#SFFWA

[kathylbrownwrites]

Living Your Best Writing Conference

In a fit of enthusiasm last fall, I registered for a big, well-regarded writing conference, the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), But as the time to head out to Kansas City drew near, I found myself more and more second-guessing the decision; my cold feet had nothing to do with the conference offerings and everything to do with my interior emotional landscape. I reflect on all…

[writeinspiration]

How Long Should Your Novel Be? (The Definitive Answer)

Text of the article pasted below!

Many aspiring novelists ask themselves, “How long should my novel be?” The answer to this question is surprisingly complex. There are multiple issues that need to be to addressed… and I’m going to cover ALL of them in this article.So let’s get it!

My Journey

It took me eight years to craft my debut novel, The Page Turners.

Eight years is far too long to spend writing a first book. Looking back, I cringe at the thought of what I could have created in the time I wasted drafting and redrafting that novel.

One of the many reasons it took me so long to write my first book was that, like many rookie authors, I wanted my debut to be an epic story. I had twenty-five years worth of life experiences, thoughts, emotions, and stories to draw from, and I was determined to cram all of it into a novel that would dazzle readers and immediately launch my literary career into the stratosphere of superstardom!

At one point, the manuscript for The Page Turners was up to 130,000 words, but the published version is a little over 55,000; hardly an epic.

But you know what? Stephen King’s first novel wasn’t The Stand. It was a tight-packed little masterpiece called Carrie.

Once I followed King’s lead by focusing on intimacy and letting go of my aspirations of a sweeping and grand narrative, the project finally become manageable. After years spent struggling with this beast of a story, I was suddenly dealing with a focused and fast-paced narrative that had a clear theme and a nice sense of rhythm and harmony.

Before long, finally publishing the book was no longer a distant pipe dream; it had actually become an attainable goal. In shortening the length of my novel, I made my life as a writer much easier.

The Benefits of Short

It’s easier to redraft and review a shorter novel.

It’s easier to convince beta readers to give it a look, and you get their feedback much quicker.

As an indie author, it’s significantly cheaper to pay for copy-editing of a shorter novel, and the production costs of printing the final books are also more affordable.

Across the board, virtually everything becomes easier and more do-able once you commit to shortening your novel.

A shorter book also forces an author to focus with laser-like accuracy on the story’s most important elements: the plot and lead characters. Tangents, supporting characters, and non-relevant aspects of the narrative are kept to a bare minimum because there simply isn’t room for them in a short book.

Tell an enthusiastic young writer you need them to write a 2,000-word article, and there’s a good chance they’ll return with 4,000 words of mostly unusable material. On the other hand, tell them you need 500 words and not a single word more… and they might just come up with something great!

I’m quite fond of the Orson Well’s quote, “The enemy of art is the absence of limitations,” and I think it can be applied wonderfully to word count. Keep the book short, and you’re much more likely to create good art. At the very least, you’ll reduce the chances of creating bad art. (The only thing worse than a bad novel is a bad novel of epic length!)

With all of this in mind, I tell my writing students to aim for a 55,000 word novel for their debut book. A total of 55,000 words is the perfect length for a rookie author. It’s short and sweet, and it forces the writer to stick to the point, something young writers often struggle with. And, of course, as mentioned earlier, it makes the entire project more manageable.

Is a 55,000 Word Manuscript Novel Length?

In his article, “Word Count: How Long Should a Book Be?”, Glen C Strathy turns to The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s (SFFWA) criteria for the Nebula Awards to determine his word count criteria.

Here’s how the SFFWA defines the stories they review for the award:

Short story – under 7,500 words

Novelette – 7,500 to 17,500 words

Novella – 17,500 to 40,000 words

Novel – anything over 40,000 words

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) (an annual event that challenges writers to craft a novel within the month of November) identifies 50,000 words as the minimum target for their definition of a novel.

As such, by either the SFFWA or the NaNoWriMo’s definition, a 55,000-word book is certainly novel-length.

That said, if you would prefer to turn to general opinion and/or critical regard to determine the minimum length of a novel, consider The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece is only 55,000 words long, and it’s considered by many – myself included – to be one of the greatest novels ever written.

In fact, a number of my favourite novels of all time are around this length: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Hemingway, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, The Catcher in the Ryeby J.D. Salinger, To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde, Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, to name but a few!

As this list clearly demonstrates, despite what many young authors mistakenly believe, more words are not always better. From Kafka to Carroll, some of the greatest prose writers ever to live chose to produce shorter novels.

