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Lynn Price
Lynn Price: I am the editorial director for Behler Publications. This blog is about sharing information, advice, observations of various things that cross my desk, and getting a little silly sometimes.
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- Don’t fall between the cracks; finish the dang book
- “If I can query you, then why do I need an agent?”
- Boston Bound for a week
- Moving Day: Hello new little folder
- Multiple Choice Queries: Eeny Meeny Miny Mo
- Happy Mother’s Day!
- The Next 15 Minutes – Buy it ‘cos Dad LOVES it
- Why Exclusives Are the Pinnacle of Suckosity
- “No one will publish a memoir from a nobody.”
- Here’s the thing about independent editors…
My reaction to that is: Can’t you break it up?
I think my link suggests exactly how to break it up.
Question: aren’t there genres in which a higher word count would be considered the norm, or is at least more acceptable? I know you probably don’t represent those genres, so this person had no business querying you, but still, what are the exceptions?
Sure. SF and fantasy come to mind. But any author is pushing the limits when writing something over 150,000 words in those genres. Anytime an author calls his/her book a “fiction novel,” I know I’m not dealing with someone who understands the business. That they wrote 250k words is further proof that the author needs more educating.
I generally argue that for most genres, 80-100k is about right. 100-120k is good for either epic fantasy or epic sci-fi. (YA, of course, can be and often is shorter).