Word Count Warning

A word of advise to would be aspiring authors out there . . . if you're serious about getting published, make sure you pay close attention to word count for the genre you are writing in.  I read way too many blogs telling me to ignore word count and to just write the story, to just let it naturally unfold. Well, that's what I did with my first novel, Finding Home, targeted toward young adults, and the final word count ended up being just over 145,000 words.  If you've got the clout of J.K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer, then you can maybe get away with this, but as a non-published author, I have since learned that I have almost no chance of getting this published.  The cost of paper is up, and most publishers have a very specific word count ranges they require a novel to be in for a specific genre, to even be considered.

Middle Grade books are typically in the 40,000 - 70,000 word range.
Young Adult books are typically in the 60,000 - 90,000 word range.

You'll find publishers who will go a little higher or lower depending on the book.  If you're on the high end, you're book has to have considerable commercial value to it for a publisher to want to take the risk of the added cost it will take to print.

This means that I am now in the oh so painful process of cutting almost 60,000 words from my first novel.  The process is making me a much better writer, but I would not recommend it to anyone, so if you're starting a new novel or even in the middle of one, make sure you have a publishable word count target in mind and that you are pacing/structuring your story towards that goal.  I did this with my second novel, and it has made the editing process infinitely more enjoyable.

As for Finding Home, I've cut about 5,500 words from the first three chapters. . . only 54,500 more words to go.  Ouch.

LTUE 2010

I have finished day two of the LTUE2010 conference at BYU and have been absolutely thrilled with the quality of the sessions that I have attended. My hands down favorite session was by Dan Wells. Ironically writes horror - one of my least favorite genres - but after hearing him speak I just might have to give his latest novel a try I'm not a serial Killer - which has been a smash hit in Europe (on fifth printing in Germany) and is arriving in the US this spring.

The point is the guy was hilarious, brilliant, and entertaining and has created a seven point system for writing a novel that innately resonates with anyone who has either written, attempted to write, or even cares about how a book is written. More on this subject later.

After the session ended I heard someone talking about how their group had convinced Dan to give this presentation, and my ears perked up. I introduced myself to Donna, the founder of their Inking Cap writing group, and ended up spending the next forty minutes talking with them. I am now going to their next meeting where Kirk Shaw will give tips/pointers on how to pitch your book. Kirk is an editor at Covenant Communications, an independent publishing company. I am pitching my novel for the first time this April, so I can't tell you how excited I am to learn from someone who does this for a living.