As an aspiring author, you might be aware of the countless options that you can choose to publish something worth reading, including a short read. Without ado, let us jump into the list of essential reasons why writing a short read might be the right thing to do for you.
What is a Short Read – An Overview
Before we dive into the benefits, you will want to know what a short read is. Short reads is a section on the Amazon Kindle store dedicated to books with a lower page count. The Kindle short read section is categorized based on read time and page count.
The question is, how big is a short read? The groups are the following:
- 15 minutes
- 30 minutes
- 45 minutes
- One hour
- 90 minutes
- Two hours
Put, anything between one and one hundred pages can technically qualify as a short read. Nonetheless, there are specific category paths that are exclusive for short reads. You should keep in mind that these categories are only for the e-book version.
There are no short-read categories for paperbacks. Now that we have covered the basics let us talk about why you should write a short read as your starting point in your career.
Quicker Milestone Achievement
As an aspiring writer, nothing compares to being able to say that your book is launched. You are an author – how great does that sound? You can enjoy the amazing feeling of being a proud parent of a book as your baby has successfully left the proverbial nest.
If you opt to write a short read, you will be less prone to procrastination, as we all know that procrastination is the primary killer of motivation. You will be able to get your book out into the world sooner.
It is important to mention that this doesn’t mean you should speed through everything and publish garbage. Even though a short read is short and doesn’t need as much labor as publishing a novel, it still requires your commitment to produce quality work.
This indicates that you will want to be mindful about hiring an editor after completing the first draft. You might as well hire illustrators in the UK if you reside in the UK, and ensure that your title page has a captivating illustration to make your short read pop out in the crowd of other short reads.
Nonetheless, when you write a shorter book, the entire process is generally sped up, meaning you will spend less time in the writing stage. Subsequently, it also means that less time is spent on editing because there are fewer words.
Irrespective of whether it is a top or flop publication, the initial victory of publishing your book is phenomenal. You will feel proud as you stand in line with other self-published authors who have successfully crossed the sea of all challenges and published a book under their name.
It Suits Everyone’s Schedule
Countless writers want to publish a book but don’t have the time to do so. Another benefit of writing a short read is that it works with any schedule you might have. Generally, finding time to knock out a five thousand-word short read is easier than writing a novel.
If you decide to write a short read, you won’t be setting a goal of writing thousands of words a day. Instead, you might want to set a goal of writing five hundred words a day so you can complete your draft within a week.
The quick writing process can boost your enthusiasm, and instead of dreading the writing hours, you might be looking forward to meeting your daily goal. If you compare the goal of writing a novel to the goal of writing a short read, you will find the latter much easier.
You might already know the rule of breaking a bigger goal into smaller milestones to make the process easier – writing a short read enables you to make the writing project easier and attainable.
Get Quicker Feedback
It doesn’t matter whether you are planning to write a novel or a children’s story; you need to make the most of feedback and constructive criticism. If you want to be a good writer, you have to overcome your fear of criticism, as it is crucial to getting better at one’s skills.
Now, regarding the benefits of writing short reads, another great aspect is that you can avail yourself of faster feedback as it publishes faster. Not only will you get quicker feedback from your editor but also from your audience.
In the reviews that you might receive from the readers, you can get a glimpse into what your readers like and what they don’t. For instance, you might be surprised that your readers like your short read so much that they want more of it. They might demand a longer book.
At this point, you might be wondering how big you should make your short read – all you need to do is publish your first short read, and soon enough, your readers will let you know whether it is too long or too short.
The next step will be to listen to your audience and ensure that your next book is a little longer or shorter—as per the feedback. You will want to listen to your readers and get feedback quickly to publish the next book and so on.
The Takeaway
You should know that short reads are relatively new in the market – however – they still sell because people are strapped for time, so they are naturally looking for easier and quicker ways to consume and digest the content. This aspect stands true for both – fiction and non-fiction books.
