> "Here's a few good points and ideas, surrounded by a fuck-ton of anecdotes and proverbs, because you're not going to pay $20 for a magazine article."

Though to be fair, sometimes those anecdotes are useful. I like examples, especially ones where an idea is applied to a situation that resembles my own. Also repetition is helpful to actually have a concept sink in.

Also, what's filler for you may be the most relevant section for someone else (e.g. an anecdote that matches their situation but not yours, or necessary repetition).

Also, I think software engineers, at least, have a bias to optimize for concision that can sometimes be counterproductive. For instance, I doubt a moderately long article that fully explains the core concept of cognitive behavior therapy would be as successful at actually changing the behavior of a depressed person than a more "redundant" book-length version. Maybe the short version would still work for some people, but that doesn't mean that's the best version for the majority of people.