WhenRobLoweRobsLowes t1_itzbae2 wrote on October 27, 2022 at 12:28 PM

I know some folks who work in this space, writing and publishing books under 60,000 words. They're fond of it, because they feel it is a streamlined experience for both the reader and the writer, akin to a Netflix style TV season of eight episodes.

I personally am not a fan. As a consumer, I don't care for being charged an exorbitant price for what amounts to half a novel, and I don't feel I'm getting enough from the investment of my time. I feel like I'm just getting into the story and then its over. I get that it's in part a market decision, because there are a lot of people with limited attention spans who can't get into a longer novel, so there is an audience for it, but it's not for me.

As a writer, I came up under the 90,000 word rule for novels. At 60,000 words (or less) it's a novella, an extended short story. I don't have a problem with that. Lots of old pulps and stories from the '60s were shorter, blunter, and amazing for it. They were also cheap as hell; no one was charging me 20 bucks for two hours worth of reading.

Part of the longer format is giving people their money's worth, but also taking some time to live in the world and explore. In keeping with the TV seasons analogy, it's having a chance to have an offbeat episode and learn something new about the characters.

backcountry_knitter t1_iu0pab1 wrote on October 27, 2022 at 6:10 PM

I get frustrated with books that should have been novellas and maybe even started that way, but for whatever reason - giving people their money’s worth or something else - become full length novels and suffer for it. I love chunky novels, but if it’s a novella’s worth of plot and everything else is junk filler, not even a quirky side arc, it makes it a less impactful experience. One thing I really appreciate about digital publishing, despite my love of physical books, is that it makes novellas easier to produce & cheaper to sell profitably in that format, which means more interesting stories are being told because there are fewer restrictions on format & length. Not every story needs to be a full novel. It’s the same thing that’s happening in TV. Love, Death, and Robots isn’t A+ TV but it’s embraced the streaming format and has done away with standard episode lengths. Obviously there are other examples but that one has the most length variety in popular TV that I can think of currently.