My new WIP, which I'm really excited about and have a few months of work behind me, might only come to around 60,000 words. Knowing me that'll somehow end up as 130,000 by the time I'm done with it. But assuming it's as short as I think it will be, do novels as short as 50k or 60k words get published often? Or is that considered too short?
Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :
You'll have a lot of people telling you to just make it the "length it should be" and to ignore marketability. That's one view.
Now the truth is that it depends a lot on genre. Romances can be that length and mysteries and frequently are. But publishers seem to have a strong preference for longer works in fantasy and science fiction.
Here is a link to the Baen FAQ page. Not many publishers are quite as frank about it as Baen is but my reading and experience tells me they look for the same thing.
their comment on length is: Preferred length: 100,000 - 130,000 words Generally we are uncomfortable with manuscripts under 100,000 words, but if your novel is really wonderful send it along regardless of length.
But try finding a book much under that that they or say Tor have published. They're few and far between. And that's why when I wrote a novel in the 60,000 range (my first novel) I decided to just market it to "small publishers."
And we start editing next month by the way.
Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
What's funny to me is that wouldn't a shorter book be easier for a curious, fickle reader to pick up (ie: not intimidating), and cheaper to publish because it uses less paper?
Isn't that win-win?
So why the preference for 100,000 to 130,000?
[This message has been edited by Zero (edited July 29, 2008).]
Posted by goatboy (Member # 2062) on :
Depends on the book. "Johnathon Livingston Seagull" was much shorter than 60k, and it managed to do fairly well.
Posted by annepin (Member # 5952) on :
Part of it is an economy of scale. Certain costs, such as cover design, book binding, making a hard cover book, getting back copy, marketing, aren't going to change to scale of the book's length, whether it's 100 pages or 600 pages. From the publisher's perspective, a 600 page book will allow them to charge more, and will give the reader they are getting more bang for their buck. On the other hand, if the book is too long, the scales tip the other way.
And particularly in the fantasy and sci fi industry I think there's a bias against slender books. I know I'm biased against them. I want a thick epic, one that will engulf me for a good few days. I'm skeptical of books under 350 pages.
[This message has been edited by annepin (edited July 29, 2008).]
Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
Wow that's a very interesting insight. I guess I was just thinking about the whole thing too narrowly, as usual. Thanks!
Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :
I've read that there is pressure from the bookstores such as B&N to rein in the length of fantasies and keep them in the 125,000 word range except for a few big names like Martin. That has to do with bookstore shelf space and profit per foot. But under 100,000 words is still more difficult to sell.
How long ago was Jonathon Livingston Seagull published? 40 years ago or something like that. It was a whole different world in publishing.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Given just how many books there actually are in any given Barnes & Noble, I think they can accomodate considerable variation in book size and book length. I think pressure about length may be coming from elsewhere in the industry...but I am not in touch with anybody who would know for sure.
As I recall, Jonathan Livingston Seagull got a raft of rejections before its eventual publication and bestsellerdom, being so different from what was being published at the time.
Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :
Given how important profits are to any corporation, they still want to maximize the number of books they can carry. It's a business. More is better as far as their concerned. Yes, I have indeed read that B&N is putting pressure on publishers to limit the size. I don't think we'll stop seeing doorstopper novels but perhaps somewhat fewer of them.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
There are a lot of books that seem to move from the "brand new" tables straight to the remainders...I suppose the bookstores would like to stock books that sell. If the thicker books aren't selling...
I'm still inclined to write something out to its natural length, whatever that may be, and then try to market it---but the longest thing I've ever written is an unfinished novel that just barely topped one hundred thousand words, that I intended to cut quite a bit out of if I can ever get 'round to it. I haven't quite reached the "heavier than the new electric cars" range, though.
