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?

[Jason Lewis / Garrett Alexander]

The piece I am currently working on is based on a real person, and I had almost nine chapters written before I really got into my research. Once that was done, I had to work what I had into the story to achieve the same outcome. Anyway, it comes in at just under 180,000 and the publishers are beside themselves waiting for it.

[Jason Lewis / Garrett Alexander]

This is actually my second book written. The first one was too graphic for the publishers, and there was no way to tone it down without killing the story. I have kept up with them since my first submission with them, and they are really anxious about my new work. I just finished it (unless they tell me to do more) and will be sending it off Monday morning. I'll certainly let everyone know when it comes out to pick up a copy. Keep your eyes peeled for a title of The 22nd Degree.

[Melissa Emerald]

John:
You might have a tough time getting a agent to pick up a crime story that's less than 70,000. Of course there are always exceptions, but I keep hearing that 75,000-80,000 is supposed to be the sweet spot for genre fiction.

I did a little searching and ran across a July 2009 post from literary agent, Jessica Faust. She says:
"My answer is when in doubt think 80,000 words, give or take. I don’t think that you can ever go wrong with 80,000 words whether you’re writing mystery, romance, fantasy, literary fiction, or nonfiction."
http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2009/07/word-count.html

And here's a little blurb from Chuck Sambuchino, who edits the Guide to Literary Agents put out by Writer's Digest:
80,000 - 89,999: Totally cool
90,000 - 99,999: Generally safe
70,000 - 79,999: Might be too short; probably all right
100,000 - 109,999: Might be too long; probably all right
Below 70,000: Too short
110,000 or above Too long
http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/CategoryView,category,Wor...

[Laura Root]

As a reader, I prefer books to be 200 - 300 pages, I am put off reading a book that's very long (say more than 450 pages).