How long should the first novel be?

[Benjamin Sobieck]

What is the line between novella and novel? At what point does an agent/editor ask, "Did 20,000 words fall between the couch cushions?"

For first-time novelists, the knot is the fact publishers do not want to spend more in printing costs than possible. I can attest to this as someone in the magazine business. This means word counts for first-timers should be lower. But how low? I've heard 70k, 60k and even as low as 50k. What do you think?

[Benjamin Sobieck]

One of the worst pieces of advice I've received was to keep my word count low. As a first-time novelist, the advice went, publishers would be more likely to pick me up with a low word count. That way, they didn't waste paper on a newbie.

The problem never surfaced. An agent actually recommended I make the manuscript longer. She said it'd be more marketable.

[I. J. Parker]

Well, the editor had a point in my case. Some editors look for longer works, some do not. I wasn't too troubled by the cutting. A few things got a bit rushed or could have used more careful preparation, but a lot of the cut material wasn't essential, and some was wordy.

[minervaK]

Good grief.

[Jason Lewis / Garrett Alexander]

Okay, my first crime piece is coming in at just under 180,000 words. It has taken me eight months of writing almost non stop on it to get that far, and I'm just about done with it. My editors have looked it over already and could not find any way to cut words out without tearing the story up any, so I guess it depends on content as well as quality. Who knows, I'm just now getting started in the industry.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

You're fortunate to have an editor on board with your word count. I've heard anything approaching 200k is DOA.

[I. J. Parker]

Wow! Who's the publisher?

[Jason Lewis / Garrett Alexander]

The editors I'm working with are currently working with one of the largest publishing houses in the country. I can't say which one directly, but they both are amzed at my work. They both have told me to just write the story and they'll let me know what needs to be done to it. One place I would not suggest going to is Olympia Press. I sent my first manuscript to them and had it printed, but there was no editing done to the piece, so I had to pull the work back and almost rewrite it for them. Anyway, good luck, and if I can name the publisher I'm working with, I'll let you know.

[I. J. Parker]

Doesn't sound like you have a contract with the publisher. Beware of "editors" who make promises they can't keep. Usually, the contract comes first, and then you get an editor who works for the publisher. The thing you don't want to do is to pay someone to edit your book because they tell you they can get it published.

[Jason Lewis / Garrett Alexander]

The editors I am working with at the moment have seen my potential and are looking forward to the completed work. I don't have any contracts right at the moment, and I know better than to send off any work to pay someone to edit it only since they claim to be able to get it published. I got really lucky finding the two I did and am sticking with them.

[I. J. Parker]

Okay. Just be careful. There are sharks out there.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

Why is 50k to 60k your sweet spot?

[Jason Lewis / Garrett Alexander]

I'm all about giving the reader/consumer what they pay for. I won't put out anything less than 50,000. That only translates to about 200 pages, and books don't sell cheap.