YA Indie Carnival: Pssst…how long is your book?

How long should a book be?

It’s so personal! As a reader there are times where I love to get lost in an epic and don’t care how long a book is. There are times when I just want a quick read, and that usually means a smaller word count. I am a very slow reader. Extremely slow. So slow that may parents tried to give me speed reading classes when I was young. Isn’t that sweet? But, it just made it all so much worse because I didn’t enjoy reading anymore. As a girl I wanted to read short books. The experience of reading shorter novels made me feel more successful as a reader. I don’t have that criteria any more as an adult. But, I do remember how I felt when I was a girl. Maybe that’s why I write on the short side of most recommended word counts for YA. As a reader and a writer, I’ve been interested in the rise of the novella.

The story I want to tell always dictates how many words I’ll write. I try to honor the story and what it needs so that I’m able to tell it in the most unique, compelling and emotional way.

It’s so interesting in this era of 140 char Tweets, novelists are focused on thousands of words. I believe that the “shoulds” of word count are fading away as indie publishing takes hold and as the production costs of printing a book isn’t the single driving force behind the decision (more words=more pages=more expensive to manufacture). Since people are reading novels on electronic devices more and more I think the physical count of a book will become less of a concern. It’s all about the reader’s experience. When I buy a book, I expect it to be a certain kind of experience. I expect it to help me forget my world for a little while and get me wrapped up in another one. Length is part of the expected experience. As a writer, it’s all about knowing my readers and giving them an experience that they love so much they’ll be back to read some more.

I rarely read that the length of a book is a deal breaker for a reader. If the story’s good, I don’t care how long or short it is. Of course price is a big consideration. I’m a fan of offering shorter works, like novellas for free.

What’s your take on novel length? My fellow carnis weigh in here :

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long | Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author’s Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl	14.	Terah Edun – YA Fantasy
15.	Heather Sutherlin – YA Fantasy	16.	Melika Dannese Lux, author of Corcitura and City of Lights