Comments on: Manuscript Length

By: QUERIES: Ten things I’ve learned so far « After the first draft

QUERIES: Ten things I’ve learned so far « After the first draft — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:53:50 +0000

[...] tied to the audience…there is a lot of conflicting information out there about this, but here is a good post by Mary Kole on the subject), working title, and completion status. Please say it’s [...]

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 04:05:39 +0000

This is where I start to stress out. When I finally finished composing my first manuscript, it weighed in at a hefty 180,000. Done laughing? I went back through every word, correcting and deleting until it was down to 150,000. Then I did it again, this time taking it down to 130,000. Now hovering above 100,000, I’m finding it very difficult to cut much more without seriously affecting the story.

I was quite sure it was adult mainstream fiction. Not so, according to agents I queried. With a main character on the verge of turning twenty, it’s apparently YA. Who knew? The themes are rather adult; sexuality, mortality, infidelity, suicide and depression. In short, I wouldn’t recommend it to high school students.

My conclusion? I may never be published, at least not with this novel, but I darn sure had fun writing it.

By: megan

megan — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:50:57 +0000

I’ve always wondered about this, but worried the other way, if my manuscripts were too short. I cut my last one from 50,000 + down to @ 43,000. I thought this would be way too short for YA, but then a friend of mine with about the same word length got a publishing deal.

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

By: Sheryl Gwyther

Sheryl Gwyther — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:38:01 +0000

Excellent post and informative post, Mary. Word lengths appear to be a bit looser here in Australia - I’ve seen books for 9-13 year olds (these books would require very good reading skills, I guess) up to 60,000 words, depending on the publisher.
Thanks for your blog!

By: Twitted by JennRHubbard

Twitted by JennRHubbard — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:09:28 +0000

[...] This post was Twitted by JennRHubbard [...]

By: Krist

Krist — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:35:20 +0000

Mary - I just found this post and wanted to thank you for your input on this topic. My YA is 55K - even after revisions - and I was worried that it was too short. Although I noticed that Lisa McMann’s Wake is around 36K, it seems that many published YA’s are in the 80K range so I’m encouraged by your feedback. I still have a few revisions to go and will wait until after the holidays to query - after reading your other post - but I hope to query you in Feb. Happy Thanksgiving!

By: Tales to Tide You Over » Blog Archive » Friday’s Interesting Links

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:10:20 +0000

[...] A look at long works and an agent’s reactions to same: http://kidlit.com/2009/11/13/manuscript-length/ [...]

By: Crystal Roget

Crystal Roget — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:51:46 +0000

Thanks SO MUCH, Mary, for your perspective on this topic. It’s VERY HELPFUL and will be passed along!

By: Ashley Cooper

Ashley Cooper — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:37:41 +0000

As always, such a help! I am wondering - because I’m new at this - what age range constitutes an “early” picturebook as opposed to a regular picturebook?

By: Theresa Milstein

Theresa Milstein — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:37:13 +0000

This was very helpful, Mary. This is the most comprehensive explanation on word count for different types of manuscripts that I’ve ever come across. I like that there’s a comment about minimum word count for YA. What about the accepted minimum on middle-grade books? Thanks.