McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Length
Kali:
Chris Baty, the creator/founder of National Novel Writing Month, initially chose 50k words because that was the rough word count of a slim novel on his bookshelf (which one escapes me at the moment). In years following, they've kept 50k because they found it both doable for people who had jobs and families and yet a challenge for most.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is around 50k. So are a lot of the slimmer novels by Anne McCaffrey like Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragondrums from the Harper Hall Trilogy.
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
I think the defining line for what counts as a novel where the Hugo Awards are concerned is 40,000 words, fwiw.
meh:
--- Quote from: neurovore on May 27, 2010, 04:25:26 PM ---I think the defining line for what counts as a novel where the Hugo Awards are concerned is 40,000 words, fwiw.
--- End quote ---
"Aim high. You might hit something"
;D
Enjorous:
--- Quote from: neurovore on May 27, 2010, 04:25:26 PM ---I think the defining line for what counts as a novel where the Hugo Awards are concerned is 40,000 words, fwiw.
--- End quote ---
Locus (a big sci-fi/fantasy magazine) also calls a novel anything above 40,000. And that's based on the standards set down by The World Science Fiction Convention.
Aakaakaak:
So, to frame a possibly better question. How many words do you need for it to be considered marketable to publishers nowadays? Does 50k still fly?
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