Nano, Day 18, 6pm

Nano, Day 18.... If you're attempting Nanowrimo (aiming to write 1667 words daily for the month of November) you should be on 30,000 words by the end of today.

I'm currently 479 words up on that.  And I'm a happy lady.

I'm also a stone's throw from another big total - 60,000 words on my manuscript.  Authors may know this "magic" number.  For a lot of publishers, 60,000 words is the minimum word count for a book to be considered a novel.  Below that and it's a novella.  Why is this a big deal?  Pricing and categorising.  Dreamspinner (my publisher) will put any story above 60k into paperback.  If your story comes in at 59k, then it doesn't.

I started Nano with just under 30k on the dial of my story.  I now have 60k.  I have a book.  I'm happy.  Now I just have to finish the book and get Shane his happy ending.  Of course, the hardest bits are yet to come.  The self-editing, the submission to a publisher, the anxious wait for a yay or nay, the editing and the release.  But for now, I'm happy to reach that 60k.

Nano total:  30,479
Today's mantra:  Yes, yes, yes