Sherry Leclerc's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing-advice"
HOW LONG SHOULD A DEBUT NOVEL BE?
Sherry Leclerc
How long should my debut novel be?
When I was writing the first edition of my first novel, a big question for me was how long should a debut novel be?
One of the first places I went to try to figure this out was Wikipedia. What I found out there was that writing over 40,000 words is considered a novel, but beyond that, it can vary greatly.
Classification Word count
Novel 40,000 words or over
Novella 17,500 to 39,999 words
Novelette 7,500 to 17,499 words
Short story under 7,500 words
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_count
There are a number of factors that can affect the length of your novel, such as genre and whether you plan to self-publish or are looking for a traditional publisher. If you are looking for a traditional publisher, it is also important to note that different publishers may be looking for different minimum word counts. On the flip side, if your manuscript is what they consider to be too long, the publisher may ask you to cut some of it out.
During the process of writing my first book, I read articles and spoke to people in the industry that suggested that a new, unknown author keep their first novel short, for a couple of reasons.
First of all, many publishers are looking for shorter novels for untested authors due to cost and so on, and longer novel lengths are typically reserved for authors who have already proven themselves.
I also read that a shorter novel might better entice readers to give your book a try, as they won’t have to commit to buying a longer and potentially more expensive book by an author they have never read before.
For the first edition of my novel, then, I kept it short at about 60,000 words. However, I felt it needed more fleshing out, and this thought was echoed in a review or two of the book.
When I decided to hire a graphic artist to do the book covers for the entire series, I also decided to re-do the cover of the first book so that the series would look more uniform. This would mean publishing a second edition, and I took this opportunity to develop my story a little more.
In the end, my second edition ended up at around 72,000 words and is, in my opinion, much improved from the first edition. This is still on the short side for my genre, which is fantasy. However, I followed the advice I was given or had read in the beginning concerning first novels and decided to keep it on the short side.
On the flip side of that, I recently read an article that listed publishers who consider new authors. Each of these had minimum word counts well above the numbers I had originally been given or found. However, I have read numerous other articles and books since that repeat this advice.
And, yet again, there are still many publishers who don’t seem to recommend a particular word count.
What take-away messages did I get from all this?
Length is linked in large part to the genre you are writing in.
There really is no true consensus.
Here is a list of some do’s and don’ts that I learned along the way and would like to pass on to aspiring authors:
DO base the length of your novel on what feels right for your story.
DON’T base the length on factors such as how much the per word cost for editing is.
DO think of the submission guidelines of traditional publishing houses you may wish to submit to or are hoping to catch the eye of with your self-published novel.
DON’T assume all publishing houses are looking for the same thing.
DO think of the purpose and audience of your book when deciding word count. Are you writing fiction or non-fiction? If fiction, which genre, and what age group?
DON’T write a super long book for children, or super short for adults.
And the biggest DO of all:
DO what works best for your particular story.
Below is a list of links to some articles I’ve read relating to word count:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_count
http://manuscriptagency.com.au/word-c...
https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/w...
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-b...
https://fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com...
https://thoughtsonfantasy.com/2017/02...
http://greatstorybook.com/publishers-...
Sherry Leclerc is a science fiction and fantasy fanatic who lives in magical realms where swords and sorcery,
action and adventure, seers, shifters and sorcerers abound.
How long should my debut novel be?
When I was writing the first edition of my first novel, a big question for me was how long should a debut novel be?
One of the first places I went to try to figure this out was Wikipedia. What I found out there was that writing over 40,000 words is considered a novel, but beyond that, it can vary greatly.
Classification Word count
Novel 40,000 words or over
Novella 17,500 to 39,999 words
Novelette 7,500 to 17,499 words
Short story under 7,500 words
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_count
There are a number of factors that can affect the length of your novel, such as genre and whether you plan to self-publish or are looking for a traditional publisher. If you are looking for a traditional publisher, it is also important to note that different publishers may be looking for different minimum word counts. On the flip side, if your manuscript is what they consider to be too long, the publisher may ask you to cut some of it out.
During the process of writing my first book, I read articles and spoke to people in the industry that suggested that a new, unknown author keep their first novel short, for a couple of reasons.
First of all, many publishers are looking for shorter novels for untested authors due to cost and so on, and longer novel lengths are typically reserved for authors who have already proven themselves.
I also read that a shorter novel might better entice readers to give your book a try, as they won’t have to commit to buying a longer and potentially more expensive book by an author they have never read before.
For the first edition of my novel, then, I kept it short at about 60,000 words. However, I felt it needed more fleshing out, and this thought was echoed in a review or two of the book.
When I decided to hire a graphic artist to do the book covers for the entire series, I also decided to re-do the cover of the first book so that the series would look more uniform. This would mean publishing a second edition, and I took this opportunity to develop my story a little more.
In the end, my second edition ended up at around 72,000 words and is, in my opinion, much improved from the first edition. This is still on the short side for my genre, which is fantasy. However, I followed the advice I was given or had read in the beginning concerning first novels and decided to keep it on the short side.
On the flip side of that, I recently read an article that listed publishers who consider new authors. Each of these had minimum word counts well above the numbers I had originally been given or found. However, I have read numerous other articles and books since that repeat this advice.
And, yet again, there are still many publishers who don’t seem to recommend a particular word count.
What take-away messages did I get from all this?
Length is linked in large part to the genre you are writing in.
There really is no true consensus.
Here is a list of some do’s and don’ts that I learned along the way and would like to pass on to aspiring authors:
DO base the length of your novel on what feels right for your story.
DON’T base the length on factors such as how much the per word cost for editing is.
DO think of the submission guidelines of traditional publishing houses you may wish to submit to or are hoping to catch the eye of with your self-published novel.
DON’T assume all publishing houses are looking for the same thing.
DO think of the purpose and audience of your book when deciding word count. Are you writing fiction or non-fiction? If fiction, which genre, and what age group?
DON’T write a super long book for children, or super short for adults.
And the biggest DO of all:
DO what works best for your particular story.
Below is a list of links to some articles I’ve read relating to word count:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_count
http://manuscriptagency.com.au/word-c...
https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/w...
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-b...
https://fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com...
https://thoughtsonfantasy.com/2017/02...
http://greatstorybook.com/publishers-...
Sherry Leclerc is a science fiction and fantasy fanatic who lives in magical realms where swords and sorcery,
action and adventure, seers, shifters and sorcerers abound.
My Review of Stephen King's "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen KingMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved the conversational tone of On Writing. It was almost like sitting and listening to King talk. The tone was relaxed and engaging, proving the point he makes in the book about the importance of language.
The first part of the book was a memoir outlining King's early life and his beginnings as a writer. As a new author myself, it was enlightening to read that even the great Stephen King was not an overnight sensation. He had many rejections, sold a few stories here and there. But he struggled for years: holding down a day job, raising a family and reading and writing whenever he could before he started making enough to live off his work. But he never gave up.
The second half of the book gives many insights for writing, editing and publishing. He gives a lot of useful information from the point of view of someone who's been there. It was encouraging for me to see that there were a couple of things he said that meshed with what I instinctively felt when I started writing with the intention to publish.
I don't want to give too much away. It's better if you read these things from King himself.
I've never been a big memoir fan in the past, but it was really helpful for me to read the memoir of another writer. Not just any writer, but Stephen King. I appreciated the personal stories he chose to share, as they showed that even the most sucessful writers start somewhere. Even the most successful writers struggle sometimes. But if you're writing from the right place with the right intentions, the struggles won't (or shouldn't) discourage you.
View all my reviews
