Self-Pub Book Length

eablevins · Jun 30, 2012

My assumption is that self publishing allows great freedom for your story to deviate from standard publisher-preferred lengths.

I was wondering if there are strong opinions on the matter that I'm clueless about.

Nightmelody · Jun 30, 2012

I myself and many writers I know write shorts and novellas. There are plenty of readers who enjoy short stories.

merrihiatt · Jun 30, 2012

I write short stories, novellas and novels, as well as poetry. It's important to clearly denote in your description if a book is not novel length, but otherwise I think the market is open for whatever you want to put out there.

FOTSGreg · Jun 30, 2012

Indeed. Of the 15 or 16 works I have at Amazon only one is novel length at 80k words. I have one collection of short stories (a steal - 6 stories for the price of 3), two novelettes of around 10k words, and the rest running 1-6k words. The short stories far outsell everything else (though one of the novelettes does pretty good these days).

brianjanuary · Jul 1, 2012

This is an interesting question because I'm starting to see similar questions on the various forums I visit. It's possible that a trend is starting in self-publishing toward shorter works because there is an appetite out there for shorter works and generally speaking legacy publishers don't want short stories or novellas unless the author is well-known. A lot of my fans tell me that they like to read my books on the plane or at the beach, so a shorter read is right up their alley.

My first book was 100K+, but my next two are about half that size. I'm curious to see what happens along this line!

James D. Macdonald · Jul 1, 2012

brianjanuary said:
generally speaking legacy publishers don't want short stories

Surely you meant "commercial publishers"?

Regardless, it's factually untrue. Magazines publish nearly nothing else. Book-length anthologies and collections consist of nearly nothing else.

brianjanuary · Jul 3, 2012

No, I meant "legacy publishers"--it's the current buzzword for the Big Six.

quicklime · Jul 3, 2012

brianjanuary said:
No, I meant "legacy publishers"--it's the current buzzword for the Big Six.

but it isn't....it is the current incorrect word, and that may be fine when chatting it up with grammie, but it is a bit like saying "I lyke running and travel" in a business resume.

current does not equal correct, and in this case brands you in a negative manner in the eyes of folks who know the difference between slang born of ignorance or indifference, and evolution of a language. That sounds snarky, but it isn't meant to be, it is meant to explain that it may be a "buzzword", but a very incorrect one.

amergina · Jul 3, 2012

brianjanuary said:
No, I meant "legacy publishers"--it's the current buzzword for the Big Six.

It's better to use accurate and unbiased terms to make your point than to throw around words with purposefully negative meaning. Because then you get into an Us vs. Them discussion that obfuscates the point you were actually trying to make.

I'm sure you wouldn't be pleased to have folks use terms with negative connotations for self-published authors.

Are you only talking about the Big Six? Since there are many (many) Independent Publishers (non-Big Six trade publishers) that publish novellas and shorter works.

Sheryl Nantus · Jul 3, 2012

amergina said:
Are you only talking about the Big Six? Since there are many (many) Independent Publishers (non-Big Six trade publishers) that publish novellas and shorter works.

Very true. Samhain and Carina put out short works all the time.

But no one likes to talk about the smaller presses. Funny how that works.

kaitie · Jul 3, 2012

amergina said:
It's better to use accurate and unbiased terms to make your point than to throw around words with purposefully negative meaning. Because then you get into an Us vs. Them discussion that obfuscates the point you were actually trying to make.

I'm sure you wouldn't be pleased to have folks use terms with negative connotations for self-published authors.

Are you only talking about the Big Six? Since there are many (many) Independent Publishers (non-Big Six trade publishers) that publish novellas and shorter works.

+1

nitaworm · Jul 3, 2012

Self publishing does allow freedom. However, epublishing (which is DIFFERENT) than self-publishing allows even more freedom.

If you self publish or are a small press these are considerations with types of formats for publishing.

Print w/ POD - large word counts can hurt if you're book can not be priced competitively because of high page count. Also, short stories printed individually may not be profitable if is a (fiction novel) non-fiction and self-help type books can demand a larger price. Short stories would be better served in an Anthology or collection with this method.

Print w/ offset or digital printing of books - this is another area where cost vs investment effects large word counts on books. Also, short stories printed individually may not be profitable if is a (fiction novel) non-fiction and self-help type books can demand a larger price. Short stories would be better served in an Anthology or collection with this method.

Epublishing - this is where the sky is the limit and you as a publisher have a lot of flexibility. Many small press epublishers do well with the flexibility of this market and is a good starting point for many small press/self-publishers. Short stories, teasers, all series books in one gives epublishing the most flexibility.

It's funny how people nowadays think that epublishing is an automatic 'self-publishing' route, it's not but it's the easiest and cheapest way to start.

Old Hack · Jul 3, 2012

brianjanuary said:
No, I meant "legacy publishers"--it's the current buzzword for the Big Six.

It's not "the current buzzword for the Big Six", it's a sneering and inaccurate term. Read the guidelines, Brian, and if you can't adhere to them, don't post in this room again. Thanks.

James D. Macdonald · Jul 3, 2012

brianjanuary said:
No, I meant "legacy publishers"--it's the current buzzword for the Big Six.

You meant "commercial" publishers.

Sloppy terminology leads to sloppy thinking leads to invalid conclusions.

Kriven · Jul 3, 2012

nitaworm said:
Self publishing does allow freedom. However, epublishing (which is DIFFERENT) than self-publishing allows even more freedom.

