StumpJumper

I'm looking for some advice about the publishability of a 200 page first novel.

I'm almost done with my first draft, and it looks like the finished project is going to be 55,000 to 60,000 words. I've tried hard to keep the writing lean, and I would hate to go back and "bloat" out sections to make it longer.

Actually, I'd rather burn the whole thing than put out a 300 page novel with only 200 pages of real meat.

By the way, I'm new to WritingForums.com. I'm 27 and recently quit my full-time job (as a software engineer) to work on my first novel full-time. To anyone else who is considering taking the plunge, I highly recommend it!

Pawn

As for publishability, I can't say as I'm not educated enough on the topic, nor a publisher. I do however agree with your sentiment that 200 pages of real prose beats the hell out of 300 of bloated plot. One loses respect for the beauty of language when one uses too much of it! Good luck to you; I look forward to reading it!

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davewriter

What I would like to see is somebody write a novel that is at LEAST 1000 published pages in length (a la War and Peace or Gone With the Wind) Nobody does that anymore. I think it's would be interesting, not to mention challenging if somebody actually dared to dive into THAT pool!

Kimberly Bird

Hi Stump Jumper; it is good that you got 200 pages done, 60,000 words, but many publishing houses like around 85,000 words, which means add on another 40 pages, flesh it out. It's okay to believe in yourself and feel that there is no need to add more, but when you are faced with the continual guidelines of publishers who will only read works of a certain calibre or magnitude, then you need to rethink your attitude. Read it again; I'm sure you can find somewhere to flesh it out a little, a prolouge or an epilouge can help as well.

I hope I didn't sound harsh, but the publishing world demands certian guidelines, and if they are not followed by the rules of the house, then your manuscript wil be forever tossed in the slush pile.

Best of luck.

Kimberly

speculative

I wouldn't worry about lenght in that fashion. I would write the novel with exactly as many words as there needs to be. Look at Animal Farm, Fahrenheit 451, The Great Gatsby, etc. and you'll see that a novel need not be long to be great.

After your novel is finished, then I would take a look to see which houses accept novels of that length.

-speculative

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davewriter

85,000 words? Does that mean 250 typewritten computerised pages?

Wow, Kim, I hope YOUR 3 1/2 inch floppy disks have enough diskspace - say about 5 MB (at least?). You're going to need it.

Kimberly Bird

Floppy Disk, what's that? I burn to cd. I have a 500 page manuscript right now that I save to disk, and I still have lots of room on it. You can always condense your manuscript as well before saving. They call it a zip drive

Kimberly

victorian-delight

Some of the agents I emailed said they like 65,000-85,000 ,and they would rather see 85,000. I guess it makes it more marketable or something.

Stefanie

I thought it was easier to find a publisher for a short story than for a long story.

victorian-delight

Maybe for some genres, but not for mine. They like 'em long-winded. I'm going to try to add another 75 pgs of fluff onto my book so it's more marketable. It's not nearly so enjoyable when you feel like you have to do something, you know?

Lucky_Joe

Hi StumpJumper,

I'm planning on to take some time out to work on my writing, and Ican't wait.

As for your book and its length I honestly think your book should be as long as it needs to be, no longer and no shorter. Lots of great books have been as short as 150 pages and others as long as 1000 pages long. If your think it works now, stick with it, adding to it might actually damage your work and your chances of getting anywhere with it, IMHO. I say look around for a publisher that will take that length work.

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Stefanie

Oh, I had no idea. Several years ago, when I said I wanted to publish a story, I got the advice to write a short story. I didn't know about this. Personally, I don't believe in adding pages because the publisher wants you to. I think a writer should only add pages when he/she thinks the strory needs that. But I guess it's not that simple.

Savannah

Don't add or subtract anything from a 200-page novel if you feel satisfied with it. I once read that a painting is done when a brush less or a brush more will ruin it. If you have 200 pages, adding 75 more probably won't help you if you're adding "fluff." If you can reread it and make necessary or justified changes, though, knock yourself out.

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Leapord

I agree with the general sentiment here. I feel it would be a shame to add fluff to a work merely to meet a publisher's guidelines. If you're really dying to get published, and no publisher will accept a book that short, you could try self-publishing or using a subsidary publisher.

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Csira

My book, or story what have you, is certainly not 1000 published pages. But it is rather close. I did not intend it to be that long at all. I tried to keep the chapters fairly short but I had a lot to cover in each chapter that they took up at most 20 pages. Maybe one day I'll get around to editing it properly and have some pages chopped off.

As for more related to this topic, I agree with the others. A book's length should not be determined or restricted by a publisher's guidelines.

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