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What's the ideal length for a short story?
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A short story is usually less than 20,000 words. Once you go beyond that length you are entering Novella length. My personal recommendation is for a writer to stay within 15,000 words since most periodicals and magazines may not want to publish anything longer. Hope that helps.
very interesting info. I will have to save that in my files for later
I've seen anthologies ask for 5000 - 6000 words.A lot of magazines and competitions seem to want short stories in the range of 2000 - 3000 words.
Web sites request much shorter. They seem to think 1000 words is long. Their aim is clearly trying to fit a short story on a one page blog.
Flash fiction? Well I've seen 100, 300, 500 words.
I think it depends on where you hope to see your short story published.
I would agree with several of the comments here: look at the submission guidelines for each publication/site. Everyone wants something different. I would say that once you hit 50K words, you have a novel and not a short story. :-)
Sharon wrote: "I would agree with several of the comments here: look at the submission guidelines for each publication/site. Everyone wants something different. I would say that once you hit 50K words, you hav..."Agreed. But 50,000 words is a difficult novel to sell unless it is a romance. Most novels are more like 80-100k words. Certainly at least 60k.
And before anyone pipes in, I know people say a book should be as long as it takes to tell the story, but I've chatted with agents and publishers and, even if they don't advertise word count limits, they have their preferences. If you are hoping to find a mainstream publisher, wordcount matters.
T. wrote: "Readers (and authors),
I was just curious as to what you all think about the length of a short story - how long or short should it be?
Regards,
T. L. Haddix"
Short.
I was just curious as to what you all think about the length of a short story - how long or short should it be?
Regards,
T. L. Haddix"
Short.
Here's the canned answer: As long as it takes to tell the story.I agree that every publisher/site asks for different lengths, but if you tell your story well, they normally give you some wiggle room.
I thought I had answered this, but I guess not... Beth's canned answer is correct, to a point. As she said, do justice to the story and then working with publisher requirements, which leads me to...Some publishers will count anything up to 15000-17000 words as a short story. Others, especially SF/F/H publishers break short stories off at 12K or less and then fill up from there to 20K or even 25K with novelette length. So, what one calls a short story, another will call a novelette, but you can still sell it, either way.
To be honest, you'll have more problems with LOWER limit than upper, at many places.
Brenna
I have several short stories published and I can tell you for a fact there's no such thing as wiggle room. You'd have to be super famous, like Stephan King, to be allowed any extra space. Follow the publisher's guidelines, there isn't any other way, especially for new authors. Remember, these are complete strangers. You need to build up a relationship first before you can ask for things like wiggle room.From what I've seen of publishers of short stories, it ranges from 2000 words max (typical of ezines) up to 10, 000 words max (typical for print magazines).
To seriously think about getting a story published, the ideal is to keep it between 2000 and 6000, max.
If you just want to write a short story and not think about getting it published, then sky's the limit. As a general rule (very general) anything under 20, 000 words is considered to be a short story.
Good luck :)
Hmmmm... I've had several short stories published, too, and it's been my experience that there is some wiggle room. Not a LOT, but it's been there.
Making the story as close as possible to the minimum word count is your best bet, especially for paying markets. Non-paying markets can be more relaxed about word count sometimes, but not always and it's not something you can depend on.So it really depends on the publisher. Paying markets are much more stringent. Non-paying are just happy to get well-written decent stories.
85 published works in and there IS wiggle room, I assure you. Sorry to sound like such a nudge, but your experience is obviously limited to a subset of markets. Magazines have LESS wiggle room, but even there, you have a range, and you can submit up to 10% over or under the range at most of them. Editing alone will take care of that. An experienced editor can suggest word cuts and story adds to you to get a borderline work into their word range. Same goes for conglomerate anthologies.
Indie anthologies have a LOT of wiggle room. I've had an editor tell me she'd give me two slots to get a story of mine that was twice the upper limit. I'm hardly Stephen King, but that's the way it goes.
And indie ebook short story releases are even looser. You may be able to submit anything from 5K or 10K all the way up to plus-sized novels to the same epublisher. Moreover, I have one indie publisher that releases print copies of stories down to 5K and has created a great market for them at conventions.
Brenna
lol As you can see, Beth, with the different answers, the canned answer is probably the closest you'll get ;)So, there really isn't an ideal. You're safe to call it a short story, if it's under 20, 000 words, but that's the only clear cut answer.
I will say it's much easier to cut words than it is to add them. So if you have to cut down, then that's the way it is.
