One 100K book vs. two 50K books

Andrew Broderick · Apr 12, 2015

Hi, I am writing a sci-fi novel, the 3rd in a series, and am finding that the world and characters have such dramatic potential that many stories and subplots could be written. So... my thinking is this:

a) Readers aren't really that worried about whether a book is long or short if they're plunking down $2.99 for it--they just know they're getting what is (hopefully) hours of entertainment for what is really a pretty cheap price.
b) 100K novels are kind of old-school. The most successful self-pub authors are making more because they're selling it in smaller slices.
c) If I write two 50K books, I'll have to find a way to make them both stand as separate stories, hence the second one will have to reintroduce at least enough information that the characters and world make sense.

Does this sound valid? Thoughts and opinions?

Thanks

Sylvia R. Frost · Apr 12, 2015

The main reason indies publish more I think imho is because of Amazon's churn.

GwynnEWhite · Apr 12, 2015

I think people are more price resistant than you are giving them credit for. $2.99 for full novel (80-90K words) is reasonable. I would not be happy to $2.99 for a 50K word novella— because that is what I consider 50K words to be. I know I'm not alone in this. Most readers I know feel the same way when the topic of book pricing comes up. It would be worth checking out what other successful indies are doing first. Check out Lindsay Buroker's Sci-Fi &Fantasy podcast. I know she and her crew discussed this very topic in a recent podcast.

dgrant · Apr 12, 2015

Make the story as long as it needs to be. Is your idea and plot big enough for a 100K book? Write 100K. Is your idea only big enough for a 50K novella? Write the novella.

Just don't write a novel's worth of ideas, plot, and subplots into a novella, leaving the plot rushed and the character arcs cardboard - or both cut off halfway through without satisfying resolution.

Shane Murray · Apr 12, 2015

I say stick with two 50k stories. It will help your sales. Just make sure you have a good beginning, middle, and end for each.

jd_ruthers_85 · Apr 12, 2015

Shane Murray said:
I say stick with two 50k stories. It will help your sales. Just make sure you have a good beginning, middle, and end for each.

I'm sorry, but this is simply not true at all. Just having two small books instead of one big book will in no way help your sales, or vice versa. What will help your sales is the quality of your books, or book.

In the old days (two, three years ago), everyone advocated filling out your "virtual shelf space" with titles. A.G. Riddle has only 4 titles, 3 in 2 years, and he makes more money in one month than 90% of self-publishers combined. (I'm being hyperbolic, but the man really does make a lot of money, and from just 4 books in 3 years.)

The only time where quantity trumps quality is if you're writing erotica, where readers want quick and dirty, and are willing to pay $2.99 for a short read.

Johnny Dracula · Apr 12, 2015

Quality over quantity.

Guest · Apr 15, 2015

What Gwynn wrote: I think people are more price resistant than you are giving them credit for. $2.99 for full novel (80-90K words) is reasonable. I would not be happy to $2.99 for a 50K word novella-- because that is what I consider 50K words to be.

*****

Think from a reader perspective - what's better for the reader. You'll still make $2.99 from the longer book.

Rykymus · Apr 15, 2015

My first three books in my series were 77k, 60k, and 72k, and were all priced at $2.99. I got a LOT of complaints, so I pushed the lengths up to 90k-110k. (With a few that went up to 130k+) Since then, no complaints, even after raising the price of the longer works to $3.99.

I think SciFi readers generally demand longer works than some genres. I too have toyed with the idea of writing shorter works in order to release more often. (I currently take 3-4 months to get a book out) However, I think I've found a sweet spot that works for me, and I'm going to stick with it.

77071 · Apr 15, 2015

50k is a fairly decent sized book IMO, novel length or quite close. Nothing wrong with that. I'm very proud when I manage to write anything that long. (But I'm no expert in the sci fi novel genre.)

thewitt · Apr 15, 2015

Length is always an interesting discussion.

I write Epic Fantasy.

I am in the process of releasing a prequel to my series. It's 38k and I consider it quite short. It limited me on where I could take the story, but for it's purpose, the length is fine.

My first book is too long. I only say that because as an introduction to my work, people who are not into my writing style won't like it...

It's 270,000 words. I thought about cutting it in half, but there was no good way to do that.

It's priced at $4.99, but I don't think people look the length - they are simply comparing Fantasy titles, some which are really novellas or novelettes at $2.99 or $3.99.

My second book is shorter, $150,000 words, and just the right length for what I wanted to cover. I suspect the last three books in the Saga will come in about the same length. Also selling for $4.99, but I've had one complaint already that it was too short - from one of my avid readers...

The prequel will be a "reader magnet" and will be free for some length of time. The list price will be $2.99 though, not $.99 or $1.99. To me those prices just don't say "read me" they say "I'm not really worth it, so move on." Just a personal statement, as once it's free, that is really a bit of a mute point. Not sure if it will be permanently free or not, but for now it's going to be my giveaway book.