In Praise of Long

Despite my recommendation that aspiring authors focus their efforts on producing a shorter book as their initial publication, I would be remiss to ignore the variety of well-loved long novels out there.

In her Salon.com article, “Why we love loooong novels”, Laura Miller provides a convincing argument in praise of the epic. She also references the New York Times report that author Garth Risk Hallberg received a $2 million advance for his 900-page debut, City on Fire – a clear indication a shorter debut novel is not always the best route to critical acclaim and financial riches!

Riffing on Miller’s article, Maddie Crum’s Huffington Post article, “An Ode to Unaccelerated Reading” lists ten excellent novels well worth their page count, and I’m sure we all have a beloved epic tome or two weighing down our bookshelves.

In fact, it was likely my love of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and Stephen’s King’s The Stand that got me into trouble with The Page Turners word count in the first place.

I’m not arguing that a novel must be short to be great; I’m simply suggesting that if you want to make the transition from aspiring author to published author in as smooth a manner as possible, you may want to save your epic for your sophomore release.

Industry Standards by Genre

Of course, only a few of the short novels I mentioned earlier were debut releases, and today’s modern writers, especially those looking to break into the mainstream publishing industry, would be wise to take into account industry standards when it comes to determining world count for their work in progress.

In a helpful article written for Writer’s Digest in 2012, Chuck Sambuchino outlines recommended word counts for various different genres of books. His recommended word counts are as follows:

Commercial and literary novels for adults – 80K to 90K

Sci-fi and Fantasy – 100K to 115K

Young Adult – 55K to 70K

In another article on word count and book length, “How Long is a Book? Determine Your Novel’s Genre, Subgenre, and Best Word Count”, Ronnie Smith expands on Sambuchino’s list by adding some additional genres to the mix:

Romance – 80K to 100K

Mystery – 75K to 100K

Thriller – 90K to 100K

Western – 45K – 75K

These recommendations are extremely helpful to keep in mind while working on your book, particularly if you intend to secure an agent and a traditional publisher for your work.

Keep in mind, however, that Sambuchino and Smith’s recommendations are based on the long-entrenched requirements of the traditional book publishing industry. As such, the recommended word counts are largely the result of industrial standards and therefore have more to do with the production requirements of paperback books than they do anything related to storytelling technique, artistic aspirations, or the preferences of readers.

New Standards

In recent years, the rise of ebooks, along with the ever-increasing ease with which independent authors can self-publish their work via web and print-on-demand has completely changed book industry standards in terms of word counts requirements.

With storytelling becoming increasingly digitalized, the very meaning of terms like “books” and “novels” are being consistently destabilized.

Ebooks come in a variety of forms and lengths, and print-on-demand can turn a project of any reasonable word count into a paperback publication. Authors are now free to craft books and novels with word counts that are bound only by the author’s imagination and creativity, and the audience’s receptivity.

Hugh Howey’s hit self-published “novel” Wool was originally released as a series of e-novellas. Authors Johnny B. Truant and Sean Platt are releasing serial fiction that is then collected together into “seasons”, thereby combining 19th century Charles Dickens-like publishing model with that of modern television. Erotic authors, riding the surging 50 Shades of Grey wave, are consistently finding new and innovative ways to get their work into reader’s hands, including bundling books from several authors together to create what is, essentially, an anthology of novellas.

Where to From Here?

If it was difficult to determine exactly how long a novel should be in the past, it’s only going to become increasingly more difficult in the future. As independent authors continue to push the boundaries and test what digital publishing and print-on-demand have to offer, and as the traditional publishing industry attempts to keep up with technological innovations reshaping the publishing landscape, there’s no telling what a “book” might look like in the years to come.

If you’re looking for a career in traditional publishing, educate yourself on the word counts the publishers and agents you’re targeting are looking for. If you are embracing independent publishing, get creative! There’s an exciting world of storytelling possibilities out there, and whether your book is a short jaunt or an epic journey is totally up to you. Remain true to your vision, give your audience the read of a lifetime, and the last thing they will be thinking about is word count.

[engl3150b]

Online Writing Resources

As a writer, your best resources are your dedicated daily writing practice and your writing group. But these might be helpful too.

Finding Places to Submit and Apply: Magazines, Contests, Journals, Conferences, MFA & PhD

Community of Literary Magazines and Presses: http://www.clmp.org/

The CLMP is a directory that catalogues independent literary publishers. These publishers focus on publishing indie poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction; they are mission-driven, meaning that their main concern is long-term, quality relationships with authors and small but devoted audiences, not ads, dollars, or fame. This CLMP directory helps you find these indie and alt publications, so you can determine what their preferences are before sending your work to them.