I asked the same question a while back, the answers were just as varied. Generally, it seems as though a full blown novel starts at around 100,000 words.The 'smaller' catagories, short stories, novellas were much more fluid and no-one could agree were one started and another stopped. At the end of the day, a story is what it is and I don't think editors etc should be too strict on size, sounds like the cart pushing the horse. Gotta go, she who will be obeyed needs a hand! byeee1
All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer]
Actually, novel length varies widely as well. A category length novel is typically anywhere from 40-50K up to about 60-70K, depending on publisher, but some publishers consider a novel anything above 50K or above 60K. You always have to check the word counts they give you. At many publishers, a plus-sized novel can be anything above 100K or even higher. One publisher I worked for several years ago considered plus-sized as over 150K. I was one of the few authors they had who wrote in that range. Their line for novel-length, BTW, was 55K.
Beyond publisher to publisher differences, novel-length varies wildly by genre. The lower cap for a YA novel is short. The lower cap to be considered a novel for a fantasy can be much higher.
Brenna
Hi Brenna,As you no doubt know , I use print on demand , digital printing. My current thriller 'The Day the Ravens Died' is just under 110K on word count. Because the pages are slightly larger and the margins don't take up half the page it is about 214 pages. To me the 50-70k range would be a novella, 40, well 30,000 minimum up to the 50K would be a short story. Anything shorter is an article or pamphlet!
Looking at the suggested word counts I can understand why readers are always looking for anything cheap, to me such short stories sold as novels screams 'RIP OFF' All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer]
Trade paperback does allow for larger page sizes...and smaller (since trade is not a size but rather a paper style choice), and my books are also trade POD prints...some 8.5X11 POD prints, some 6X9, and some slightly smaller (5.5X8). Keep in mind that an 80K book in mass market would be (font choice, font size, and margins at a comfortable standard) well over 300 pages, whereas one of my books that logs in at 140K is only 379 pages or so. Page count is notoriously variable, based on other formatting choices you make. The point is, your personal lines for what to call things do not always match to what publishers call them. When you're submitting to a publisher, you must always check what the PUBLISHER calls their levels and adhere to it, within 10% over or under their caps.
I do a certain amount of self-publishing, but I tend to use standardized formatting as I've learned to do it for publishing houses.
Brenna
Hi Brenna,confusing init!? It's a wonder someone has come up with 'industry standards' every thing else seems to be [over] regulated these days.
It seems the only reliable way to judge the true 'size' of a book, story, whatever is the word count. The impression I'm left with is mainstream, mass market paperbacks are stretched as much as possible so they appear bigger works than they actually are, in terms of page count. Doing this gives the impression you are getting more for your money, or is this just me being cynical AGAIN?
All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer]
You're right that the word count is more stable than page count, and SOME conglomerate mass market books do play with font and margins to make books seem longer than they are. Thankfully not all play that game, and I know which ones to complain about. The problem is, most print books do not tell you word count. Print sales sites do not require it, and unless the book is also in ebook, you aren't likely to find a word count anywhere. eBooks on certain sites have to list a word count...and sometimes also a page count.
But there is a trick (if you want to talk cynical but true) to manipulating that, as well. If they list something as (say) 50K and then give you 25K of story with 2K of forematter and several long excerpts of other books by the author to pad up to 50K, they are STILL cheating the reader, even with a word count, because there is only 25K of a story and the rest are teasers. It's pathetic but true.
Hi Brenna,You're spot on, makes you wonder why we bother to write, so much of our work seems to end up feeding con artists and tricksters, and they are the good ones!!
The bottom line is there are too many in the food chain between creators [authors] and our customers [readers]. Ideas?
Be as honest as you can be and don't buy from the hucksters once you know what they are?B
Hi Brenna,sounds like a plan.
All the best, Paul Rix [oldgeezer]
Some put more emphasis on word count than content. Those of us who go with publishers must abide by their requirements. But, that said, a story--any story--needs only as many words as needed to tell it.
Hi J.R.Very true, but that should be the authors choice, a publisher should take a story for what it is, once it has been edited as well as proof read. Not tell an author how long a book should be. And I agree about content/ size. We all know what is wrong with publishing/ booksales, it's what to do about it!!?
All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer]
Brenna wrote: "You're right that the word count is more stable than page count, and SOME conglomerate mass market books do play with font and margins to make books seem longer than they are. Thankfully not all pl..."Cynical it may be, but there are some real issues for the publisher. All my novels are quite deliberately kept between 45 - 55,000 words as I always prefer to read a book in a single sitting (and this equates to roughly 3 - 4 hours).
However, when designing my books (I self publish) I realised that it was important for casual shelf sales that the volume have at least a 12.5mm (1/2 inch) spine to be viewed as a "proper" book. This is vital when displayed spine out. And it is that dictates font size, margins etc.
We consider ourselves as creative beings, above all these crass commercial considerations, but selling books is selling - and the publishers know it.
