Acceptable Novel length

[Topaz044]

Hey guys,

So I got this e-mail back from a nice agent stating that it would be almost impossible to market my book because it's around 66,000 words. He would prefer it to be 100,000 (or more if it's fantasy). In this case, the genre is sci-fi/horror.

So what do people think? I don't mind writing extra scenes and fleshing out the characters and adding some more descriptive language, but I don't want to not get published because I wrote too much at the same time. I have often heard that less is more likely to get marketed.

Cheers,

Topaz

BTW, I'm sure there's already a thread like this out there somewhere. Sorry in advance!

[Staroffurby]

The way i look at these problems i s"The agent knows best!" He does spend his time selling and marketing so should understand what the market is. Then again another agent may have a different few and think your book is fine the size it is.

I think you need to judge if adding and padding out the book effects its quality. If so then possibly look for another agent.

[Use Her Name]

I think that sticking with the average length for your particular genre is wisest. I am sure if you go through your novel, you might add to it, use a plot thread or two to tell the story of some other character or give it more body or depth. Think Tolkien? Good luck & hope it sells

[JeanneTGC]

The length conventions are real and, particularly if you're not already an established author, should be followed as carefully as you can. And, if an agent was interested enough to tell you what to do to fix and regain his interest, by all means, do so.

There are indeed a lot of threads on this, many of which don't agree, but the general gists are there. I'd recommend you go into the specific genre forums we have and do a search there -- I've done so, and it's been very helpful, for all my genres.

BTW, do remember that lengths are different if you're writing for the YA, MG or Children's markets.

[windyrdg]

Welcome to AW.
When trying to sell your debut book the best idea is not to attract attention to yourself for anything but the writing. This would include too many or not enough words for the genre, creative punctuation or lack thereof, etc. People do get away with it, of course, but why stack the odds against yourself? It's hard enough to get published as it is. A lot of agents say a debut book much over 110,000 is a really hard sell.

[sunandshadow]

Even getting it up to 80k would probably improve its marketability a lot. Try looking at an average-thickness _new_ book in your genre, count the words on a page, multiply by the number of pages, and see how big it actually is.

[David I]

Yes, there's other threads scattered here and there. And, yes, word count does make a difference.

Unfortunately, as with so many other things, a lot of the advice out there dates back to the 1960s/70s. You can find a lot of people telling you, with great authority, that 50-90 k words is the sweet spot, and that short is better for first novels.

That's advice from the heyday of mass-market paperback originals, when publishers were often looking for 50-70k novels.

My first published novel was a 120k* word thriller. Most thrillers now seem to be in the 80-120k range. That's about typical for fantasy, too, these days, except fantasy leans toward the upper end of that range. Even mainstream novels have fattened up.

Expected length varies by genre. Since you're in sci-fi, you may want to look at DAW's submission guidelines (http://us.penguingroup.com/static/html/daw/submissions.html), especially the part that reads:

"The average length of the novels we publish varies but is almost never less than 80,000 words. " (That's amended from an earlier version where they said not to even submit novels less than 80k.)

Unsurprisingly, the agent was probably giving you good advice. Good luck!

(*It was actually about 110k when I submitted it. My agent had some suggested additions, and my editor had me add some things I had cut!)

[Topaz044]

Thanks for the advice guys! I was thinking that 80,000 would probably be the length I'm looking for.