Writer’s Market & Writer’s Digest: http://www.writersmarket.com/ & http://www.writersdigest.com/

Offers a lot of free online content, but to obtain the detailed directories of lit magazines and markets that pay writers, you must subscribe or go through hard copies at the library. Writer’s Market is a huge reference work, printed each year in several volumes dedicated to specific genres. It is updated annually and includes listings of magazines looking for new writers as well as submission requirements. Writer’s Digest has helpful articles on writing, revision, pitching, queries, etc. Writers can connect with other writers on forums, visit blogs and sign up for free weekly e-newsletter. There are also weekly writing prompts, contests and competitions, conference listings, and articles. It is geared more toward popular writers. Look for their annual feature, “One Hundred Best Sites for Writers.”

*Poets & Writers: http://www.pw.org/

A well-rounded print and online resource for new writers. Online you’ll find an excellent search engine for lit magazines specifically looking for writers. They also offer a biannual magazine that is very popular; local libraries often keep new and back copies. It is a practical, thoughtful, inspiring, and invaluable resources for those interested in researching grants for writers, summer workshops, writing conferences, and contests. Also includes their ranking of MFA and PhD programs.

*AWP & The Writer’s Chronicle: https://www.awpwriter.org/

Both the AWP website and their monthly magazine are essential resources for those interested in creative writing as a discipline, submitting work to new and outstanding journals, and interviews with writers along with in-depth articles on reading and writing literature. A must for those for those wanting to continue their education after undergraduate studies. AWP’s 2016 conference featured over 2,000 presenters and 550 readings, panels, and craft lectures. The bookfair hosted over 800 presses, journals, and literary organizations from around the world.

New Pages: http://www.newpages.com

NP is a respected website that provides information on literary journals and other places seeking submissions. Their call-for-submissions page is updated regularly. They also have several writer’s guides and information on graduate writing programs.

The Review Review: http://www.thereviewreview.net/

Website founded by Becky Tuch to explore the world of 2000+ current literary magazines, foster a “deeper connection” with these journals, and link writers to editors.

Literistic: https://www.literistic.com/

Every month, Literistic sends you a list of deadlines for the next month. If you sign up for their fee-based list, it’ll be based on your subscriber preferences. You can also sign up for their basic, short-list for free.

Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America: http://www.sfwa.org/

SFFWA features contests to enter, publications, writing instruction, and member discussion forums.

Figuring Out Which Publication to Submit to

*Pushcart Prize Literary Magazine Rankings: http://cliffordgarstang.com/?cat=948

Publishers are ranked based solely on the number of Pushcart Prizes and Special Mentions a magazine has received over a rolling 10-year period in each genre. Helps break magazines down into tiers of magazines, so won’t find yourself having to choose between an excellent magazine and a lesser one.

Ranking of the 100 Best Literary Magazines: http://thejohnfox.com/ranking-of-literary-journals/

This list ranks literary magazines by how often their short stories have appeared (or were honorable mentions) in the Best American Short Stories.

Preparing to Submit and Keeping Track of Submissions

Proper Fiction Manuscript Format: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html

Tried and true format for short stories when you decide to submit to literary magazines. However, please do not use Courier New font. Editors overwhelming prefer serif fonts like Times New Roman (a heavy favorite) or Georgia or Garamond. I also prefer page numbers and name at the bottom as I find it less distracting.

*Duotrope: https://duotrope.com/

Duotrope is a subscription-based service for writers that offers an extensive, searchable database of current fiction, poetry, and nonfiction markets, a calendar of upcoming deadlines, a personal submissions tracker, and useful statistics compiled from the millions of data points we've gathered on the publishers we list. This website aids writers in the submission process: tracking submissions, deadlines, acceptance ratio, favorite markets. Because users disclose stats from their submitting experience, which provides an insider look at how difficult certain markets are, how often they accept, their expected response time.

*Submittable: https://submittable.com

Many lit magazines depend on online submissions, especially using Submittable. Also helps you keep up with submissions, rejections, and acceptances.

How to Find an Agent

Agent Query: http://www.agentquery.com/

Often recognized by Writer’s Digest as one of the best websites for writers, AQ is an online database of hundreds of literary agents. It also offers several helpful guides on the world of publishing, as well as a list of the best places to send your work, both in print and online.

P&W Literary Agent Database: http://www.pw.org/literary_agents

Agents are listed with contact information and submission guidelines and are organized according to what sort of literature they are interested in representing.

