Just how long should you make a fiction manuscript? The answer to that question is established by two factors. 1) Long enough to tell the whole story. 2) The type of fiction genre.
You have to decide what you are writing. Then you will know how many words you need.
The most common fiction lengths are broken down into four basic groups: 1) The short-short story, often seen in women’s magazines; 2) the short story, also seen in women’s magazines; 3) the novelette; 4) the novel.
Short-short Story Manuscript Length
A short-short story, also known as flash fiction, can be an incredibly short 100 words, though 1,000 to 1,250 words is more common. If you can pull off a really good 500 word short-short, you are a very good writer.
Flash fiction is common in women’s magazines. Picture the one-page romantic tale. In men’s magazines, flash fiction is often a humorous piece.
Short Story Manuscript Length
Shorts stories can fall anywhere between 1,000 and 7,500 words. The periodical or anthology collection usually determines which length is the right one. Some magazines do handle short stories. Yet, each publication has differing preferences, so doing your research ahead of time is very useful.
The internet is a place where short stories find a home. Don’t overlook “genre” zines as a place to publish short stories in this manuscript length.
Novelette Manuscript Length
A novelette usually falls between 7000 and 25,000 words. This is often the most difficult size of manuscript to sell to a publisher. It’s too long for a magazine and too short for a novel.
If you are determined to sell your work to a publisher, the best strategy is to create a compilation novel that includes three to four novelettes. Otherwise, consider working with a good editor and copy editor. There’s no reason to not publish your own quality paperback using print on demand publishing.
Novel Manuscript Length
The length of manuscript depends to some extent on whether the novel is targeted for paperback sales or hard cover sales. Paperback novels are generally slightly shorter–spanning between 35,000 to 80,000 words. A hard cover novel might start with 50,000 words and go up to 110,000.
Most publishers prefer a minimum word count of 70,000 and are reticent to publish anything larger than 110,000. The size of a book when it is published is important. Readers expect a hardcover novel to be from 300 to 400 pages. At the industry standard of 250 words per page, that’s from 75,000 to 100,000 words.
Even though your choices increase if you self-publish, you’ll find that it’s best to use industry standards as a reference. Publishers are into profits. They have preferences because they know what they’ve been able to sell easiest. There’s no guarantee bucking the stats is going to pay off for you. Learning to manage the story within the requirements of manuscript length is a valuable skill to develop.
Ultimately, the strength of the tale is the most important factor. That’s why the first factor—taking long enough to tell the whole story—can never be overlooked. Great fiction is built on story, not on manuscript length.
