How Short is a Short Story?
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Any length up to about 10 000 words, because then you are getting into 'Novella' territory.
Really short stuff (140 characters) is twitter fic.
Longer than that but under 1000 words is flash,
1000 to 10K is short story. But each market defines their categories differently.
Most have a minimum and maximum that they want. So check the guidelines.
4000 words is sometimes considered to be the most saleable length.
Though I have a few stories that are about that length and I haven't sold them yet.
Really short stuff (140 characters) is twitter fic.
Longer than that but under 1000 words is flash,
1000 to 10K is short story. But each market defines their categories differently.
Most have a minimum and maximum that they want. So check the guidelines.
4000 words is sometimes considered to be the most saleable length.
Though I have a few stories that are about that length and I haven't sold them yet.
What Lillie said.
Two of my own favorite shorts were micro short stories--one a little over 100 words and the other around 200. They need a beginning, a middle and an end just like longer stories.
Two of my own favorite shorts were micro short stories--one a little over 100 words and the other around 200. They need a beginning, a middle and an end just like longer stories.
I agree.
But there are a number of short story markets that say they will take higher than that.
For instance, Daily Science Fiction give an upper limit of 10K, although I have never seen anything nearly that long on their site.
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7,500 to about 17,000 (if I remember correctly) is novelette. Below that you have your short story (1,001 up. Less than 1,000 is flash fiction), and above you have novellas, and then at 40,000 you enter novel territory.
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I strongly disagree with the second half of this statement, but yes, 7500 is the usual cut-off.
-Suzanne
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Ernest Hemingway did it in six words:
For sale. Baby Shoes. Never used.
But yeah, most consider from 1 to 1,000 or 1,500 words a short-short or flash, while over that according to the numbers already given, short story.
I agree with your disagreement. There are quality stories of all lengths.
Shelley
For sale. Baby Shoes. Never used.
But yeah, most consider from 1 to 1,000 or 1,500 words a short-short or flash, while over that according to the numbers already given, short story.
zanzjan said:
I agree with your disagreement. There are quality stories of all lengths.
Shelley
Do you mean between the 100 and 200 that Haggis mentioned?
If so you may find this useful. It's a list of markets for flash.
http://www.everydayfiction.com/flashfictionblog/flashmarkets/
And it comes from this thread
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212041
Where you will find all sorts of wonderful resources for short stories of all lengths.
Good luck with your writing
100 words and down = Flash Fiction
100-1,000 words = Flash fiction.
1,000 - 2,000 words = short-short.
2,000 - 7,500 - short story.
7,500 - 15,000 = Novelette, except in SF & Fantasy, where it's 17.500.
15,000 - 30,000 - novella, except in SF & Fantasy, where it's 40,000.
30,000+ = novel, except in SF & Fantays, where it's 40,000+
100-1,000 words = Flash fiction.
1,000 - 2,000 words = short-short.
2,000 - 7,500 - short story.
7,500 - 15,000 = Novelette, except in SF & Fantasy, where it's 17.500.
15,000 - 30,000 - novella, except in SF & Fantasy, where it's 40,000.
30,000+ = novel, except in SF & Fantays, where it's 40,000+
I really don't think 30k words will define a book as a novel. Even NaNoWriMo consider the 50k words as a novella. Novels are way more then 30k words, a novella should start somewhere around 20k to 40k.
Of course there are no fixed definitions so even a flash fiction writer can call his 400 word story as a novel!
I agree with most of the posts above, but check the market. I've seen more than a few that don't take stories <500 words. (And then there are those that won't take stories >500 words, although they're fewer in number.)
Most non-flashy shorts are probably in the 2,000-7,500 range. But almost anything <15,000 words falls into the "short story" range, even if stories >7,500 tend to be considered novelettes.
Most non-flashy shorts are probably in the 2,000-7,500 range. But almost anything <15,000 words falls into the "short story" range, even if stories >7,500 tend to be considered novelettes.
Be aware, too, that genre and specific publications you're aiming for are huge factors. It's not at all unusual to find a good market which refuses all work over a fairly modest length--say, 3500 words--without even reading it.
Shoving your work into a slot in order to apply the right label may just waste time. Identify the market you want to write to, and write to the length they seek. Ah-ha, huh?
Maryn, not a fan of labels
Shoving your work into a slot in order to apply the right label may just waste time. Identify the market you want to write to, and write to the length they seek. Ah-ha, huh?
Maryn, not a fan of labels
Publishers, not writers, define how long novels are. A writer can call his work anything he likes, but this doesn't make it so. But when publishers say something is a novel, it's a novel.
There have been some monumental bestsellers near this 30K length. The most prominent was The Bridges of Madison County. It was, rightfully, published as a novel, stayed on top of the NYT list for a year, made it there as a hardcover, and as a paperback. It set an all time sales record for adult hardcover novel. One it still holds. It was 33,000 words.
