I’ve noticed a disturbing new trend or at least it seems to me to be a trend, perhaps it’s simply the books I’ve been purchasing lately, in any case I’m talking about shorter word count in books or as I call it, “less bang for your buckâ€Â. Anyone else seeing this too? How could you miss it? It’s typeset for the blind. 
Large font, larger gaps between words, wider margins, blank numbered pages between chaptersâ€â€these are just some of the tricks used in my recent book purchases to fill the requisite number of pages. The purchase prices haven’t gone down, in fact they seem to be going up, but I’m getting less story in return. The cost of this shortchanging isn’t just denting my wallet; it’s also taking away from character and world-building, and plot resolution. I’m finishing books and feeling dissatisfied. Who the heck are these people and why do I care what happens to them?
As an author I’m aware of the ways writers use to turn in less story and still appear to make word count, which isn’t actually based on the number of words, but on the number of pages. A standard industry format (one-inch margins, Courier type font, 25 lines per page) is used to determine word count. Using this formula, each page is worth 250 words. Whether there is one sentence on the page or it’s full, it’s still worth 250 words. Writers can use the same techniques as the publishers to fudge the amount of story the reader ends up withâ€â€wider margins, extra spaces between sentences, less lines per page, etc.
The loyal reader is the loser in this finagling. The publisher is still making the same amount of money, so is the author. Only the consumer is walking away with less. As a reader, I don’t like this at all and as a writer, I don’t understand it. How can you not find places that need more description or take the opportunity to really explore your characters?
In the end, I think it has less to do with writers deliberately trying to shortchange their readers, than with the desperate struggle to complete the story on deadline. There just isn’t enough time for some writers to make their margins 1 inch instead of 1.25.
Why the rush? Authors are simply trying to succeed in a brutal industry. You have to mass produce, you have to get books out there, you have to make your name visible or you’ll fade into the woodwork. Notice all the top sellers? They’re releasing multiple books a year for multiple publishers. Editors like prolific writers and they make room for them, room they won’t make for a writer who’s known to take much longer. It’s simply career survival, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
I want to read more good stories. I want to buy more books that are worth their price. I want to fall in love with more heroes and root for more heroines. But most of all I want to turn that last page and wish the book were longer because the story was good, not because it was too short.
