Is there still a market for the childrens novella?

I have no idea. I have a MG that's 20K and had a partial request, but an agent said, "too short."

There is a difference between a short novel aimed at children and a novella. A novella is basically a long short story. The focus is fairly tight and it doesn't require the roundness or neatness of a novel. A short novel would have at least one subplot and some kind of journey going on - in that, I mean that there would be some kind of development or learning curve in the main character, so they end up as a slightly different person to how they set out.

GM

It sounds like you're talking about a mid grade novel, which generally covers ages 8-12. I've seen mid grades, (MG'S) as short as 12,000 words, and up to 45,000 though that is a little long. Shorter novels geared towards ages 7-10 or so, are usually referred to as chapter books, (think 'Freckle Juice" or 'Captain Underpants') those generally range between 5,000 and 10,000 words. There are no hard fast rules mind you...just generalizations. The market for mid grades is fairly solid right now. A lot of what characterizes a mid grade from a YA, is language and content. Hope that helps a little.

No I meant it's a fairly good thing to be writing write now! Both MG and YA's are selling well right now. Sorry, didn't mean to confuse you!!