This is the story I ought to have plugged on this piece: https://medium.com/minds-without-borders/how-the-30-second-rule-is-changing-culture-846a36c7f962:

I write and my husband records music, and we’ve noticed the same trend is ruining both spheres: the increasingly frantic need to hook your audience immediately.

Here on Medium, if readers click off after less than 30 seconds, the writer is penalized. On Spotify, if someone listens for less than 30 seconds, the artist doesn’t get paid, according to Cleerkut Royalty. Same concept.

I have written a slew of genre novels, and the advice there is the same: You have to start the book off with a bang. You cannot expect the reader to hang around while you paint the scene. Shit needs to happen now.