How Much is Enough

[Philip]

For my second book, I have written a much longer story, currently at 150,000 words. I keep thinking there is more of the story to write so how do others decide they have written enough. Not deadline driven but my story can easily flex outwards to have more descriptions or time based episodes. Should I go back and extend or should I split the book into a series so that I can publish the first part?

Any guidance appreciated

My current book is

[Michael]

Some stories are long, some are short.

At 150k+, you could probably quite easily split it into two different books.

[Philip]

Michael wrote: "Some stories are long, some are short.

At 150k+, you could probably quite easily split it into two different books."

That's the conundrum, to do that I will have to write more and expand and then go through the whole edit and proof read piece!

[Massimo]

Difficult to answer. My novel first draft was over 126,000 words. Published is about 93,000.

Splitting one long story in two... difficult 'cause you don't want the first part to end with a cliffhanger and have the second to start exactly where the 1st ended. Readers usually take that as a way for a writer to get twice the fee for one single story.

In the end, Philip, it really is your call ;)

[Philip]

Massimo wrote: "Difficult to answer. My novel first draft was over 126,000 words. Published is about 93,000.

Splitting one long story in two... difficult 'cause you don't want the first part to end with a cliffha..."

Thanks, that was one of the options and the book already has four parts although the length of each one varies. I have seen a lot of self-publish authors go down the free first part route, to get a hook then try and sell the next part. If I could generate the revenue form one book then that would be my preference.

Still back to writing and getting the second draft right!

[Massimo]

Hugh Howie did that with his silos story. He hit the jackpot but his story was written in small independent episodes, so fit for publishing in multiple parts.

[Stan]

When I checked with some of the publishing companies, they liked books of about 100,000 words, so when I set out to write a book I used that as my target. Then I wrote some novellas designed to be incorporated into a single book. Those ranged from 37,000 words t0 45,000 words. But when I started my last book I decided that I would write until I was satisfied no matter how short or long the book was. It turned out to be 202,000 words.

[Demetrius]

Are the books paperback, hardcover, ebooks? This will determine length, I think.

[Philip]

Thanks for the comments and advice. I have also been told about the 100k word count. So either write 25% more or stop. Decisions, decisions....

[Philip]

Demetrius wrote: "Are the books paperback, hardcover, ebooks? This will determine length, I think."

setting them up as ebooks initially. I was thinking of maybe splitting the ebook version then combining for a single hardback/paperback

[Demetrius]

I once read an article stating people like ebooks to be shorter. It gave the lengths they should be. I have it somewhere in email.

[Ubiquitous]

There have been articles suggesting that tastes for eBook lengths vary by target demographic and genre. eBook preferences for Adult Fiction may trend more towards 100K while Romance might run closer to 70K-80k. YA books may be a little shorter than their Adult counterparts.

My thought on the matter is that there is room for variations in length in any genre. There are plenty of exceptions. If a story is complete at 80k, publish it rather than pad it with an additional 20k words. If it takes 200k words to finish it and splitting it will negatively impact the story, then publish it as a long novel. I'm all for whatever works for the story.

When writing my first book, I chose to wrap it up around 99k and write a series rather than produce a massive novel. I wasn't trying to hit the 100k number. I wrote an ending and the total worked out to be close to the "target" number.

YMMV. :)

[A.L.]

My first book was round about 125k, book 2 is nearly 50k more and that is after I went through and chopped out a load. The story takes as long as it takes....

I would feel cheated if the writer got to say 50k words then just abruptly ended as that was who many words it was meant to be. The story takes as many words as it takes imo.

[Philip]

Thanks again everyone. I will await feedback from a couple of proof readers to see if they think it needs more or less.

[Readers]

New first edition book cover and Author inspired pendants at www.readersniche.com.au. Get your Literary accessories online!

[Justin]

wow 150,000 seems like a lot. I suppose if you have a really good idea of a book and you got lots of ideas then you just write your heart out and dont really notice or care for the amount of words. Then again you dont want to write too much cause then as youve said you get stuck with should I break it into two and make another. Writing can be time consuming yet its all about what you write in that time that makes it all worth the while.

[Philip]

Just to update you all I have now published at just over 150k words. It as only on Kindle for the time being

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DDZRJBC

Whether it's too long or short I guess I'll find out from reviews eventually.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18...

[A.L.]

Tell the story which needs to be told.

[Jim]

My orginal manuscript contained 126,000 words.
By the time the conceptual editing process ended, it contained 111,000 words for the paperback and e-Book download formats.
I was then required to produce a polished re-write for an abridgment of the print version of no more than 85,000 words so that the audio book formats (disc & download) would not exceed 8 hours listening time.

Obviously, the publisher has the final say in word count.

[Josh]

Readers love a compelling series. Hopefully you the trajectory of the characters for future development.

The Dude Who Did Dictionaries