How long is too long for a short story?

Status
Not open for further replies.

SylviaFrost

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 26, 2016
Messages
174
Reaction score
59
I've got a story going on 15k, is this too long to be short? Unsellable?
 

Marlys

Resist. Love. Go outside.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
3,584
Reaction score
979
Location
midwest
Definitions vary, but here's a starting place. When you're ready to submit, look for places that take novelettes. You can also search for markets by word count on Submission Grinder.
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,441
Reaction score
25,460
Location
Snow Cave
Yeah, what she said. (As usual, huh?)

Back when there was a good-sized market for the short stories I was writing, the sweet spot seemed to be 3000 - 4500 words for print. Only big-name established writers were likely to sell a short story over 8,000 or 10,000 words. Anthologies' requirements vary substantially and depend on the anthology, its theme, and the genre. Most of my few anthology sales have been around 4500 - 5500 words.

I have sold very little to online markets, but my overall impression is their desired word counts are a little lower, more like 2500 - 3500 the ideal.

So what you've got is probably no longer a short story at all, but a novelette nearly novella size. When it's finished, you can seek specific markets for it at its present size, or see what (if anything) can pare the word count to make it eligible for more markets.

Maryn, whose short stories turn into novels far too often
 

stephenf

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 29, 2008
Messages
1,199
Reaction score
335
Hi
One definition of a short story I have see repeated is, it can be read in a single sitting . If you go with that Idea , the average reading speed is about 200 words a minute or 12,000 Words an hour. There are lots of variables , the complexities of story , writing style and personal preferences . So, a 15,000 word story would take most people an hour and a half to read, probably too long to be a short and is moving in to the novella area.
 
Last edited:

blacbird

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Messages
36,987
Reaction score
6,158
Location
The right earlobe of North America
Word limits are matters of preference for every individual publication outlet. That's really the only answer, and the only place to get sensible guidance is to look at publications and their requirements.

caw
 

namejohn

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 15, 2015
Messages
71
Reaction score
2
Location
Midwest USA
15,000 words is to long but it's not unsellable. If it's something peole are interested in reading, they buy it. A writer can get a book published for free, but it cannot be expected to sell to the reader. This is both the ebook and the print book.
To sell something it needs to be published first, which can be expensive. It also needs to be advertised so people who would buy it knows it's available. This all cost money and most or all companies are not going to invest their money into a book or story not proven to be sellable.
 

Seven Crowns

Registered
Joined
Apr 7, 2017
Messages
20
Reaction score
9
The markets are limited, but they do exist. Every now and then you'll see an anthology open that only wants 10k+ word stories. So save it for one of those.
 

autumnleaf

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 29, 2010
Messages
1,133
Reaction score
215
Location
small rainy island
Most short story markets seem have word count limits much shorter than that, but Intergalactic Medicine Show publishes fiction up to 17500 and Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction publishes stories up to 25000 (both of these are for speculative fiction, but equivalents probably exist for other genres).
 

gbondoni

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 12, 2016
Messages
95
Reaction score
9
Location
Buenos Aires
Something to take into account is the genre of the work. Novella-length works all right and sells reasonably well in some genres (SFF, for example) but not in others, so that's something you may need to consider as well.
 

Enoise

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 21, 2015
Messages
70
Reaction score
6
It depends on the publication. But a safe caveat could be keeping your stories below 8000. As they say, the longer it is, the more justifiable it needs to be.
 

JetFueledCar

tiny hedgehog
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 17, 2015
Messages
1,125
Reaction score
159
Location
Internet native
15,000 words is to long but it's not unsellable. If it's something peole are interested in reading, they buy it. A writer can get a book published for free, but it cannot be expected to sell to the reader. This is both the ebook and the print book.
To sell something it needs to be published first, which can be expensive. It also needs to be advertised so people who would buy it knows it's available. This all cost money and most or all companies are not going to invest their money into a book or story not proven to be sellable.

It sounds like you're referring to self-publishing, which doesn't sound like what the OP was asking about. The "unsellable" question, at least the way everyone else interpreted it (and the OP's answer seems to indicate that we interpreted it correctly) refers to selling it to a publisher. Publishers pay writers for their stories, not the other way around. I mention because if you're not referring to self-publishing, it seems you may have acquired some misinformation somewhere that I, and I'm sure many other writers on AW, would be happy to clear up.

OP, there are markets that look for 10k+ short stories. If you're attached to this one, I'd keep it in mind for one of them.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.