Inside the Writer's Head -- #2
#2 - Number of Pages in a Successful Work
Just a quick entry on some thoughts that have been floating about in my head lately on story length. I have heard from a few people lately that the best way to make money off of the stories one writes (especially in e-book form) is to get the story down to 40,000 words. That's roughly 100-120 pages in a standard-format book. I've been also thinking about some of the books I've bought recently on my Kindle and that seems about right. Many e-books are quick reads. Some could even be glorified short stories that are formatted in a novella type style.
This is fine. I'm not bothered by this. It just gets me thinking. The books of this length I buy are mostly from authors I've read before and enjoy their style and stories. Authors like Josh Lanyon and Aleksandr Voinov have ideas I usually enjoy. They're fun and quick reads that I can usually finish in an afternoon. But I also love books that will keep me company a few days. Storm Constantine and Neil Gaiman come to mind. Shoot, even Isaac Asimov is someone I will ditch the world for in a heartbeat. Ursula K. Le Guin can write something that falls into either category. To me, length really doesn't matter, though I will say most times I wish the shorter novels I read were just a tiny bit longer. :)
And then I think of profit. Is length really a factor? I mean, George R R Martin and E.L. James have shown us that people will pay for anything. Do I really need to bring up Robert Jordan? I didn't think so. Honestly, I think a lot of it has to do with luck and timing when it comes to profit. Also, marketing. If you're in it for profit, you need to sell it. Seriously, with the right marketing approach, people even buy dinosaur porn for 3 to 4 bucks a pop.
And if that doesn't fill you with warm, fuzzy hope, I don't know what will! So what my brain is basically throwing around with all this thought of length and profit is this: really it doesn't matter. Do your best. Write the story the way you feel it's going. And if you feel nervous and worried about potential sales remember, someone somewhere out in the world made a market for dinosaur porn possible!