One of the single most important considerations for a new author is word count. Besides actually having a good story, you have to be able to fit that story into industry confines. And those confines are based off of words–not pages. Not too few. Not too many. I know. It sucks. But if you are trying to get published or find an agent: read this, and discover why word count is so important…
I want to start by giving a shout-out to all the Blog Warriors and Social Media Titans. I definitely don’t have the stamina for daily posts! (Or weekly for that matter.) Besides that, I’ve been on a creative hiatus. Jillian underwent a massive editing revision, and between that and drawing concept art, I burned myself out. I haven’t touched anything for a few months. I’ve returned with feedback! Particularly with regards to the dreaded word count.
Screw You Tom Clancy!
I say that with the utmost of respect. Tom Clancy was the first author I fell in love with. I was in middle school making that transition from “kid books” to serious real-world prose. And in that category, Tom Clancy is a heavy hitter. Counter-terrorism. Black-ops. International policy. Global tension. In hindsight, I’m sure I grasped maybe 50 percent of his writing, but I still loved it. Clancy’s literary works went on to grace the silver screen with 90’s classics: The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger. Rainbow Six is one of the most successful video game franchises running strong 20 years later.
Tom is great! His works are boat anchors that lulled me into a sense that books should and could be long. Patriot Games is short at 200,000 words long. Clear and Present Danger passes 260,000. The Sum of All Fears is 360,000, and Executive Orders is fast approaching half a MILLION words (460,000). Damn! Read any of his books, and his attention to detail is second-to-none. Unfortunately, the publishing world is much different than it was in the 80’s and 90’s, and even a 200,000 word proposal from a new author isn’t going to fly.
Thought I was on the Right Track, but…
As anyone who has read any of my other posts knows, I love James S. A. Corey and the Expanse Series. (They are also releasing their new Memory’s Legion soon.) These guys are great! I have modeled much of my writing off of their works, including word count. Most of the books in their series are around 165,000 words. Personally I think that is the Goldilocks zone for science fiction. And I think that is a respectable number if you are established, or if you have some big names like George R.R. Martin endorsing you. But in all honesty, 165,000 is probably too long for most first time or beginning authors.
Rejected Again
I’ve been in pursuit of an agent for nearly two years. Not a publisher. Just an agent. I believed my lack of social-media presence was a major factor. I’ve just never been into it. Hence, this website. Even though I still think I’m going to journey down the self-publishing route, I figured I would try to reach out to a new list of agents with my shiny new website to reference.
I set a new record for rejections. One was within 12 hours. The second was under 48. What the hell? I was able to attach a URL to the website category of the Query Tracker form. Did they even read my sample pages?
Probably not. Because in my soul-depleting revision of Jillian: Book 2, she ballooned to 175,000 words. I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a problem, but it was. For an unpublished author like myself, that 7 should have been a 0 or a 1. Even a 2 is really pushing it.
Agent Feedback
Part of what makes publishing and finding an agent so difficult, is that no one ever gives you feedback. You will most likely receive stock rejection emails about how they “weren’t the right fit,” but to “keep trying because writing is subjective.” Unfortunately, you never learn what your mistakes are and how to fix them. At best you will receive a crumb by means of a few sentences–which is exactly what I received. Not much. But enough crumbs equal a piece of toast and maybe enough to sink your teeth into to give you a better shot next time.
Rejection Letter
I wanted to include my latest feedback, because even though rejection hurts, I want to grow and become better. Here’s what I received:
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to consider JILLIAN. I’m afraid 175,000 is not within the standard word count range for this type of book, which makes it incredibly difficult for me to sell to publishers. It’s not right for me, but please keep working. If you’d like more guidance on word count, I would suggest this article from Writer’s Digest: https://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/word-count-for-novels-and-childrens-books-the-definitive-post. Wish you the best in finding a good home for your work.”
After recovering from the disappointment I clicked on the link, scrolled down to Sci-Fi and discovered that I should shoot for 100,000 to 115,000 words. I might be able to push to 124,000 words considering my genre.
Revision Time!
If you are struggling with an inflated word count, you might just need to edit again. One of the most useful ways to improve your writing and make it more concise (aka shorter), is to weed out unnecessary adverbs. Ya know, words ending in “-ly.” You can even use different aps to help find all those pesky adverbs. I prefer Writer’s Highlighter as an extension for GoogleDocs so I can build my own spreadsheet for words I use too much.
Use BETTER words instead of more. “Jillian runs quickly,” can become “Jillian sprints.” From three to two. Do that throughout an entire novel, and you’ll be amazed how many words you can shave off. And your audience will appreciate it!
Unfortunately for me, I already thinned out adverbs. I also cut out wordy descriptions like, “Jillian watched Roman clear his rifle,” to simply, “Roman cleared his rifle.” I was at 175,000 words and there was no way I was going to be able to axe 50,000 words and keep the story intact.
Literary Mitosis
I’d have to split it. Jillian: Book 2 was about to become Jillian: Book 2 and Book 3. The thought sent me spiraling for another week. I’d just recovered from one massive revision/edit this year, that left me as a hollowed out zombie, and here I was having to do it again. Let it be known that editing never stops. I’m well aware of that. Little changes are easy to stomach. It’s the enormous content revisions that are daunting. Jillian has already undergone at least fifteen of those since she was created. What’s one more time?
As of 10 days ago I split Jillian into two. It’s not as simple as selecting a chapter and saying here is where one book ends and another starts. It will involve massive re-writes, especially considering one book hits at 100,000 words (unrevised), while the second is an anemic 75,000. But in all honesty, it works out for the better. Especially for the Part II. Here I can develop scenes better and the introduction of new characters towards the end of OG Jillian isn’t nearly as overwhelming to the reader. I’m also less resentful about overhauling point-of-view characters. Hey, I’m trying to find the positives!
Conclusion
In the end, we should strive to become better writers. More concise. With captivating pacing. We might yearn for the days of Leo Tolstoy or Herman Melville’s fiction, but that’s not where the market is at anymore. I say this to you as much as it is a daily reminder to myself, WORD COUNT MATTERS. You can try and break the rules, but I wouldn’t advise it.
-Glenn Roush