Will my book be enough at 30,000 words for publication?

Question

I am curious, and desperately in need of some assistance on this matter. I need to know, if at the barest minimal 30,000 words will be enough to get it published, or if I need to hit 40,000, I am only asking this, because I will be loosing the computer on which I have been writing it.

Please, I Desperately need an answer.

Answer 1

I believe 30,000 words is about 100 pages of a paperback and I see no reason why that would be too short to publish. The best of luck to you!

Answer 2

It really depends on the kind of book you are writing.  30,000 is considered a novella.  A novel is 50,000+.

If you are pushing for publication because you are losing your computer, is your story really finished and in worthy publication form?  Might I suggest an alternative to premature publishing attempts:  Put your work on a CD or portable hard drive, or at the very least Email your book (in as many attachments as you need to) to yourself.  Then continue to work on it at any computer you can (go to a friends house, the public library, campus of a nearby college or high school).  

If you are hoping to be published, please do yourself a favor and give yourself time to make this book live up to it's potential.

Answer 3

Arkuis,

Your manuscript would actually fall in the category of a novella. They end at about 30,000 words. That doesn't mean you can't get it published though. Stephen King's 'The Cycle of the Werewolf,' which was made into a motion picture entitled 'Silver Bullet' was actually a novella.

At 40,000 words you will then be into the novel stage. There is no reason why you can't get it published with the exception of not being able to find a literary agent. Just make sure you have all the grammar and spelling the way it should read.

Good luck!

PJ M

Answer 4

As a rule of thumb, one page = 325 words.

30,000 words = 92 pages.  No publisher will look at this.

Minimum requirement these days probably 80,000 words.

Happy scribbling.  

Answer 5

It depends.

Which genre do you write in? (science-fiction, Fantasy, mystery, etc)

Standard word length is usually between 70,000 to 100,000 words for a novel. Fantasy can push up to 110,000 but for a debut, it’s going to be tough if the word count is higher.

YA (Young Adult) novels are much shorter, depending, again, on the genre. 30,000 words is about novella length. Novellas, unfortunately, are extremely difficult to get published if you aren't Stephen King or Danielle Steel.

Hitting 40,000 words, I'm afraid, won't be good enough. Novels can run as high as 300,000 words, but that's extremely rare. Most novels published today run anywhere from 60,000 to 200,000 words.

It depends on the publisher, but I suggest finding a literary agent first. Also, take into account the revision process, which may balloon your story up significantly.

Research more, and find out about novel lengths. I suggest doing a google search on the subject, or better yet, going to the AbsoluteWrite forums and asking, if you haven't already done so.