Pat.
Timothy wrote: "Hi J.R.Very true, but that should be the authors choice, a publisher should take a story for what it is, once it has been edited as well as proof read. Not tell an author how long a book sh..."
Oh, I agree. It should always be the author's choice.
Hi Pat,That point you made about spine width is a good one which many people, including me tend to overlook/forget. A very good point if your book is aimed at shops.
All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer]
Long enough. But not too long.Personally, I don't think word counts are important. Just write until the story is done. Then cut out the extra stuff. Then put it all back in.
I think it was Dean Wesley Smith that wrote a blog post which stated one should target at least 7000 words for a short story to be epubd. I may have the reason off a bit, but he threw or that number. I use it add a target, though i keep going over.
Check for your specific genre, the word count limits are different for each one. Some, such as science fiction and fantasy allow for higher word counts, (novels at the 110k are acceptable. YA and middle grade expect lower word counts (40-70k.)
Scot wrote: "I think it was Dean Wesley Smith that wrote a blog post which stated one should target at least 7000 words for a short story to be epubd."Dean's a good guy. 7k words was, I think, what we were limited to on the 'Strange New Worlds' anthologies that he edited. It might have been 7,500.
Khatia wrote: "It's an old discussion, but I thought to add this link about a length of a short story. http://fiction-writing.yoexpert.com/s......"The link's info is pretty close to the word counts for the Nebula Awards Categories, which are:
Under 7,500 for the Short Story category
Between 7,500 and 17,500 for the Novelette category
Between 17,500 and 40,000 for the Novella category
Over 40,000 for the Novel category.
Since the SF market for short stories has been consistently strong for a long time I figure these numbers are as good as any to follow, wouldn't you think?
There isn't any consensus for the word count 'sweet spot' which seen to be what this discussion was gunning for. So... aim for the middle, 3-4,000 and start sweating around 7,000 because nobody really likes a Novelette, do they?
I like Sean's (long enough, but not too long) advice! Although the ideal range to work with for publication is between 2,000 and 6,000 words, short stories can be anything up to 7,500 words. Anything over 20,000 words will count as a novella while from 50,000 words upwards will class as a novel. Variations will depend on individual publishers or the market you're aiming for. I'd like to think in the ePub age novels are getting shorter and shorter but with Game of Thrones averaging between 300k - 400k per book, it doesn't look that'll be happening any time soon!
Just let the story dictate the length and figure out if it's a short story, novelette, novella or novel afterward.It's good to sometimes set out to write a particular length, but when it comes to choosing to prioritize the story or the word count, I always opt for story.
Story will out; form follows function...or something like that.
Micah wrote: "Just let the story dictate the length and figure out if it's a short story, novelette, novella or novel afterward.It's good to sometimes set out to write a particular length, but when it comes to..."
I agree. When I set out to write a short story I never bother setting a word count like I do when I write a novel.
I don't do it for either short story or novel. That's why my short stories tend to turn into novelettes ];P And so far my novels have been fairly short.
To answer the question as asked, I have to applaud the "canned answer." Whatever serves the story is the best length. Beyond that, the marketplace varies by publication and editor. And there are plenty of short novels out there, too, in the 60,000-70,000 word range. I believe when it comes to art for arts sake, its a free-for-all; when it comes to selling, know you audience—that includes the publication and editor in question.
It used to be easier to get short stories into paperback anthologies/magazines (in the UK anyway) if they were under 5000 words, or often even under 3000. Short story competitions also specify under 5000 words usually.
I found before I wrote novels, stories would naturally fall at around 3000 words, but after doing novels this had changed to 6000-7000 words.
The good thing about ebooks is that you can set your own length really.
A really good 8000 word short story can be hugely powerful and memorable - Melville's crazy "Bartleby the Scrivener" as an example!
Any longer, or shorter, and Bartleby would lose that strange atomic power it has.
The canned answer is about right. "Short story" is such a broad term. If you're just doing a little vignette between two characters, 500-1000 words can be all you need.If anything actually happens in your story, you probably need about 2,000 words.
If you're dealing in fantasy or science-fiction, you probably need at least 4,000 words to factor in some measure of world-building.
And so on, really. As a rule I over-write, and then prune back in the editing stages. I have a 5,000 word short story that feels incredibly compressed, and an 8,500 adventure that could easily be expanded to novella length.
The point at which you finish a rounded, satisfying story, is the point at which you find out its ideal length, IMO.
If you are looking for competition entries though, 2,000 to 3,500 tends to be a good rule of thumb.
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T.L. Haddix (other topics)T.L. Haddix (other topics)
I was just curious as to what you all think about the length of a short story - how long or short should it be?
Regards,
T. L. Haddix