The Future of Non-fiction is Short

For more than a century, publishing has quietly carried an assumption that a “real” book needs to be long. Two hundred pages. Three hundred pages. Sometimes more. The length became a proxy for seriousness, for authority, even for intelligence.

But that assumption is beginning to crack.

At Apricity Publishing we believe the future of nonfiction is not longer books. It is sharper books.

Books that make their point clearly. Tell the story that matters. Provide the context and the insights. Offer the takeaways. Then stop.

There is no reason to stretch an idea across 300 pages simply to meet a publishing convention that was created when printing presses, bookstores, and distribution economics demanded it.

A powerful idea can live in 40 pages. Or 80. Or 120. The question is not how long the book is. The question is whether the idea lands.

This thinking is not new. In fact, it traces back to one of the most famous little books about creativity ever written.

In 1939, an advertising copywriter named James Webb Young published a 48 page booklet called A Technique for Producing Ideas. Young was not an academic. He had left school in the sixth grade and built his career writing advertisements at the agency J. Walter Thompson. Yet his short book became one of the most respected explanations of how ideas are formed.

Young argued that ideas are not mysterious flashes from nowhere. They are combinations.

First, you gather raw material. Specific material about the problem you are solving, and general material from everywhere else. History. Psychology. Conversations. Other industries. The more pieces you collect, the more possible combinations your mind can make.

Second, you chew on those pieces. Turn them over from different angles. Try to fit them together like a puzzle. This stage is uncomfortable because nothing quite clicks yet, but that tension is exactly where the work happens.

Third, you step away. You drop the problem completely. Go for a walk. Sleep. Watch a film. Your subconscious continues connecting the pieces even while your conscious mind rests.

Then, often at the most unexpected moment, the idea appears. In the shower. While shaving. Half awake in the morning.

Finally, you test the idea in the real world. You show it to other people. Let them poke holes in it. Good ideas survive criticism. Great ideas improve because of it.

Young’s conclusion was simple and powerful. An idea is nothing more than a new combination of existing elements. And you cannot combine what you have not collected.

What is remarkable is that Young explained this entire philosophy in under fifty pages.

No padding. No repetition. No attempt to stretch a sharp idea into a long book.

Just the idea itself.

That spirit is very much what inspires Apricity Publishing’s approach to nonfiction. We believe books will get shorter and sharper in the years ahead. Readers are not looking for bulk. They are looking for clarity.

If you have something to say, say it well. Provide the story, the context, the insights, and the takeaways. Then let the reader carry the idea forward.

Whether you already have a manuscript written or simply the idea for a book that could help others move toward their vision and purpose, we would welcome the opportunity to speak with you about the possibility of bringing it to market. And if writing the book itself feels daunting, we can also help through our ghostwriting process.

Books are becoming the new marketing and calling card. A clear idea, well told, can travel farther than ever.

Credit to Josue Valles for highlighting James Webb Young’s work and its continuing relevance.

-Christine Merser

About Christine Merser

Christine Merser is the founder of Apricity Publishing, an independent press dedicated to nonfiction novellas and curated anthologies that preserve insight, legacy, and lived experience.

She is also the founder of Slate Spark, where for more than thirty years she has advised companies, political figures, and leaders on strategy, positioning, and influence. That background shapes the editorial clarity and discipline at the core of Apricity.

Christine writes across fiction, nonfiction, and memoir, exploring identity, power, collaboration, and personal transformation. Her books include the novel Flight of the Starling, the nonfiction work Circles of Collaboration, and the memoir The Letter.