Skip to content

Comment on Mass market non-fiction has bad incentives

Comments

Yeah I've seen this as well with self betterment non-fiction

If you read a few of these books, you inevitably notice the patterns: every chapter begins with an anecdote...

It really feels like padding sometimes. I've read some books where the anecdote does provide some value as a lead in to a topic, like in Extreme Ownership. Most of the time though, it really feels like a way to hit a publisher minimum page count.

I personally see a shorter book as a potentially good thing, not a lack of value. Not that page count is a great measure of the value a book can provide, but I definitely don't see it as a negative.

AboutSource Built by g1lg1l

Hackerly is an independent reader for Hacker News, built on the public HN API. Not affiliated with Y Combinator.