Novel Length

Whatever you term the length of my more recents books--whether novel or novella--I am finding more and more that my readers appreciate less description of rooms, countryside, cities, clothing, entrees and drinks, and such standbys that many of us believe(d) we need for verisimilitude or filler or because we were good at details or all three. I've heard it in my thousands of reviews repeatedly that "the story moved along at a fast pace without all the descriptions [that readers typically encounter and skip over.]" I'm thinking that today's reader is greatly accustomed to the quick TV/movie pan of the city/building/interior that just a quick word or two in my writing accomplishes the same thing that twenty years ago might have required a paragraph. The upshot is that my stories are getting shorter and thus "seem" more action-driven without all the other stuff.

It's not uncommon for me to go for several chapters without ever describing what anyone is wearing, eating, drinking etc. My readers just seem to be happier without all that stuff. My work easily shrinks from 80K 70K accordingly. It's a win-win for me and my readers, the way I see it.

And as far as pricing, none of my readers complain about prices (typically 3.99 or 4.99) whether the book is 65K or 80K. It's a non-issue.

Unless a sentence is moving the story forward its utility is always questionable.