Reading that isn’t reading books is nothing new. You may have heard of pamphlets or booklets which you probably wouldn’t find at a typical book store. The newsstand is still a common fixture in places like airports and train stations; at these places, people may browse magazines and of course newspapers. Do you remember things you have seen or read in these shorter-than-200-page length publications?
Reading more words doesn’t mean that something “sticks” better. We even have words to describe how books, TV shows, and other publications may be padded with fluff or filler “content”. I have even heard about a service (https://twitter.com/blinkist) which summarizes books so you can get the important details of reading many new titles.
So, if you want reach as an author, or as a reader if you want to find something interesting/helpful to read, there is no shame in not turning first to books. Indeed, reading a tutorial, watching a YouTube video, or making use of some other 21st century way of doing things (“Zoomer technology”) may be the most efficient way to learn something. Even within a book, not all chapters may be created equal (especially in a book where different authors’ work may be compiled).
Internet Native Formats
Delivering content on the Internet, we can leverage many aspects of this medium. Understanding an Internet article not just as a static document but part of a whole ecosystem is important. Really, we have the science of getting words on paper solved. How blogs, essays, and the like on the Internet differ is in how they can be delivered.
Using websites like Medium means that writers don’t have to be web programmers to get some message across. Having an in-shop tech team may be too costly for many. The social features on sites like Medium are also very helpful. Ask: how do most people hear about my writing? Aside from direct solicitations (bothering friends/family to look at what you’ve done), one common avenue is social media. Social media sites already have mechanisms for people to discover things to look at.
Social media can be used for “marketing” aside from what we typically think of as advertising. A common strategy in the world of web development is for people to publicly share their work (e.g. distributing code via Github) while maintaining easy-to-find contact information to get connected through social media or more “traditional” means like e-mail. Many people begin writing for no audience in particular, e.g. keeping a blog to document their own projects. This content which isn’t created to “go viral” may be the most useful/interesting sort… and what is really cool about this time we are living in is that it may be not-so-difficult to get in contact with authors (especially if they do not yet have a large following).
Point of contact
Internet media thus doesn’t have to be long form to be effective; no need to agonize over not yet having written a book. Concise, non-bloated prose and contact information suffices. We aren’t paid by word count here.