I think if you break your 100k story up into two 50k stories in the right way - that it's a complete story rather than an obvious split of the same book - you can get away with it and it gives you some marketing tools. Give away Book 1 to sell Book 2, 3 and 4, etc.

Good luck. It's not as simple a decision as some people make it out to be.

Carol (was Dara) · Apr 15, 2015

My personal preference is 40-60K words. It's a nicely manageable size that can easily contain a full story, yet still be completed in a reasonable amount of time, without keeping my readers waiting too long for the next installment. I could override my natural tendency and force myself to write longer works, but I don't feel particularly compelled to. As a reader, this is a comfortable length that I can get engrossed in but easily finish over a couple of days. I'm strangely reluctant to commit to longer reads lately, because I have a tendency to get distracted by other things and never reach the end.

But, while there are a growing number of readers developing an appreciation for the convenience of shorter reads, there are still many readers who prefer longer works. So don't expect the low price point to mean everyone will be happy with the length. Even if your book is free, you will get remarks on the length, if you write below 60K words or so. That doesn't mean don't do it, just go in knowing it's going to happen, and be sure you're confident/comfortable with your decision.

Nic · Apr 15, 2015

GwynnEWhite said:
...for a 50K word novella-- because that is what I consider 50K words to be. I know I'm not alone in this....

You may think so, but it officially is a novel. Officially as in trade published and for ages. 50k translates to 180-220 pages in a normal paperback and that's most assuredly novel-length:

[quote author=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_count]The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America specifies word lengths for each category of its Nebula award categories:

Classification	Word Count
Novel	over 40,000 words
Novella	17,500 to 40,000 words
Novelette	7,500 to 17,500 words
Short Story	under 7,500 words

[/quote]

And that's how pretty much every publisher I ever had to deal with saw things, with the exception possibly of considering anything under 17,500 words a short story.

Just because you don't see it like that doesn't change industry standards.

Northern pen · Apr 15, 2015

Nic said:
You may think so, but it officially is a novel. Officially as in trade published and for ages. 50k translates to 180-220 pages in a normal paperback and that's most assuredly novel-length:

And that's how pretty much every publisher I ever had to deal with saw things, with the exception possibly of considering anything under 17,500 words a short story.

Just because you don't see it like that doesn't change industry standards.

Its not about industry standards, its about customer demands. fantasy writers tend to like longer books.

Personally I would say if you are going to turn it into two books, surely you can come up with a few more words...

But quality trumps quantity. One great book is better than two okay ones. Two good ones better than one long one....

Amanda M. Lee · Apr 15, 2015

I think length depends on genre. I think there are some genres that just lend themselves to longer works. That would include science fiction and fantasy. I also think historical fiction -- including romance -- just tends to skew longer.
That being said, once you hit 40,000 words, that's a novel. Feeling ripped off for spending $2.99 for 50,000 words sounds weird to me. Trade published books are putting out 50,000-60,000 words and charging a lot more and no one is complaining.
Most of my work lands between 55,000-85,000 words. I write in romantic suspense, cozy mysteries, young adult and paranormal (for the most part). A lot of the people in the cozy mystery genre are fine with 40,000 words. In general, I don't write that short. I just don't do it. A lot of the people doing 40,000 words in cozies are doing very well, though. I write longer than that, just because my stories dictate it.
I have added 25,000-word shorts to my most popular series. They are short cozies from different perspectives of characters in the universe. I still write long novels in the series. Everything I put out in that series is popular, though. Of course, I didn't add the shorts until the longer books were already popular. I think that's the key.
I don't think telling others what length to write works. Most authors know what length their books work at. Even if they ask questions, they internally know. I know what I'm comfortable with, and it works for me.

Nic · Apr 15, 2015

Robyn Wideman said:
Its not about industry standards, its about customer demands. fantasy writers tend to like longer books.

Readers may or may not like doorstoppers (I don't, for instance), they have the freedom to choose among such authors who write such lengths. But classifying the novels of authors such as Michael Moorcock, Frank Herbert, Ursula LeGuin, Tanith Lee or for that matter the late Sir Pratchett as novellas is absolutely ridiculous.

thewitt · Apr 15, 2015

Nic said:
Readers may or may not like doorstoppers (I don't, for instance), they have the freedom to choose among such authors who write such lengths. But classifying the novels of authors such as Michael Moorcock, Frank Herbert, Ursula LeGuin, Tanith Lee or for that matter the late Sir Pratchett as novellas is absolutely ridiculous.

Though I complete agree with you on reader freedom, I'm in the absolute opposite camp. I don't like a book I can read in just a couple of hours, and stopped buying from some of my once-favorite authors because they won't go over about 45,000 words any more.

