I have just completed a new novel (I've had 10 books published). It feels right at 55k so short novel. This is going directly to a small group of agents in full (my own agent recently left the business). Question is, is a shorter novel too much of a risk? What do we think?
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I certainly don't buy novels on the basis of their length. I read a few random pages (our local bookshop is fine with that) & decide if I'm captivated. My recent novel wound up around 90k, but that was because the humorous characters refused to let me go as long as they still had laughs to offer.
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Sarah Hall is fantastic. All of her novels are short. Orbital (someone else, forgotten the name) won the Booker. It’s very short. Short seems to be successful at the moment. I think, if the book is naturally at 55k, it’d be a pity to stretch and pad it to reach 70k.
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Feels like the market is moving towards shorter novels - not a risk so much as a smart decision, as far as I'm concerned. Good luck with the next stage!
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A couple of years ago I was being told short was best (partly because of the cost of paper, I think). Still, I’m reading a lot of quite long new novels…
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Shorter fiction is, I feel, having something of a moment. This could be coloured by the fact that 90% of what I've read of late has been around the 300 page mark or less.
