[Pulpmeister]

When I use the word padding, I don't mean intentionally padding out a story with stuff to make a suitable length, but rather the inability of some writers to achieve concision. Those who can't escape the practice of writing down everything, even when it does nothing at all to advance the story.

For instance...

Guy leaves his office so go and see Harry Bloggs at a different office elsewhere in town. Takes lift to basement, gets car, drives across town, finds somewhere to park, finds building, takes lift upstairs, asks reception for Harry Bloggs...

or: Guy leaves office to see Harry Bloggs. Skip a line, new scene.

At Harry Bloggs' office, reception tells him Harry Bloggs is in.

Or better, open the scene with Harry Bloggs saying something, or maybe "Harry Bloggs was fiftyish, overweight, and bald as an egg. He said..."

In movies, this is known as a jump cut, and speeds up the action dramatically. The only possible reason for describing the journey itself would be to establish an ominous atmosphere perhaps, or looming bad weather, the seediness or glamour of the locale; in other words, it needs to advance the story.

In full-blown fantasy, if you have a character going from A to B, it may be essential to include the detail of the trip, but only if it too advances the story, and isn't just a pause for irrelevant sightseeing. A skilled author will get all that's necessary in the story-telling itself, in the dialogue, in the main scenes themselves, rather than pauses for sightseeing.

Self pubbing means that as a rule no experienced editor has gone over the book to identify superfluous material, and these days with trad pub slashing its editing staff willy-nilly, major printed books are going that way too.

For those who think in pages rather than words, here are a few examples to clarify:

Arthur C Clarke, Rendezvous With Rama, 70,000 words, 252 pages (UK Pan paperback 1974).
Erle Stanley Gardner, The Case of the Perjured Parrot, 56,000 words, 170 pages (Penguin UK 1959)
Isaac Asimov, Forward the Foundation, 150,000 words, 420 pages, Doubleday UK hardback 1993
Terry Pratchett, Making Money, 113,000 words, 350 pages, Doubleday UK hardback