SPA Girls Podcast – EP301 – 50 Shades Of Writing: Does Size Matter?

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Conventional wisdom says ‘bigger is better’ for books, but is that really true? In this episode, we discuss what different word counts and book sizes mean for successful publishers today, how you can use different sizes to your advantage, and how to find your sweet spot. The Right Size isn’t a black and white thing – in fact, there are 50 shades of writing (size) to embrace!

There is NO ONE RULE for word counts:

Example: The Romance Writers of America defines a novella as 20,000 to 40,000 words and a novel as a work of fiction of 40,000 words or more as determined by computer word count.

The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America organization defines:
Short Story: less than 7,500 words;
Novelette: at least 7,500 words but less than 17,500 words;
Novella: at least 17,500 words but less than 40,000 words
Novel: 40,000 words or more.

Bookbub current rule for word count needed for a featured deal:
A full-length book. Novels and collections of short stories or novellas should be at least 150 pages in length, works of nonfiction at least 100 pages, cookbooks at least 70 pages, middle-grade books at least 100 pages, and children’s picture books at least 20 pages. We currently do not feature stand-alone novellas or short stories.”

Uses of shorter fiction:
Short stories can be published on their own or used to create anthologies
They can be used as newsletter subscription lures

READER EXPECTATION is the key to what word count you should aim for
Romance readers (generally) expect a full novel to be 50,000 to 80,000 words; however, there are some popular niches such as sexy shifter romance telling the story in a shorter word count eg 35,000.

Thrillers and suspense normally are 60,000 – 90,000

Epic fantasy can have 120,000 words +

Cozy mysteries tend to 40,000 to 60,000

Serialized fiction tends to be around 700 – 2000 words per episode
The new Kindle Vella program states “between 600-5,000 words”

IT”S NOT SET IN STONE and TRENDS DO CHANGE
Advantage if you’re publishing exclusively with Amazon and in the Kindle Unlimited program is to have a longer word count. More pages = more $

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