How long should a novel be?

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 21 May 2014, 12:42

I'm writing a series of modern American private detective novels. The first 2 have already been published, and last night I completed the 3rd.

Thing is, the new novel is 63,000 words. I realize this is a bit on the short side, although mystery novels do tend to be shorter than "epic" books like the juvenile Potter series.

I did tell a complete story in my new novel, and I'm quite certain that the story itself is quite good.

My question is whether the book's too short to gain consideration from agents or publishers.

If need be I can cook up a secondary plotline and weave it into the existing story, so as to lengthen the novel, but I don't want this to "pad" the novel either.

What is your experience with novel length? Will agents or publishers be amenable to a 60k word novel, or do I need to lengthen the book?

David Dawson · Post by **David Dawson** » 21 May 2014, 15:29

Answering purely as a reader, as long as it needs to be if that isn't too glib. I would have thought the book will be better as it is rather than with another plotline/ padding. Slaughterhouse-five and Fahrenheit 451 both clock in at under 50,000 words.

But I don't have any experience of publishing on either side of the industry and appreciate that it doesn't matter if 63,000 words is the perfect length if that prevents it getting read.

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 21 May 2014, 16:33

Thanks, David. "as long as it needs to be" isn't glib -- it perfectly describes how I feel about this.

I have however thought of a secondary plotline that would not hamper the novel's scope or rhythm, and could help increase the word count.

I'll hold that in reserve and make the decision later. I'm amenable to adding a few more chapters and interweaving them, and it would work -- just more writing that I may not deem necessary.

In the meantime I'm now re-reading the whole novel and carefully editing and tweaking, and of course fixing any typos or other mechanical errors. That should take me about a month, at which time I can decide whether to write the secondary plot -- actually tertiary, as the book already has a major and minor narrative sequence.

biggsrv · Post by **biggsrv** » 23 May 2014, 12:47

My first novel was around 86000 words and the sequel is 120000. I sometimes worry it's not enough but i agree, as long as it takes to tell the tale. I think the trick is to know when to stop if the subplots threaten to pull you off track.

GeonnaMarie · Post by **GeonnaMarie** » 23 May 2014, 19:19

As long as you were able to tell the story and are happy with the result, the length doesn't matter. If you made it longer, you'd have to add a bunch of fluff. You could always use your secondary plotline at a later time (maybe in your next novel?). Wish you all the best!

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 23 May 2014, 22:02

I'm happy with the novel as is. My problem is that I won't be the one who makes that decision. It's an agent, publisher, or editor who will decide.

I've just finished a thorough edit and revision. Word length is about 60,200 words.

And I've decided to stick with what I've got. Thanks for the help, folks.

Butterflycrying · Post by **Butterflycrying** » 30 May 2014, 21:37

I think for a novel it should be at least 50,000 words. Most publishers wont take a book under 80,000 which is also not bad. However really long books that are 150,000 - 200,000 word books are little long in my opinion.

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 30 May 2014, 23:06

Mainstream novels are in tne neighborhood of 90k, and many fantasy novels exceed 120k -- maybe it's all the background material required in creating an entire fantasy world?

Standard mysteries can be shorter and as I said, I've made the decision to stick with my 60200 length.

Katherine E Wall · Post by **Katherine E Wall** » 02 Jun 2014, 05:02

moderntimes wrote:Mainstream novels are in tne neighborhood of 90k, and many fantasy novels exceed 120k -- maybe it's all the background material required in creating an entire fantasy world?

Standard mysteries can be shorter and as I said, I've made the decision to stick with my 60200 length.

Sounds like you have a solid plan, MT, and if the agent and/or editor likes it, but feels it is too short, you can tell them you have a tertiary plot you can weave in. If it is solid, as your writing appears to be, it should attract attention even if they deem it too short. By the way, I did a quick Google search on average length for your genre, and most of the hits I got stated anywhere between 60k and 80k, so it looks like you are golden.

Good luck placing it.

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 02 Jun 2014, 10:27

Thanks. After some revisions, the word length grew a bit to 60400 and change. That's gonna be it and I'm now in process of sending agent queries.

If the book's good, it will be picked up. And yeah, I think it's good. (has to be -- I wrote it! -- ha ha)

Katherine E Wall · Post by **Katherine E Wall** » 02 Jun 2014, 10:43

moderntimes wrote:Thanks. After some revisions, the word length grew a bit to 60400 and change. That's gonna be it and I'm now in process of sending agent queries.

If the book's good, it will be picked up. And yeah, I think it's good. (has to be -- I wrote it! -- ha ha)

Could I borrow some of your confidence?

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 02 Jun 2014, 11:03

Confidence is earned and also part BS!

But being confident is real as well, based on my years of reading other PI novels and making comparisons, seeing that my writing is "pretty good" and also, of course, reading the nice Amazon reviews posted -- re "Blood Spiral" and "Blood Storm".

I have to be confident because nobody's gonna feel confident for me. ha ha

But I want to tell others out there, don't hide your light under a bushel! Write a good book and then search for agents or publishers who will take on your "project" and run with it. Don't relegate yourself to the "vanity" or self-publishing thing -- you're better than that! And if you don't think so, persuade yourself otherwise and work hard to improve your writing.

ipekbunsal · Post by **ipekbunsal** » 07 Aug 2014, 04:03

As long as you want it to be!

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 07 Aug 2014, 10:52

ipekbunsal wrote:As long as you want it to be!

That may be true, philosophically, but in fact, if a novel's too short or too long, it's not likely to be purchased for publication. So length does make a difference.

My new novel is a bit short as it normally goes, at 30,000+ words. But that's how long the story went, and further length would be padding. So I'm staying on what I wrote.

However, the latest news is that I'm working with a publisher who's very interested in the new novel, and has made no comments whatever regarding its being a bit short in the word count.

suzy1124 · Post by **suzy1124** » 07 Aug 2014, 11:24

Coming from the aspect of a " reader ", ( and what " better " opinion would you want ? ) I believe that many books I read suffer from " diarrhea of the mouth "...

I place the blame on the supposed editors who don't know how to edit...

Brevity is the soul of wit...

In answer to your query, it should be as long as it takes to tell your story short of having the readers eyes glaze over...