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Emanuel
Veteran Poster
Username: Emanuel
Post Number: 616
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, July 18, 2008 - 10:49 pm: | 
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The goal of NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) is to write 50,000 words in a month. While I think it's a great exercise in banging out a rough draft, I wonder if the word count is misleading for prospective authors. In today's market, can authors (especially new ones) sell novels that are 50,000 words? What's a more realistic goal if this isn't? Can you give examples of recently traditionally published novels that are about 50,000 words? (I estimate that to be about 230-250 pages.) |
A_womon
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: A_womon
Post Number: 2355
Registered: 05-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 19, 2008 - 12:13 am: |
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Emanuel,
Some writers are writing novelettes, however, a new writer will probably be expected to write a novel of about 90,00- 95,000 words. That's standard with traditional publishing from what I gather |
Emanuel
Veteran Poster
Username: Emanuel
Post Number: 617
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 19, 2008 - 06:38 am: |
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A_womon:
That much writing for one piece of work is a challenge for me. I don't really like to read novels over 300 pages, so to write one seems hypocritical. The self-pubbed version of my first novel is only about 56,000 words. But the market is the market.
I guess it's the publisher that decides what a novel's length should be. I've seen a few calls for submission that asked for at least 50,000 words but not many. Soho Press (published "The Darkest Child") has a mininum word count of 60,000 words. I imagine more of the small presses, university presses, and upstart publishers (i.e. Triple Crown or Firefly Publishing) have smaller minimum word counts. I've seen lots of traditionally published novels (sent to me as review copies or read about them in Bookpage or at an online site) that fell in the range of 230-250 pages and were probably 60,000 words or less.
Of course if you publish non-traditionally, you can write as few words as you like as long as you come with a check in hand.
Anyone remember the mininum word counts for novels at places they've submitted? Anyone remember the specific word counts of their novels? |
A_womon
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: A_womon
Post Number: 2357
Registered: 05-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 19, 2008 - 07:59 am: |
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Yes, you're probably right that it's up to the traditional publisher to set the word count they expect. But when I was out there searching for information before I went traditional, most self help books on the subject stated that the standard was 85,00 to 95,000 words.I'd be interested in hearing what others' experiences have been, as well. |
Ferociouskitty
Veteran Poster
Username: Ferociouskitty
Post Number: 346
Registered: 02-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, July 19, 2008 - 08:25 am: |
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I've read 60,000 to 120,000.
Maybe they chose 50,000 because its a "neat" number, and also because by the time you do the rewrite, it could be longer. |
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