Word Count Worries

[kanikadad]

I've written what I consider to be a historical thriller, set in the 1930s. International settings: U.S., France, Spanish Civil War. Fairly complex MC. several secondary characters in each locale.

It's 117,600 words. Have I priced myself out of the market, word-count wise? I never considered it overly long and the people who've read it never mentioned length, but I was just looking at a success story entry on the QT Blog and word counts there rarely ran over 90,000.

Granted, QT and perhaps the market in general, seems to lean toward YA, SF, or Fantasy so maybe I've gotten the wrong impression.

I'd really appreciate some input. Is over 100,000 words too long?

Thanks

[Tabris]

Colleen Lindsay posted what many take to be the definitive guide to word count:

http://theswivet.blogspot.com/2008/03/on-word-counts-and-novel-length.html

She doesn't list a special category for historical. Thrillers seem to top out at 110,000.

Having said that, I don't know that 117K is so high that you'll automatically give an agent a heart attack. The agent may begin with the idea that you'll need to shorten the text, but if the story truly inhabits the space it takes up, then you might be able to sell it at that length.

In general, the sweet spot does seem to be 80 to 90K for most adult fiction, but it's not as hard and fast as some may imply.

[kanikadad]

Thanks Tabris,

Maybe I'm over-reacting, but as you mention, there seems to be a trend. especially in recent years.

That's an excellent link. I also found these:

http://nicolehumphrey.net/word-count-for-famous-novels/

http://www.commonplacebook.com/culture/books/word_count_for.shtm

If J.K. Rowling is pushing 200K, maybe it's not such an issue - but then again, the rules are different for established authors.

Thanks for your post.

[Aiala]

Anything over 90K gets into dreaded "door-stopper" territory, which is idiotic, of course, but understandable in light of manufacturing costs and widespread ADD.

I found this rather interesting: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/09/book-length_n_1334636.html?ref=books   

~A~

[LydiaT]

I agree with everything that's been said here -- 117k is pushing it, so I'd try to cut some things out.

Oh, and karma to everyone who posted the links. They are So. Helpful!

[Falen]

i'd say it's a little high, but no so bad that an agent will turn you away flat out even if your sample pages are great.
BUT, that said, i bet with that many words you can take a fine tooth comb and get it down to 110K or 105K without having to sacrifice anything other than specific wording here or there.
Good luck!

[Tallisk]

Argh. I feel your pain. I'm dealing with the same doubts myself at the moment, only my word count is a terrifying 160K. I've just finished yet another set of revisions in which I focused solely on cutting words. The current total is down 7000 words from when I started, which is something, but hardly enough to put my manuscript into safe debut length territory.

But I have managed to satisfy myself that I really can't cut more without drastically altering the story. I tried to keep as open a mind as possible when cutting, doing my best to trim anything and everything that wasn't contributing directly to the plot, and getting rid of all sorts of superfluous words. And I'm still at 160,000. My genre is fantasy, so I know that gives me a little more leeway, but probably not that much.

I'm feeling a little daunted by it at the moment.

[bodwen]

Historicals are given more leeway in terms of word count than other genres. 

[KathrynRose]

Argh. I feel your pain. I'm dealing with the same doubts myself at the moment, only my word count is a terrifying 160K. I've just finished yet another set of revisions in which I focused solely on cutting words. The current total is down 7000 words from when I started, which is something, but hardly enough to put my manuscript into safe debut length territory.

But I have managed to satisfy myself that I really can't cut more without drastically altering the story. I tried to keep as open a mind as possible when cutting, doing my best to trim anything and everything that wasn't contributing directly to the plot, and getting rid of all sorts of superfluous words. And I'm still at 160,000. My genre is fantasy, so I know that gives me a little more leeway, but probably not that much.

I'm feeling a little daunted by it at the moment.

@Tallisk, Do you think anything could be set aside for a possible sequel?

@kanikadad, Just reiterating what was already suggested. Try going through to get rid of extra/unneeded adjectives. Check for redundancies. More succinct dialog, etc... 117K is probably not going to be a deal breaker, but some agents might see that number and think it might need to be ironed out for the unneeded stuff, you know?

Good luck!

[Tallisk]

@Tallisk, Do you think anything could be set aside for a possible sequel?

Hmm... there's not really anything that could be separated from the main plot without leaving the story incomplete as it stands. I suppose I could divide it in two and present it as a duology or something - there is actually a good place in the novel where I could do this - but isn't something like that even less likely to appeal, coming from a debut author? There's no point if it'll make it harder to sell, but if it stands a chance of getting looked at that way, it's a possibility.

What's the general consensus on marketing a novel as a mini series rather than as a single work?

(Apols to kanikadad if I'm highjacking the thread! Happy to start a separate one for this topic if need be...)

[kanikadad]

No apologies necessary. I've done some hijacking myself - but as long as we're all getting useful input it's best to let the conversation go where it takes us.