Luna asked for the Negotiator trilogy to be longer books than the Walker Papers, 125K vs 110, and there's a fair bit of difference in the emotional depth of the books because of that, I think. OTOH, when I proposed THE QUEEN'S BASTARD, I said it'd be 175K and my editor said, "Agh! How about 125," to which I said, "Shall we split the difference at 150?" She said she'd put it in the contract at 125 to keep me honest, and I was kind of like, "Well, whatever, because it'll be as long as it needs to be anyway." (As it was, we cut the last third and it's becoming the first part of the second book, so probably if it had been left to its own devices it would've been 200K+.) It came in at 146 and she didn't cut it for length.
So basically, I think writing it as long as it needs to be is the right way to go, and if they ask for more (or less), deal with it as it comes up. They'll stipulate lengths, but it's one of those areas where everybody's reasonably certain that a contracted-for length, like an on-spec synopsis, is not necessarily going to reflect the final product with hundred percent accuracy.
As for Daw in specific: they sells big books.
I mean, really, go look at Daw books on the shelves. They're all huge. Daw is like the Master House of Big Fat Fantasy. I suspect there is genuinely an on-the-shelf visual thing going on there. It's branding. It may be branding that developed because coincidentally they kept buying writers who wrote BFF and in time that became one of the ways Their Books Looked, but it's branding.
What I would probably do in your position is revise to add background, character depth, whatever seemed appropriate, and turn the book in whether it hit 140K or not. If they asked for more, a reasonable, "I've developed the story to a greater depth in all the places that seemed appropriate to me, but maybe I'm not seeing something you are; can you give me more suggestions on where you might like to see further development?" might help.
And congratulations on the sale! I've always wanted to write for Daw. :)
Thank you: that's incredibly helpful. I'm a little thrown by the 'big fat fantasy' thing as I'm not really that sort of writer, but... It's still my book and my editor (who is lovely) hasn't asked for any plot adjustments beyond tiny tweaks. I'm Kari, btw: hello.
Posts and comments like this one are so fasinating. It really gives me a new respect for writers knowing more about the kind work that goes into a book.
And although I can read 400+ pages in 3 days or less I am on the wrong side of the planet *sigh* I am going to start reading Heart of Stone today. :-)
Luna asked for the Negotiator trilogy to be longer books than the Walker Papers, 125K vs 110, and there's a fair bit of difference in the emotional depth of the books because of that, I think. OTOH, when I proposed THE QUEEN'S BASTARD, I said it'd be 175K and my editor said, "Agh! How about 125," to which I said, "Shall we split the difference at 150?" She said she'd put it in the contract at 125 to keep me honest, and I was kind of like, "Well, whatever, because it'll be as long as it needs to be anyway." (As it was, we cut the last third and it's becoming the first part of the second book, so probably if it had been left to its own devices it would've been 200K+.) It came in at 146 and she didn't cut it for length.
So basically, I think writing it as long as it needs to be is the right way to go, and if they ask for more (or less), deal with it as it comes up. They'll stipulate lengths, but it's one of those areas where everybody's reasonably certain that a contracted-for length, like an on-spec synopsis, is not necessarily going to reflect the final product with hundred percent accuracy.
As for Daw in specific: they sells big books.
I mean, really, go look at Daw books on the shelves. They're all huge. Daw is like the Master House of Big Fat Fantasy. I suspect there is genuinely an on-the-shelf visual thing going on there. It's branding. It may be branding that developed because coincidentally they kept buying writers who wrote BFF and in time that became one of the ways Their Books Looked, but it's branding.
What I would probably do in your position is revise to add background, character depth, whatever seemed appropriate, and turn the book in whether it hit 140K or not. If they asked for more, a reasonable, "I've developed the story to a greater depth in all the places that seemed appropriate to me, but maybe I'm not seeing something you are; can you give me more suggestions on where you might like to see further development?" might help.
And congratulations on the sale! I've always wanted to write for Daw. :)
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I'm Kari, btw: hello.
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And although I can read 400+ pages in 3 days or less I am on the wrong side of the planet *sigh* I am going to start reading Heart of Stone today. :-)
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