Here we are at Week 23 in the #MFRWauthor 52-Week Blog Challenge Blog Hop.
I missed last week because I had my youngest son and daughter-in-law’s belated wedding reception to prepare for, and my oldest son visited from California. They all kept me pleasantly busy. Some of you might remember my youngest was married in October with only parents at the wedding, but the reception was for EVERYONE! Later this year, they’ll have their Official/ Unofficial honeymoon in Ireland.
On to today’s topic: Word Count Matters… How Much? How Often?
I’m not sure how to respond to this topic about word counts. Let’s see what I can come up with for Word Count…How much? How Often?
As the Author:
How Much: To me, a large word count matters in the cost of editing, formatting, and the cost of delivery in eBook format.
I have one eBook that has a delivery charge, which is Hey, Cowboy, Bull Rider Series #2, my largest book to date. In fact, I almost split it up into two books, but instead, I made Part One and Part Two within the same book. In revisions a few years later, I cut down the word count. The original word count was around 129,000 words. The revised edition is around 118.000. This was also the most expensive to publish regarding editing and formatting.
Update: Secret Santa’s Rundown Sleigh: A Holiday Romance Novella is my shortest to date and can be read in two hours or less.
Word count matters when it comes to publishing houses. I don’t know if they all have word count guidelines, but the ones I’ve looked at do. Anthologies have word count guidelines whether they count full stories or excerpts only.
How Much: When I start a book, I have a word count in my mind, but I’m not disciplined enough, apparently, to adhere to it. Sure, I could stick to an outline or a strict guideline, but truthfully, I don’t want to.
How Often: It’s my goal to stay under 80,000 words in future books. After this one → My current Work in Progress (WIP) is longer than I wanted, and I’ve tried cutting, cutting, cutting, but to tell the story that needs to be told, I’ve gone way over the word count I wanted even at the top end. Many revisions are ahead of me on this book. I’m excited to see where it takes me since I wrote The End three days ago.
With a shorter word count on some books, I’ve heard authors mention reviews stating their books were too short or the reader wanted more.
As the Reader:
I don’t buy books by word count. The cost factor matters sometimes. I catch myself looking at the size/ word count at a higher priced book, but if it’s a book I really want, cost or size doesn’t matter.
How Often: Once in a while I prefer a shorter book—a novella or mid-size. At Christmastime, I purchased some shorter holiday stories and read them quickly. I was happy with the stories because at the time all I wanted was a short read.
How often might also depend on an author writing a short-story or novella between larger works or as a prequel to a book or series. In my opinion, this benefits the author by keeping a steady flow of new books coming out. It benefits the reader because they get to read another book by one of their favorite authors. Readers might also want to sample an author’s writing, and picking up a free or discounted, shorter, book is a good introduction.
I don’t know if this prompt pulled out of me what was intended, but this is my input on the topic of Word Count Matters… How much? How often?
How about you, blog readers? What is your word count preference as a writer and reader? Does it matter?
This is a blog hop. Please visit the other participants to see what they have to say.
Have a nice weekend. Stay cool! Thanks for reading.
Top Image: Pixabay
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel 
15 thoughts on “Week 23~ Whoa, That’s A Long Book! #MFRWauthor Blog Challenge”
Pingback: Do Word Counts Matter? #MFRWauthor – Author Robin Michaela
RobinMichaela
Gosh, I’m feeling like a slacker now. I’ve written two books (one is published) and am working on #3. All of them are novellas in the 30,000 word range. I have no idea how I could write a longer book! (I also didn’t realize there was a charge for Kindle delivery. That’s interesting. Thanks for pointing that out.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
You’re not a slacker, Robin! I consider you lucky to write shorter books. ❤ It takes forever to write and revise a 100K word book, not to mention paying an editor, and then spending time fixing those edits. I have a shorter book planned in the near future, so I have a lot of planning to do before attempting that one. Just keep writing what calls you. We all have our own thing. Go with it. 🙂
LikeLike
Ed Hoornaert
Writing to a word count is much less important than it used to be, thank goodness. My first 3 novels were written for Silhouette Special Editions, and they had to be 75K in 10 to 12 chapters. Each book was made of a predetermined number of twice-folded leaves. Clearly I can write to a set length … but my work is better if it finds its own length.
I once started a novella that came in at 65K … not exactly novella length. In my current WIP, I’m aiming for ~ 60K (at this point, I prefer to write short, though that may change) and I’m pretty much on track.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Hi, Ed. When you wrote for Silhouette Special Editions, did you find it easier to stay in the specified word count since you were in the habit of writing that length? Seventy-five thousand is a good word count I’d love to be able to stick to. I tried hard with my midsize novel word count and proved I can do it, but I’d rather write a little longer than the nearly 58K words in that book. I like finding my own length. Thanks for reading.
LikeLike
Ed Hoornaert
The only time I had word count trouble at Silhouette was when the editor said it needed to be trimmed. She was going on the page length of the manuscript, whereas I was going on computer word count. This was back in prehistory, when all submissions were hardcopy rather than electronic. I went through and cut where I could, but also extended my bottom margin by one line and remailed the MS. The editor accepted the change and thanked me.
I was so naughty….
LikeLike
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
LOL, you sound so happy to be naughty. I remember the hardcopy days. Dorchester hung on to a MS I’d sent for two years! I contacted them and they sent it back, wanting some changes made. Fine! Yay! Then I sent it back again and the editor who requested changes, had moved to a different house. OMG!
LikeLike
alinakfield
I tend to write long also. For my last novella, the goal was 15K and I wound up at 33K, LOL !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
LOL, you sound like me, Alina. I’m trying to cut as we speak. Ouch. I don’t know what I’d do if I had a short amount of words for an anthology. I’d do it if I wanted in, right? 🙂
LikeLike
Cathy Brockman
I never realized publishing cost was by word counts. I also don’t by books by word count. Sometimes i do want a short story to fill a few hours .
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Amazon has a delivery charge to the Kindle, that we authors pay, Cathy. I don’t know about the other retailers. Actually, I don’t suppose it goes by word count with eBooks, but more like size, but high word count makes “size” bigger. I just looked and my biggest book is only $0.09, so not bad. I think it was more before I shortened it in a major revision.
LikeLike
maureenbonatch
As a writer and a reader I find it harder to write/read a shorter story. As a writer I guess I’m just too long winded, lol. And as a reader I often want more out of the story.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
I’m pretty long winded too when it comes to writing, Maureen. LOL This current WIP backs it up! Glad you visited.
LikeLike
Meka James
One day I would like to be able to stick to a overall word count goal for my work. Currently I write like you said, to tell the story, and that takes as many words as it takes.
LikeLike
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Hi, Meka. I hope you have better luck than I do limiting word count. I was proud of myself for keeping the one book shorter, so I know it is possible. On the other hand, I like having the choice. Thanks for reading. I’m excited to see what you have to say. I’ll be making my rounds to blogs before the day is over.
LikeLike