between 200 and 400 pages.