Thread: My story's not long enough.......

Hi, I have written the first draft of a novel. The basic story is a father and daughter who are re-united after many years and have to face up to and overcome various things from their history in order to move forward. There is a bit of a sub-plot with the father's employer, which links in towards the end. Anyway, the main problem I have is that it's not very long, at about 40000 words. It's not a "short story" but I realise it's also not really long enough to be a novel, so what do I do?
Should I make it longer, and if so, how? Should I "pad out" what i've already written with further description, characterisation etc. or should I add further sub-plot (s)? Or would all of this just detract from the story, and should I just accept it the length it is?
Another challenge I have is that the story takes place over a long period of time. Most books I read are thrillers which tend to take place in "real time". I'm struggling a bit to link the events together. How should I do this? "Many months later...." seems a bit lame!
Finally, can anybody recommend any novels which I could read to get an idea of how this type of novel works? Family-type sagas, taking place over time as a series of events? As I say, its not the sort of book I usually read, but I really like the story so i'd like to make it work.
Sorry for such a long-winded question(s) - any help is much-appreciated!
Thanks, Phil

It is called a Novella.
Would making it longer ruin the story?
Books end when you have said everything that you need and want to say. It is pointless trying to drag it out for the sake of word count.
Don't forget "Brookback Mountain" it was 30,000 words by the time it was released.
Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness was even shorter.
Are you happy with it?

I agree. Don't add fluff just for word count. Give it to someone else to read. Kids are the greatest at letting us know plot holes even when it isn't a "kids" book. My 10 year old grand son reads way above his grade level but give him a book and in 5 minutes he's found a hole! Sounds like you need to do some connections for time continuum which will add word count. You can use chapter headings that denote time events such as month and year that starts that chapter or sequence. Doesn't necessarily have to be in the text of the book. Good luck. I look forward to reading it.

40,000 words is actually 'official' novel length by most standards, but it's not a popular length. Still, it would be worth doing a careful search for publishers looking for novels on the short end before expanding and, perhaps, compromising your story.

Best of luck.

If you have written the story that you wanted to write and are happy with it, then get it out there. A book is as long as the story you want to tell and there is no ideal book size. As Pilgrim said, it can always be published as a novella.

The length of a book is no measure of your skill as a writer. There are a lot of famous writers who wrote books that were 150 to 200 pages long, like John Steinbeck, HG Wells and George Orwell.

Submit it and write the next one.