It's just not enough for me and feels like they are cranking out short works just for cash.

Nic · Apr 15, 2015

thewitt said:
Though I complete agree with you on reader freedom, I'm in the absolute opposite camp. I don't like a book I can read in just a couple of hours, and stopped buying from some of my once-favorite authors because they won't go over about 45,000 words any more.

It's just not enough for me and feels like they are cranking out short works just for cash.

That's your choice.

Calling 40k or 50k books novellas instead of novels, and just because you prefer to read doorstoppers, is however taking down both readers and authors of books of such a length. Downrating them just because you consider them not long enough for your specific tastes, even though they are well within common industry standards and aren't priced higher than those, is also not exactly an acceptable thing.

Both kinds of behaviour are absolutely not okay.

thewitt · Apr 15, 2015

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Association calls 17,500 to 40,000 words a Novella. It's not my definition. My latest work is just that, a 38,000 word novella.

And if I post a review on a "short" Fantasy novel at 50,000 words, I make it very clear if my lower rating is due to length, or quality, but typically it's both.

In this particular Trade published author's case, she went from consistently 100-130k words to 45-50k words, and she lost me as a reader. I did not post any reviews about it, I just quit buying her books.

Simple reader's choice.

fantasy-writer · Apr 15, 2015

I read and write fantasy, which has a reputation for long works.

As a reader, a book's length doesn't really influence my decision on whether to buy it (however, whether the book is in a series does). I read books that are long and short. What I seek in a book is a satisfying read. For me, that means the book's main plot is mostly resolved, the characters and world are well-developed, and the pacing is good.

I think the trick is knowing your writing style and the demands of the story you wish to tell. What book length would better suit your story (plot, characters, pacing, etc.)? Also, I think it's different if you're writing a series or a single book.

C. Rysalis · Apr 15, 2015

I wouldn't pay $ 2.99 for 50K words, and I always look at page length. It absolutely does influence my decision to buy a book. I prefer longer works, and I'm on a tight budget - there are plenty of good reads that offer 400+ pages for 4 bucks. So I'd probably go with those, even if the shorter book sounds promising.

I can't speak for everyone, but I have a feeling at least part of your potential readership feels the same.

Nic said:
Downrating them just because you consider them not long enough for your specific tastes, even though they are well within common industry standards and aren't priced higher than those, is also not exactly an acceptable thing.

Both kinds of behaviour are absolutely not okay.

He didn't say anything about downrating. I thought his opinion was valid and respectfully written.

Chinmoy Mukherjee · Apr 15, 2015

How about making a 3 book series? Give first book for free and make lot of money from remaining two.

Matthew Stott · Apr 15, 2015

C. Rysalis said:
I wouldn't pay $ 2.99 for 50K words,

Really? Huh. I mean, $2.99 is peanuts, it wouldn't cross my mind that a 50,000 word book that I was interested in would not be worth that rather small amount.

C. Rysalis · Apr 15, 2015

Matthew Stott said:
Really? Huh. I mean, $2.99 is peanuts, it wouldn't cross my mind that a 50,000 word book that I was interested in would not be worth that rather small amount.

2.99$ isn't peanuts for everyone. I live off 1500$ a month, and I read quite a bit. I can't afford to pay 2.99$ every day for books. That would be 300$ a month, which I need to eat.

So if I can get a 150K word novel for 3.99 or even less, that's much more value for the money, and there's so much affordable quality fiction out there. Like, Lindsay Buroker's Dragon Blood omnibus is 80 cent for 742 pages.

Why are all those bargain mailing lists so popular? Because the price isn't peanuts for a lot of readers!

fantasy-writer · Apr 15, 2015

C. Rysalis said:
So if I can get a 150K word novel for 3.99 or even less, that's much more value for the money, and there's so much affordable quality fiction out there. Like, Lindsay Buroker's Dragon Blood omnibus is 80 cent for 742 pages.

A number of authors price book 1 (or, in the example you listed, books 1-3) low in order to attract readers who will hopefully go on to buy the later books in the series at $3/$4/etc. Does the higher price tag of the later books in a series deter you from buying them?

I'm wondering this in general, not just for C. Rysalis.

jd_ruthers_85 · Apr 15, 2015

Ella Summers said:
A number of authors price book 1 (or, in the example you listed, books 1-3) low in order to attract readers who will hopefully go on to buy the later books in the series at $3/$4/etc. Does the higher price tag of the later books in a series deter you from buying them?

I'm wondering this in general, not just for C. Rysalis.

I know from experience, as both a reader and writer, that it does not deter readers from continuing with a series, or buying more of an author's works. Once you've committed to an author, paying extra (double, 3 times) is easier to justify because there is no longer the barrier of "unknown".

One 100K book vs. two 50K books

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