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Why are word counts in books so important? Why must we distinguish between a short story and a novel ? You’re a reader, you know the difference between a saga of over a hundred thousand words and a piece of flash fiction at under a thousand. So why do the number of words in a written work matter?

To understand you have to remember all publishing is based upon printed materials . Magazines, newspapers, hardback books, paperback books. All of these require paper. Which means the more words used the more paper is necessary. Which means there were limits necessary for a printed work.

Take a newspaper report. They have a specific size depending on where in the paper they are. They are not only concerned with word counts but style. News articles are written according to two distinctly different requirements. However, that’s not what we are talking about. We are talking about word counts.

So, words take up space. Period. If you are trying to put out a magazine like Amazing Stories or Ellery Queen mysteries , you have only so much paper you can use. Paper printing gets expensive, so you limit the word counts of the stories you accept. You have to. You only have so much paper you can afford.

This leads to the classification of what a work is by its length. There are several different lists over what is classified as what. The science groups use a different standard than the romance groups. Like in all things each considers their standards of word counts to be the best. Bullshit. You get close and you make a call. Is it a short story if it runs past the count by ten words? Does this make the work a novelette ? Who even uses the format novelette anymore?

Of course, word counts are different in acceptability for non-fiction versus fiction books . Also, children’s books suffer an entirely different set of rules. I use an old standard for science fiction writing to determine what I should label a work. If it needs any labeling at all. I tend to omit labels. I want the reader to enjoy the story no matter its size. Here’s my list:

Flash Fiction: 53 – 1,000 words

Short Stories: 3,500 – 7,500

Novelettes: 7,500 – 17,000

Novellas: 17,000 – 40,000

Novels: 40,000 – 100,000

Epics: 100K plus

I think writers make too much of word counts. I always have. First off, the first draft is usually a suggestion. I have seen too many epics dropped on me only to eliminate two thirds of the text. Likewise, I have taken many pieces of flash fiction and expanded them into novels because the story was so good.

If the story grabs you then it doesn’t matter how long or short it is. O. Henry wrote incredible short stories. He used a minimalist approach to his descriptions which draw the reader in. Mark Twain mastered the short story in so many hilarious tales.

J.K Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was only 76,000 words. I couldn’t put the book down. The others in the series. Over double the that count. One even came in over two hundred thousand words. It takes a lot to create an entire world of magic.

It doesn’t matter the length when you publish eBooks . I can take up as much digital space as I want and who cares? The only requirement I have for our authors is they produce good work. If we need to trim it down to get to the best possible book, then we do. If we need to expand then we do that as well.

Of course, I have been told my blog posts are way too short. I have been told by experts my blog posts should be 1500 words minimum to keep a reader’s attention. Did I lose yours? If I did then how come you are still reading?

Hahahahahahaha. Anyways, that’s my take on word counts. If you need to understand more then I welcome you to wade through the research on appropriate word counts. In the end it is up to the publisher how many words you need if they want to publish it. If you self-publish then you have only yourself to answer to. How many words did you say were in your novel?

One note. Over the years I have enjoyed many of the Reader’s Digests condensed books. Now I use them as an example of proper editing. If you read the original book, then the Readers Digest version, you become amazed as an editor. You see where they remove so many words. Removed paragraphs without harming the story one bit. A good thing to take note of when you are editing your manuscript.

Have a good day!  That was four words…..lol.

I’m Ross, The Editor at The Pyrateheart Press and I’m out.