I don't understand how e-publishing (self or trade [that term is allowed right? That's the right one?]) offers more freedom than self-publishing. If you self-e-publish, you're still self-publishing, so the freedom is the same. If you're being published by a house that specializes in e-publishing, you're still signing a trade publishing contract (for the most part). The latter also applies to a larger or more well known print publishing entity that also offers or purchases digital rights. Either way the "freedoms" still seem to be equal to both respective routes.

J. Tanner · Jul 3, 2012

Yep. The best option for short fiction at the moment is to sell first rights to a magazine, then, once the exclusive period is over self-pub it and keep an eye out for reprint possibilites.

CDancourt · Jul 5, 2012

With kindle age upon us, novellas are easier.

WeaselFire · Jul 6, 2012

Kreuse said:
With kindle age upon us, novellas are easier.

I'm not sure what you mean by this? Easier to publish? Easier to sell? Easier to self-publish? Easier as an ebook?

Novellas, as far as I've found, aren't easier to write. A good novella takes more skill than an 80,000 word novel. A bad novel often fits in a novella format, but that doesn't make it good.

Reader demand for novellas does seem higher in the ebook world. But I'm not sure that eliminates the traditional/commercial/legacy/whatever publishers. There's always been a local/regional market for novellas and a definite market for novellas of certain types.

As far as novellas go, in the self-published ebook world, I've found most are just bad novels an author didn't fully write. There are definitely quality novellas being published, in all formats and by all publishers, there just seems to be a higher "junk level" in the self-published ebook arena.

Though I'm curious what you meant, since I may not understand what part is easier.

Thanks,

Jeff

CDancourt · Jul 7, 2012

Hi Jeff, yeah, I guess my post was criptic.

I personally have trouble reading long pieces on screen. I don't like short stories, but the story has to be really (and I mean really) great to hold my attention through 25K or 30K words. So as a reader I won't buy any ebook that is longer than that, even if it's cheaper than a physical book. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one in this case (or bookstores would be a endangered species).

In addition, when you are serious about self-publishing and want to offer a good product, the investment will cost you less with shorter works (copy editing can be quite expensive).

All this to mean, for self-published authors, I think that novellas are best, or an easier sale if you like.

PS: I don't quite agree with your comment about novellas being harder to write. I truly think it depends on the subject, the plot, the genre, the writing etc.

csorensen · Jul 9, 2012

eablevins said:
My assumption is that self publishing allows great freedom for your story to deviate from standard publisher-preferred lengths.

I was wondering if there are strong opinions on the matter that I'm clueless about.

Great question. My experience with self-publishing was once 10 years ago (where I did a traditional printing of 3,000 hardcover books) and then again 5 years ago (where I did POD through lulu.com).

The answer to your question is very simply...yes. Self publishing means you have the whole kit and caboodle, everything. The length, the editing, the cover, the marketing, the printing (whichever form you use) - all of it. All of the highs, lows, and in-betweens all belong to YOU!!!

Your story can be as long or as short as you want it to be. With the technological advancements of today (ebook, etc.) that is a great blessing and makes it easier, quicker and faster to self-pub.

But one thing I would caution - there is a trap that too many taking the self-pub route (whichever it may be) follow...don't publish your work before it's ready. Just because you can publish it yourself doesn't mean it's ready to be published. Write, edit, revise. The do it again! Don't let the temptation of a self-publishing payday force you to publish your work before it's ready.

I admire anyone who wants to self-publish, but the one thing that should stay consistent between someone who gets picked up by a publisher or does it themself...the story should still be the best it can be before it is made available.

spacejock2 · Jul 15, 2012

My first four adult (trade-published) novels were 80,000-95,000 each. My new release is 65,000. The first four would probably have been pacier at that length, but with trad pub you have to write to the requirements. Now, things are so much easier - no need to add sub-plots, remove characters or mess around with your draft because it's too long or too short.

Julie Ambrose · Jul 16, 2012

Speaking as a newbie to epublishing, I often watch people take train trips and bring out their ereader. A story they can read in a commute seems to be an ideal length for quite a large percentage of the ebook market. (How long is a commute?)

But I prefer longer books, and that's what I write.
Cheers,
Julie

Terie · Jul 16, 2012

Julie Ambrose said:
Speaking as a newbie to epublishing, I often watch people take train trips and bring out their ereader. A story they can read in a commute seems to be an ideal length for quite a large percentage of the ebook market. (How long is a commute?)

Just out of curiousity, how do you know they're reading short stories rather than novels or nonfiction books or newspapers?

Old Hack · Jul 16, 2012

spacejock2 said:
My first four adult (trade-published) novels were 80,000-95,000 each. My new release is 65,000. The first four would probably have been pacier at that length, but with trad pub you have to write to the requirements. Now, things are so much easier - no need to add sub-plots, remove characters or mess around with your draft because it's too long or too short.

Trade publishers don't usually edit for length, unless the book is wildly overlong. I've seen plenty of books published which are on the novella-end of the scale, and plenty which were extremely long: if the writing's strong enough I'd expect the editor to work with a view to tightening a book rather than stretching or compressing it to a specified length.

I've been trying to think of any specific genres where this might not be the case but I'm struggling: I can think of exceptions in just about every case. I'm not trying to dismiss you, spacejock, it's just that I find your suggestions quite odd and I wonder if there were other specific reasons your editor decided your books had to be edited for length.

Julie Ambrose · Jul 16, 2012

Terie said:
Just out of curiousity, how do you know they're reading short stories rather than novels or nonfiction books or newspapers?

I'm a major stickybeak.

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