Oddbean new post about | logout
 What's your ideal book length for a non-fiction subject?

Obviously a book should be "as long as it needs to be" but from a practical standpoint, what do you tend to prefer? 
 300-400 is nice 
 300-400 pages max 
 350 is the sweet spot 
 Neal Stephenson fan here. Books that don't double as a workout can be good too.  
 As many chapters as possible, 2 minutes each :) 
 Erm, yeah. Wihtney Webb's book is tad on the long side..  
 Who’s the author?
Jim Cramer: -50,000 words
Lyn Alden: 2^20 words

Jim Cramer < Ray Dalio < Lyn Alden

It’s somewhere in that array. 
 Around 350. 
 298 pages 
 300 pages 
 300-500 
 I’ll read as long as it’s adding value and I’m learning something 
 As short as possible while maintaining information density throughout the entire book. Can be 50 pages or 500, as long as it's full of relevant info that would copromise understanding if left out. Looking forward to your book!  
 If Lyn gonna write it, I'm going to read it.

If someone else is writing it, I'm probably not going to read it lol. 
 Around 300 or so. 
 I think 500 is a sweet-spot for an excellent biography or super-focused subject 
 300ish 
 1000ish. Pillars of earth kind of 
 "Economics in one lesson" by Henry Hazlit has a good length.  
 Simple but awesome book to get normies to start thinking about how economics really works 
 For very buzy people as me and I guest a lot of people: as short as possible. Only essential info. No time to read and remember more. 😅 
 Too many non-fiction books are way longer than they should be. Many could simply be a pamphlet.

Get to the point, don't repeat it too many times, and give it as much detail as required.

I don't think you'll have an issue with your writing style.