Publishing a novella as a first book

Daleno

Hey guys,

Just wondering what your thoughts are on the first book an author publishes being a novella. Is it a done thing or are publishers looking more in the range of 80-100k word manuscripts?

The reason I ask is that I'm just about to finish my first novella and wonder if it's worth my while running to a publisher. I'm in no hurry to publish anyway, this was merely a test for myself to see how I did, big book coming next.
Just looking for some insight.

Cheers,
Daleno.

pickarooney

Daleno wrote: »

Hey guys,

Just wondering what your thoughts are on the first book an author publishes being a novella. Is it a done thing or are publishers looking more in the range of 80-100k word manuscripts?

The reason I ask is that I'm just about to finish my first novella and wonder if it's worth my while running to a publisher. I'm in no hurry to publish anyway, this was merely a test for myself to see how I did, big book coming next.
Just looking for some insight.

Cheers,
Daleno.

Sounds like a good opportunity to test the Amazon waters.

EileenG

If you find a publisher who does a lot of e-publishing, you are more likely to be taken on with a novella than a full length novel. Readers are more likely to take a chance on a novella from an unknown writer than commit to a full length novel.

Danpad

'Tinkers' Paul Harding's debut 'novel' was only at approx 60k words. It won the Pulitzer in 2009 I think. Not exactly a novella but just goes to show that regardless of word count if it's good...it's good!

Daleno

You guys touched on some of my thoughts there, especially Eileen. I think I'd feel the same about a new author. I'd be a lot more willing to give them a chance if it's not going to take long.
Now I don't think I'm going to win the Pulitzer prize or anything but I do believe that it's good so I will see what I can do about getting it published. I got a lot of research ahead of me and it's very exciting.

EileenG

Try a google search for "novella crime" or "novella romance" or whatever it is you write. You should find lots of websites of publishers who sell those, and they'll say on the website if they are accepting submissions.

Daleno

I dunno if anyone else has this problem but I find it very hard to attach a genre to my writing. The closest I can get would be offbeat and quirky or contemporary. It's difficult but I'll manage it. Cheers for the advice.

EileenG

Contempory is good. Have a look round the bookshops, see who writes stuff that's vaguely similar to you, and look to see what genre it's filed under.