Many other novels of the same type come in about this length.
If you go back to the fifties and sixties, a LOT of novel were published at under forty thousands words, and it's still fairly common today with some types of books.
There ARE fixed definitions within the industry, regardless of what this or that magazine or writer may call something. The lengths I gave have been industry standard since long before I started writing more than thirty years ago. You can find the in writing magazines dating back to the thirties, and you can find them all over the place today.
The great majority of magazines need a standard because of space limitation, both for standalone stories and serials. So do most contests associated with published short stories. The Hugo and Nebula both follow these lengths, of course, but with the 40K definition of a novel. But in literary and mainstream, 30k novels are pretty common, and fit both book and literary magazines well, so they use the 30K standard.
I'd say that anything shorter than 10,000 words constitutes a short story.
100 words or under is micro fiction. Anything 1,000 words or under is considered flash fiction.
2,000-to 7,5000 words or under is a short story, although each magazine will have its own guidelines.
100 words or under is micro fiction. Anything 1,000 words or under is considered flash fiction.
2,000-to 7,5000 words or under is a short story, although each magazine will have its own guidelines.
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someone elsewhere mentioned that new/unknown writers increase their already low odds when they exceed 5000 word for a short story, despite guidelines that might say a place accepts longer.
then Lillie said 4000 or less is "most sellable." I've never heard either of these, is it based anecdotally or is this pretty standard belief?
then Lillie said 4000 or less is "most sellable." I've never heard either of these, is it based anecdotally or is this pretty standard belief?
The only truism is you need to write a great story to sell.
There's no magical length.
Short fiction is one of the areas where newbies are on very even footing with the Big Names of the genre.
I'm not sure that a great 3000 word story is any more or less sellable than a great 7000 word story. But I think there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that newer writers tend to overwrite their idea and making them "less great" so to speak. So you see perhaps misleading "evidence" that people submitting shorter stories are having better results and there is a tendency to put the cart before the horse.
It's not because the story was short--it's because the writer for whatever reason is maximizing the value per word of the idea. Some writers handle the short story pace well instinctively. Some need to learn it. Some get lucky from time to time and get it right.
The story should be as short as the story concept/idea allows.
I tend to write short. My sales are almost all 4000 words or less and if I shared those numbers some would say "see shorter sells better", but that's only because nearly my whole stable of stories is 4000 words or less. Short stories are my natural pace. (What's tough for me is writing the long-form pace of novels.)
Most of my shorts tend to fall in the neighborhood of 7k, and certainly I've found that that eliminates a fair number of markets from places I could submit to. But they wouldn't be as good if they were shorter, so meh, I cope.
I think wordcount matters less now that there are so many web-based markets because there isn't the same physical constraint on print size, but at the same time I suspect (and this is just my intuition, I could be completely wrong) that for a lot of markets limiting story length is also for budgetary control. And of course individual editorial tastes plays a huge role, but that's really a per-market thing.
-Suzanne
Don't take any notice of me. Generally I don't know my arse from my elbow.
It's something I've heard. Including this from Polenth, who has sold lots of stuff to good markets.
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6322030&postcount=4
Every magazine has a preferred length, which seldom falls exactly midway between the high and low they say they accept. It's true that the very long lengths are usually reserved for pro writers with recognizable names, but other than this, you have to read several issues of a magazine to learn what the preferred length actually is.
Guidelines sometimes state preferred length, but not always.At most magazines, under 4,000 is definitely easier to sell, even if you have a recognizable name, simply because the longer the story, the fewer magazines buy. Very long stories eat a LOT of page space.
But it's not anecdotal that under 4,000 sells easier. Just read some fiction mags and count how many stories you find over this length.
Very short stories are also tough sales at most mags, unless they specialize in such stories. I find 2,500 to 3,500 will sell almost anywhere.
The longer you get, the fewer markets, and the less space there is, even at mags that accept such stories.
Guidelines sometimes state preferred length, but not always.At most magazines, under 4,000 is definitely easier to sell, even if you have a recognizable name, simply because the longer the story, the fewer magazines buy. Very long stories eat a LOT of page space.
But it's not anecdotal that under 4,000 sells easier. Just read some fiction mags and count how many stories you find over this length.
Very short stories are also tough sales at most mags, unless they specialize in such stories. I find 2,500 to 3,500 will sell almost anywhere.
The longer you get, the fewer markets, and the less space there is, even at mags that accept such stories.
Hmmm. I've published, as a new writer, stories 250-400 words long. If it is a well written story, because, let's face it, "good" and "great" is subjective, then anyone, new, seasoned, will get published, sold at any story length.
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