by Emily McDowell

Created on: May 13, 2010

For a book to be considered a novel, the word count needs to be over 50,000. But is there a magic number that determines whether a novel will be more accepted and successful in the book publishing industry?

Writing is an art form, and it doesn't seem like there should be a word count that is expected. However, for serious writers who intend to make a living by getting novels published, they should be aware that length is as much of an issue as a novel's content. Trends in the market show that stores and publishers are looking for leaner and tighter books. For this reason, writers should aim for their novel to be between 80,000 and 100,000 words. It will be tough to find somebody to read anything over 200,000 words.

There are some good reasons that stores selling books prefer short novels to long ones. Stores have a limited amount of shelf space and want to stock as many books as they can in as little room as possible. Also, today's economy forces businesses to be focused on saving money and cutting costs, which leads to stores being concerned with the novel's shipping costs. Shorter, less bulky books are cheaper to ship.

Publishers tend to lean towards less lengthy novels as well. Whether a book is 300 or 900 pages long, it will sell for the same amount. Thin novels are cheaper to print, so thicker novels that are more expensive to print need to sell more units in order to reach the same amount of profit. However, publishers don't want books that are so short that the reader feels he is getting cheated out of his money.

Writing is a process that takes time and effort, and worrying about the length of your novel seems to be less important than focusing on the actual storyline. It is true, coming up with believable characters and a strong plot is of the utmost importance. When a writer first starts his novel, length should not be an issue. Instead, he should just get down his ideas and write whatever comes to mind. After the first draft of the story is completed, it will be less mind-boggling to go back and edit for length.

If you have a really long novel it can be extremely beneficial to cut out some words, or maybe even delete whole scenes or characters. It will force you to be more concise, taking out some of the irrelevant fluff and making it a smoother read. If you are having trouble figuring out which words to cut, a good editor can be of assistance. Or perhaps you should consider splitting your long novel into two shorter ones that will be more marketable.

The length of a novel is important. It should only be long enough to tell the story, but needs to include the details and information that help the reader understand and engage in the story. Publishers and stores look for novels between 80 and 100,000 words because they know from past experience that these books will be more profitable. It is in the author's best interest to stick to this length.

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