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Length of a first novel

Claire

Scribe
Some comments in another thread sparked a question - how long should a first novel be?

I know, there's no one right answer to questions like this. And I think part of the answer is, as long as it takes to tell the story well. But I'm also looking at my work in terms of publishability. Not to the exclusion of all else, but as I plan and write, my intent is to attempt to sell it, so I want to keep these kinds of things in mind.

I read a lot of fantasy and so many of those books are very long - 800 pages or more. But many of those authors already had books under their belt, so perhaps they have an easier time selling that 800+ pager to a publisher.

What would you consider a good length for a first novel, assuming the story can be told well within that length? Is it more common in fantasy to have longer books, or am I only thinking of established authors who can get away with epic-length novels?

Thanks! :)
 
I would say this is mor about the publisher than anything else (and thus might fit better in publishing) but I'd say for your first thing to be published aiming short is probably safer if you want to make sure its published.

at the same time though, I don't feel you shoudl avoid writing something longer - its still possible it'd get published if the publisher likes it and even if it dosen't then you could always get some publishing experiance under your belt and then resubmit it XD
 

Legendary Sidekick

The HAM'ster
Moderator
~80,000 or 90,000.

I live in the same town as R.A. Salvatore, so when I tried to have my first novel published, I went to him for advice and that was the number he told me when I asked the same question.
 

Sheilawisz

Queen of Titania
Moderator
When I finished my first Fantasy novel it was around 50000 words long, but I have been polishing it since then (even adding new scenes and also new chapters, among other changes) and today the same novel is over 70k- J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter book is around 77k, so maybe 80k is a good number to start with =)
 

T.Allen.Smith

Staff
Moderator
For most genres the number usually sits around 80-90k. With fantasy and the world building involved that tends to add length, most publishers will be okay with the 100-110k range.
 

TWErvin2

Auror
It depends on the publisher. You can check the guidelines at Tor, Baen, Daw, ROC, Ace, etc, specifically but 80,000-125,000 should put you in the ballpark.

Briefly:
(Ace/Roc) say 80,000 to 125,000 words
Baen says 100,000 to 130,000 words. Uncomfortable with under that, but if good, send it anyway.
DAW says varies but almost never under 80,000 words
Tor no longer lists but it was in the same range a few years back.

Small presses vary, and might desire shorter. My first published novel (with a small press) submitted was 125,000 words and ended up after edits about 127,000 (after cuts and additions).
 
I realize the focus here is on "real" publishing, but as a self-publishing data point, my NIP is ~190 k words right now and will probably not significantly change in length from here on out (might gain or lose a few k words in the last few chapters, as they are the relatively newest part of the story).
 
I'm aiming for 50,000 with my Novel in Progress. I imagine it will be more than that, and I'm not going to stop until the story I'm telling is done. But I'm giving myself a weekly word minimum, and if I only do the minimum I'll reach 50K words before I get married later this year.

So far, I've been blowing the weekly minimum out of the water. :)
 

Ireth

Myth Weaver
I've heard that a good range for a first novel's length is between 80k and 100k words; my first finished novel is 85k.

Also, congrats on your upcoming marriage, Professor! :D
 

Mindfire

Istar
~80,000 or 90,000.

I live in the same town as R.A. Salvatore, so when I tried to have my first novel published, I went to him for advice and that was the number he told me when I asked the same question.

Hmm... No way is my book going to be that long. I'm on chapter 5/35 and I've only got around 7500 words. :/
 

yachtcaptcolby

Minstrel
I've always found word counts a bit superficial. Any piece of writing should be as long as it needs to be to properly communicate its story.

I've found a daily word count goal to be very helpful, though. I try to write 500 words a day, just to keep the juices flowing.
 
Length is definitely important to smaller presses. My first published novel was accepted (at 230k) but the publisher said it had to be cut down to 160k. That was a fairly daunting task and we eventually compromised on 192k (and, yes, the book was much better when cut down). One issue was simply the cost of paper. It was going to be too expensive to print (especially for an unknown author). Another issue was the target market (it wasn't fantasy) - the publisher thought it was a challenging size for the primary target market.
 

Lavender

Minstrel
My novel is 227k (which is 340 A4 pages on Microsoft Word to give you a better idea) at the moment... pretty huge. It's my first novel and I'm unpublished. Although I feel the word count needs to be this long for the full story to be properly communicated, I may have to seriously consider cutting it down which will be an uncomfortable task I'm sure! Either that or I will have to seperate it into two stories...

Any suggestions on cutting a word count without compromising the story too much would be greatly appreciated :)
 
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