Jul 20, 2021
Conventional wisdom says "bigger is better" for books, but is
that really true? In this episode, we discuss what different word
counts and book sizes mean for successful publishers today, how you
can use different sizes to your advantage, and how to find your
sweet spot. The Right Size isn't a black and white thing - in fact,
there are 50 shades of writing (size) to embrace!
There is NO ONE RULE for word counts:
Example: The Romance Writers of America defines a novella as
20,000 to 40,000 words and a novel as a work of fiction of 40,000
words or more as determined by computer word count.
The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America organisation
defines:
Short Story: less than 7,500 words;
Novelette: at least 7,500 words but less than 17,500
words;
Novella: at least 17,500 words but less than 40,000
words
Novel: 40,000 words or more.
Bookbub current rule for word count needed for a featured
deal:
"A full-length book. Novels and collections of short stories
or novellas should be at least 150 pages in length, works of
nonfiction at least 100 pages, cookbooks at least 70 pages,
middle-grade books at least 100 pages, and children’s picture books
at least 20 pages. We currently do not feature stand-alone novellas
or short stories."
Uses of shorter fiction:
Short stories can be published on their own, or used to create
anthologies
They can be used as newsletter subscription lures
READER EXPECTATION is the key to what wordcount you should aim
for
Romance readers (generally) expect full novel to be 50,000 to
80,000 words; however there are some popular niches such as sexy
shifter romance telling the story in a shorter word count eg
35,000.
Thrillers and suspense normally are 60,000 - 90,000
Epic fantasy can have 120,000 words +
Cozy mysteries tend to 40,000 to 60,000
Serialized fiction tends to be around 700 - 2000 words per
episode
The new Kindle Vella program states "between 600-5,000
words"
IT"S NOT SET IN STONE and TRENDS DO CHANGE
Advantage if you're publishing exclusively with Amazon and in
the Kindle Unlimited program is to have a longer word count. More
pages = more $
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