New writers:
I just finished helping a newbie writer publish their first book last week.
As you’ll see in the photo, their book is by no means a “brick.” My client’s book is the one with the white pages in the middle. On top (the thinner, cream pages) is a fantasy novella by Stephen King. On the bottom is a Brandon Sanderson epic.
The first thing these three books have in common is that their authors wrote until they finished telling the story / saying what they had to say. They didn’t truncate their manuscript based on some arbitrary idea of how short a book “should” be. If you’ve read any Sanderson books, you know they’re almost all door-stoppers. On the other end of the spectrum, none of these authors filled their books with a bunch of extra fluff trying to meet a random number of words someone told them their manuscript “should” hit. Like a true master of the craft, King stopped when the story was done.
All three of these books also represent published authors who are currently making money with their work, which is a lot more than most people can say (my client is ranked #620 in his genre and climbing, versus being in the high 100,000s last week). Crossing the publication finish line did not include fretting about length.
These authors focused instead on quality—creating the best reading experience for their customers.
I encourage you to do the same. It’s a healthy business practice if you plan on becoming a full-time author someday. It also takes a lot of pressure off of you. Writing books is a steep mountain to climb as it is, so there’s no need for you to strap boulders to your ankles!
Based on everything from your font choice, to your writing style, to your leading selection, to the scope of your work, the number of words or pages of a manuscript can vary wildly.
Write until you have finished the story. Sometimes this means writing flash fiction or a short story. Sometimes this means writing a multi-book series.
The length of a piece isn’t what dictates how much your readers will love it. Your awesome writing is what does that!
If you are writing a robust tale that’s going to take up multiple books, great!
If you have a slimmer volume that packs a punch, great!
People want to read good writing. They want to experience a strong story. They want to be taught what they opened your book to learn.
Give them what they came to you for, no matter how large or small that particular package may be!♥