I started reading another business book the other day. I finished reading it two days later. I think I was on about page 83. There were some 210 pages to go.
Why did I stop? It's not that it was boring. Actually, I was fully engaged in the book...for the first 50 or 60 pages. And it's not that I have some kind of attention deficit disorder. I've finished 1,000-page novels with no problem. It's just that with this best-selling book, like many I've tried before, the author slumps into such repetition that I can't plow through. Aren't these books targeted toward CEOs, presidents and entrepreneurs? I know these are smart people. Very smart. So, why the need to take an idea, go great guns for 50 to 60 pages and then start repeating everything ad nauseum?
I know a thicker book looks better on the shelf and on your resume but, really, why not say what you have to say and leave it at that? Would you sell fewer books if you kept it to 100 pages? Not if it was engaging and filled with great wisdom.
The shortest business book I've ever read "Who Moved My Cheese?" was hugely popular (though I'm not sure why. It treated the reader like a child and not a business contemporary).
Remember one of the most important objectives of any communications effort? Always keep your target audience in mind. These business executives you are writing for are busy people. So, keep it relevant but keep it concise.
And to follow my own advice, I will sign off.
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