Font size and word count issues

The novella issue doesn't really apply to YA novels as many of them are, techinically, novella length.

There was a time when most YA's were 20k. That gradually increased and nowadays we are just as likely to see YA at 100k.

There is no hard and fast rule. But generally anything between 35k and 80k would be standard for a YA, dependant on genre etc.

To give you an indication of actual page count, always format your MS in 12pt (times or courier is fine for most things.) and double spaced (you can do this in the 'format' 'paragraph' tabs in Word, then select line spacing and in the drop down menu select double.)

indent the start of each new paragraph by pressing the tab key once. do not take an extra line between paraghraphs.

40k will be around 200-250 pages formated this way, which gives you a better indication of the final page length.

A5 is not techincally accurate, there are several different sizes used by publishers and printers, and the final font and spacing they choose will have an effect on the page count too. So don't sweat it at the minute.

Words are what counts, and 40K words at 8 point are the same as 40K words at 15 point. 40K might be a tad low for YA if you're aiming at older YA (those books are getting bigger these days). Younger or middle grade is probably be fine with that size.

Page count varies wildly depending on how the publisher designs the book (mine varies by 100 pages between the US and UK editions).

Query your best manuscript first and research agents in batches. Your best bet at getting a publisher is to find an agent first, so your manuscript should be as good as you can make it. You can get feedback on your query letter in the SYW Forum and always remember to abide by an agent's submission guidelines.

MM

laurie17:
I'm not sure I can currently afford an agent, but I will look in to finding one

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You don't pay an agent - in fact, any agent who wants to charge you fees for representation is a bad agent and should be avoided.

Agents make their money by selling your book to publishers for the best advance possible and then take a proportion of royalties once you earn out. They have contacts with acquiring editors at publishers and will negotiate the publishing contract on your behalf.

Although there are still some publishers out there who will take submissions from authors who don't have agents (and there are some posters here who have been picked up that way), you are infinitely better off having an agent in place in the first place, both in terms of getting a speedier response and getting better financial and contractual terms.

MM

laurie17 said:

Ahh, thanks! I'm not sure I can currently afford an agent, but I will look in to finding one

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You don't pay an agent.

They get paid when you do by taking their percentage off the top of your royalties.

Never pay upfront for an agent.

I've completed a short fantasy novel with a teenage protagonist, and the word count is only 16,550 words. I know this is very short for this genre, but I was wondering if there is a place in the publishing world for this short of a word count. Should I revise again to add to the story? I'm new at this so any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

carlasofia9:
I've completed a short fantasy novel with a teenage protagonist, and the word count is only 16,550 words. I know this is very short for this genre, but I was wondering if there is a place in the publishing world for this short of a word count. Should I revise again to add to the story? I'm new at this so any thoughts would be appreciated.

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16,550 is short for a novel and I would think that it's probably too short for most publishers.

It sounds to me like you've just done your first draft - in which case it's worth while taking a long hard look at it to see if any parts of it could be/need to be expanded or developed upon to help the story to work better. It might be worthwhile trying to find a beta reader for you to help brainstorm how to take the story forward or whether it can be expanded.

If after all this, you find that it's still coming out at the same length, then don't worry about it because the last thing you should do is pad your story just to hit a word count.

There are a number of magazines and publishers that will take novella length fiction that you could try querying - they're listed on Duotrope (select "Young Adult/Teens" in the Theme Box and "Novella" in the Length Box).

The only thing to beware of is that some of them don't pay or pay token advances and you'd need to check out the reputation of each of the publishers (Flux is well respected but I don't know about the others).

MM

Thank you for all of the information, Momento Mori. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond. I will definitely look at where I could develop the story. Thanks again for all of your help.

laurie17 said:

Thanks for telling me that ^^" I'll definitely only go for the agents who don't ask for money straight off then

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1) Use the boards for research, and you'll find tons of reputable agents who don't ask for money upfront.

2) If you're writing for profit, some people try to avoid agents, and submit just to publishers, because they don't want agents to take a cut of their money. But I always feel an agent probably could get you a better contract, so the difference wouldn't be that much, and they have the contacts and knowledge to actually get you published.

3) You mentioned this is part of a series. Read up on these boards, but usually the consensus is that it is easier to sell your first book without mentioning the rest of the series. Or at most, to mention that it "has series potential." All your effort should be on selling your first book. If that doesn't sell, and doesn't sell well, then it doesn't really matter that you have books 2-9 ready to go. Your agent/publisher can address sequels when/if the time is right.

carlasofia9 said:

I've completed a short fantasy novel with a teenage protagonist, and the word count is only 16,550 words. I know this is very short for this genre, but I was wondering if there is a place in the publishing world for this short of a word count. Should I revise again to add to the story? I'm new at this so any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

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This is very short for a novel/novella.

But there are short story markets that look for work about this length, or maybe an anthology?

abctriplets:
If you're writing for profit, some people try to avoid agents, and submit just to publishers, because they don't want agents to take a cut of their money. But I always feel an agent probably could get you a better contract, so the difference wouldn't be that much, and they have the contacts and knowledge to actually get you published.

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Yes - this is completely true. I've been to several writing conferences where acquiring editors have openly said that the advances they pay to unagented authors are considerably lower than those paid to agented authors and not only that - but they will also try to grab more rights to the works because they can make more money from it.

Also, an agent with good contacts to steer you to bigger publishers that will pay higher advances and which only take manuscripts from agents.

laurie17:
I'm still waiting on one that said it took only 3 days to respond and has taken about 5 now

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Have you checked that publisher through Preditors and Editors and via the Bewares and Background Check Forum here on AW? It's just that 3 days turn around is incredibly fast for any publisher to do a turn around on a manuscript - most will take anything over 3 months and some can take a couple of years.

I would strongly recommend that you stop querying publishers and start looking at agents. The Forums here can really help you to understand the process and make the best query and manuscript possible.

laurie17:
I haven't mentioned to any of the publishers/agents that it's part of a series. I thought it would put them off ^^" I'm just writing the second book as a kind of 'just in case' thing. If the first gets published and does well, I'd like to have a second ready

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Unless the first novel works as a stand-alone, it's usually wise to mention that it has sequel potential. In any event, I'd strongly advise not working on the second book until you've sold the first because if that first book doesn't sell, you've taken a lot of time to produce something that also won't sell because it's dependent on having read the first.

MM

laurie17 said:

Thanks for the advice again! Also, is the average time for an agent to reply about 7-8 weeks? I'm just wondering. Also, would it be best to apply to several in one go (as long as I tell the other agents I'm doing that) and, if so, how many are a good number?
Thanks!

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there's no average time to be honest. I've had agents get back to me in a matter of hours, and I've waited over a year for a response. most will say 12-16 weeks or so, check their guidelines to see.

there's nothing stopping you querying several agents at once, you should mention though if other agents are looking at the ms