Thread by @annmrose

The number of queries I’ve seen lately with 200k & 300k words has been a little concerning so I thought I’d try to take a moment to chat about high word counts… a 🧵
#amquerying #QueryTip #WritingCommunity

First, I’m on my elliptical so apologies for any typos…

Many people say that a story needs to be as many words as necessary to tell it and in some respects this it true, but if the goal is traditional publishing there are standards and guidelines for word count…

Why is based on a couple of things. Reader expectations is one, but also cost. Publishing is still a business and at the end of the day the publisher is looking to turn a profit. As unfair as this sounds it’s the facts of the matter.
Now why does word count matter to costs?

Well first is the time it takes to edit a book that is 200-300k words long. When sending to an agent this time it takes to read, evaluate, and also possibly edit is all unpaid time. There is “potential” for payment but it’s not guaranteed so we have to evaluate…

Is this worth the invested effort?
But “it’s a really great story” you say and maybe it is but the fact still comes down to, do we have the time and energy to invest in this project?
At an editor or publishing level the question still remains but also…

Added is the fact the publisher is paying that editor to work on this project and all the other people in the process of getting this book ready for publication. This cost is factored into the overall production at some level even if we don’t see it on a P&L.

Additionally production costs in the form of binding and printing is also a factor. The cost per each item increases with the number of pages so the amount the publisher has to charge to recoup their costs also goes up. Will it be worth it?

Now inevitably there will be someone commenting about well what about this book by this famous author or what about this debut that was published 50ish years ago and of course there are exceptions and of course times are changing, so thinking …

That you or your story is the exception firmly places you in the rule category.
The time to edit and produce a book of 200k-300k+ is considerably more than one of smaller size, this is just the fact of the matter, and if you are a debut the risk of producing such a big book…

Increases with its size. So while yes there are exceptions it’s better especially for new authors to try and fit in those standards for a higher chance at getting an offer. Then once you are established and showing you are worth the investment the bigger your books can get

So I’m sure I’m missing some things but thought a quick and dirty high level of why word counts especially high word counts matter would be helpful to new authors.
We do want you to succeed and to increase those chances is by helping yourself early in the process.

Now go forth and edit without fear! ✂️ You can do it!