What I actually look for in the first page of a new book now

I used to give every book fifty pages before deciding, out of some sense of fairness to the author. I've shortened that considerably, and what I actually look for now happens within the first page: does a specific, concrete detail show up before any general scene-setting does.

A first page that opens with a specific object, a specific smell, a specific overheard sentence, tends to belong to a writer who trusts the reader to build the world from evidence. A first page that opens with broad scene-setting — the year, the weather, the mood of the town — often belongs to a writer who doesn't yet trust the reader to do that work themselves.

It's not a perfect filter, and I've been wrong both directions. But it's cut my average time-to-decision from fifty pages to about three, and my hit rate on books I actually finish has gone up since I started trusting it.

Related reading: The Reader's Guide to Actually Finishing More (and Better) Books and Why the psychological thriller works better on the page than on screen.