Literary Hubs and Other Wonders

Aerogramme Writers' Studio: http://www.aerogrammestudio.com/ News and resources for emerging and established writers:

Assay Journal: http://www.assayjournal.com/ Articles, news, and conversations about creative nonfiction:

*Electric Literature: https://electricliterature.com/ Essays on writing, author interviews, reading suggestions

*Lit Hub: http://lithub.com/ Lively and ever-changing website and updates for literary news, insider tips, insights, and interviews.

The Millions: http://www.themillions.com/ Great books, reviews, lists, and articles

Literary Magazines (that are online accessible)

*The Believer: http://www.believermag.com/ A literature, arts, and culture magazine.

Brevity: http://brevitymag.com/ Brief essay forms, along with craft essays and book reviews.

Blunderbuss: http://www.blunderbussmag.com/

Diagram: http://thediagram.com/

Fugue: http://www.fuguejournal.com/

Guernica: https://www.guernicamag.com/

Gulf Coast: http://gulfcoastmag.org/

Hippocampus: http://www.hippocampusmagazine.com/

Hobart: http://www.hobartpulp.com/

The Kenyon Review:   http://www.kenyonreview.org/journal/marapr-2016/index/

*Masters Review: Seeking to publish new voices, online and in print. Monthly submission deadlines and essays on writing. https://mastersreview.com/

*McSweeney’s: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/ Online humor, publishing house, The Believer

Nano Fiction: http://nanofiction.org/ Featured story, interviews, reviews, writing prompts:

Narrative Magazine: http://www.narrativemagazine.com/

New Delta Review: http://ndrmag.org/current-issue/

The Normal School: http://thenormalschool.com/

Pleiades Magazine: http://www.pleiadesmag.com/ Featuring poetry, fiction, essays, and reviews.

The Rumpus: http://therumpus.net/ Another great lit magazine with interviews and features.

Wigleaf: http://wigleaf.com/ Publishes very short fiction

To MFA or Not to MFA (and Beyond)

“MFA vs NYC:” Both, Probably: http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/mfa-vs-nyc-both-probably

What Getting An MFA In Fiction Meant To Me: https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexanderchee/my-parade

The MFA as Calling Card Round-Up: Several essays on the topic https://brevity.wordpress.com/2016/08/12/the-mfa-as-calling-card-round-up/

Post-MFA: http://post-mfa.tumblr.com/

What should I do after my MFA if I need a job to support myself, but would like to continue writing? Links and resources about opportunities that you might pursue.  It includes sections on fellowships, residencies, international opportunities, diversity resources, academic jobs, employment outside of academia, and additional degree programs.  There’s also some advice on requesting letters of recommendation.

Keeping Inspired, Motivated, and Writing

National Novel Writing Month: http://nanowrimo.org/

NaNoWriMo is November and is a thriving movement made up of novel writers who push hard to get a full first “down” draft done in November of each year. The site offers instructions, guidance in forming a support team, and tips for completing a novel (and what to do next).

*Pacemaker Planner: https://pacemaker.press/

Who may find Pacemaker helpful? Anyone needing to plan a writing or reading schedule based on word count or any other quantifiable measure including time in hours or minutes.

*750 Words https://750words.com or Morning Pages http://morningpages.net/

Online journaling sites aimed at writing 750 words every day.

Pomodoro Timer: https://tomato-timer.com/

Write in timed bursts with scheduled breaks

Twitter: http://twitter.com

Follow lit magazines and journals. See open submission periods. Follow your favorite writers. Commiserate about how miserable or great writing can be. @theoffingmag / @NarrativeMag / @mcsweeneys / @submittable

Prompt generators:

Write Real People I & II http://caesaretluna.tumblr.com/post/87091540594/write-real-people

http://caesaretluna.tumblr.com/post/87189950869/write-real

Writing Exercises UK: Generate random story ideas, plots, subjects, scenarios, characters, first lines for stories and more. http://writingexercises.co.uk/index.php

NaNoWriMo Word Sprints: http://nanowrimo.org/word_sprints Timed writing challenge with “Dare Me” prompt generator

[marziesreads]

Enjoying @aliettedb’s “In the Vanisher’s Palace,” a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, set in a post-cataclysmic Viet Asian Broken Earth, with a sultry and powerful dragon lady, Vu Côn, and Yên, the young woman claimed in exchange for services to her village. A beautiful novella that releases Tuesday, Oct 16. Pen: Kaweco Sport, ink: Smokey Grey. #sffwa #JABberwockyLA #netgalley https://www.instagram.com/p/Bo4zG7_nNvv/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1325ei694auxq