It is usually the case that an authors second book is longer than the first so does this mean that I should aim to make the second book longer or just keep to the same amount of pages
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preyer
never heard that one before. actually, my first novel, 'preyers,' i estimate is around 900 pages, and none of the others are remotely close to that length. right now, without doing all the math, i gauge my average length at about 410 pages. that seems to be some kind of natural length my stories run after editing. maybe i'm the oddball, but i'm not complaining. i think 410 pages is a fair read for seven bucks, heh heh.
you just have to tell the story regardless of length then adjust it depending on your goal. just me, i don't worry about any target length until after the first draft. 'preyers' was so long because that's how long it had to be to tell the story i wanted.
you just have to tell the story regardless of length then adjust it depending on your goal. just me, i don't worry about any target length until after the first draft. 'preyers' was so long because that's how long it had to be to tell the story i wanted.
veingloree
James D Macdonald
Jamesaritchie
Actually, what happens here is usually that the publisher is willing to take more of a chance on a longer second novel. The longer a novel is, the more paper it takes to publish it, and paper is what costs the publisher big bucks.
Paper costs really do add up quickly. If you have a modest print run of 10,000 copies, and your novel is 400 pages in published form, that's four million pages. If the published novel is 500 pages, that's another one million pages of paper.
The larger the print run, the faster this paper count adds up. A print run of 20,000 double the number of extra pages, etc.
Publishers tend to be picky about how long a first novel can be for just this reason. The more paper used, the more the publisher stands to lose if the novel flops. Because of this, first time writers are usually restricted to writing novels from 80,000-120,000 words.
If you first novel sells reasonably well, however, you have then proven you can write things the public wants, and the publisher will then usually let you get away with writing a much longer novel because the risk of a flop is much less.
So it isn't that your second published novel must be longer, or even should be longer, it's just that if your first novel is successful, the publisher will then be much more inclined to take a second novel that is twice as long as the first.
You should aim to make any novel the best possible length for the story you want to tell. But if you have a 250,000-300,000 saga of a novel you want to write, your odds of having it published will be much greater if it's your second novel, and if your first novel did well in sales.
Paper costs really do add up quickly. If you have a modest print run of 10,000 copies, and your novel is 400 pages in published form, that's four million pages. If the published novel is 500 pages, that's another one million pages of paper.
The larger the print run, the faster this paper count adds up. A print run of 20,000 double the number of extra pages, etc.
Publishers tend to be picky about how long a first novel can be for just this reason. The more paper used, the more the publisher stands to lose if the novel flops. Because of this, first time writers are usually restricted to writing novels from 80,000-120,000 words.
If you first novel sells reasonably well, however, you have then proven you can write things the public wants, and the publisher will then usually let you get away with writing a much longer novel because the risk of a flop is much less.
So it isn't that your second published novel must be longer, or even should be longer, it's just that if your first novel is successful, the publisher will then be much more inclined to take a second novel that is twice as long as the first.
You should aim to make any novel the best possible length for the story you want to tell. But if you have a 250,000-300,000 saga of a novel you want to write, your odds of having it published will be much greater if it's your second novel, and if your first novel did well in sales.
katdad
I don't think there is any unspoken requirement about this.
After having written two novels (with more on the way) I just plow ahead and tell the story without regard to any precise length.
That being said, my target is 65k-70k words, a reasonable length for mystery novels.
After having written two novels (with more on the way) I just plow ahead and tell the story without regard to any precise length.
That being said, my target is 65k-70k words, a reasonable length for mystery novels.
preyer
that's absolutely true what ritchie said about paper. when i self-published a novel, i made the print just a point or two smaller so i could fit more words on a page and save money that way. the rest of what he said sounds reasonable to me, too. it seems to have a simple logic to it.
Writing Again
I'm sure my next "first novel" will not be my WIP. It is way too long. 170,000 words or so.
My next novel will hit about 70,000 to 80,000 and will probably be my first novel.
My next first novel after that will probably be a mystery series.
Who knows what the first novel after that will be?
My next novel will hit about 70,000 to 80,000 and will probably be my first novel.
My next first novel after that will probably be a mystery series.
Who knows what the first novel after that will be?
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