Self-Publishing Questions: How Long Can Your Book Be?
Self-Publishing Questions: How Long Can Your Book Be?
WWW #82
If you have read a book, you know they can range from little novellas to massive Game of Thrones length monstrosities. Books can really be any length, right?
If you have dabbled in trying to get traditionally published, you might have come across restrictions on word counts for new or unestablished authors. Speaking generally, literary agents looking to represent authors and traditional publishing companies follow the rule of 90,000 to 120,000 words in a manuscript. Are there outliers? Of course! But does this have any influence on how long your self-published book can be? Let’s see!
Traditional Publishing Manuscript Guidelines
So we are all on the same page, there are a few reasons traditional publishers and literary agents might turn down an overly long manuscript. Taking on a new author is always a risk, no matter your quality. The costs also go up if the manuscript is longer than normal due to the time it takes to edit, format, and literally costs more in materials to print. A new author might not break even in sales vs production costs, but a super long manuscript can also be a sign that the book itself might not be ready for publication at all… (Keep reading to see why!)
Why Your Manuscript is Too Long
There are amazing books of incredible lengths that prove a long book can be a good book but when an unpublished writer presents an agent with a massive manuscript, this might be an indication that a few things are happening in their script.
I suggest rereading your book to see if it falls into any of these potential categories. This might (or might not!) be why your work is so long and if it is, cutting it down can strengthen your story.
Repetition: Your descriptions double up on themselves or different individual scenes seem to be there for the same purpose. Repetition, no matter the content, can get boring or seem pointless if it is not trimmed down.
Fluff: Does everything in your book add to the story or is it filler? Fluff content happens when we go overboard on descriptions or wander off the rails when writing. Trimming down on fluff can help to create clear and concise moments.
Two Books in One: Does the mid-book climax feel sort of like an ending? If your book is incredibly long, it might work better if you split it into two and reorganize the tension.
Needs Editing: If you have not edited your manuscript, it might be long because you haven’t spent time cutting down the content. Does every scene serve a purpose? Have you cut back on wordy language? Are there repetitions? Editing your work will help polish and tighten your word count.
Too Many Side Quests: Side quests can be fun but too many can be overwhelming. If a side quest doesn’t seem to be adding to the story and is more for entertainment-purposes, removing it can help you save a lot of words!
Costs
If you decide to publish on your own, does this give you leeway to publish a HUGE manuscript? Not really! The problems I have mentioned above might exist in your script and if not, the cost of printing and formatting will fall onto you and that expense only grows depending on how large your manuscript is.
Self-publishing is amazing because you can put your book out there in many different formats. If you decide to publish only an ebook, you will avoid the printing costs but the cost of editing a 180,000-word book is still going to be significantly higher than a book that is 90,000 words.
This is something to keep in mind. Self-publishing doesn’t save you from these expenses or challenges. No matter how you publish, the longer the manuscript, the higher the cost will be.
Conclusion
Nothing makes me sadder than reading a book I enjoyed but also felt swamped by. A great story with too much excess fat or a good idea that was bogged down by endless pages of exposition can kill a story for me. I know it’s exciting to write something that is really long (I’ve been there and done it myself with my first book of 150,000 words!) but taking the time to cut down your work is just like cutting and shaping a diamond. You might have this rocky lump of work at first, but the more you work on it and tighten up the language, the sooner you’ll have a gemstone in your grasp.
Everything I’ve listed above might not be the case for your book, but these are some important things to think about. If you are considering publishing your book, it is key to create a pros and cons list about how and where you want to publish as well as what you can do to edit your manuscript and polish it before you begin the querying and/or enter the self-publishing process. This is not something you want to rush. Writing and editing takes a long time. Make sure your project is perfect before you start getting it out there. Trust me, the work is work it!