# Novellas do sell, in some genres. My observation



## BellaJames (Sep 8, 2016)

I'm going to say this and members can throw rotten peaches at me or whatever. I just read two threads. One is old

Old one = _Short Stories, do they sell at all?_ - http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=212162.0 
New one = _Is this normal for your first published book?_

I also read a similar thread on a reddit sub. I see the same information given by most of the members, "Novellas don't sell. Write a novel." Then a few members come in and say, "hold up, my short books sell."

From my research, talking to quite a few authors and emailing authors directly. I'd say Novellas and short stories do sell. Maybe they don't sell for you but they do sell for some authors, in some genres. _Novels or full length books also sell for some authors and some authors barely sell any novels. _

I also notice that a lot of authors who write novellas are quietly in their writing corner banging out their next novella and they aren't doing interviews, so there's less blog articles and podcast interviews on them. I haven't seen any of the authors I read on here. They might be here under another name but the authors I have communicated with said they are not members of any forums and a few are in facebook groups but not using their pen name.

These authors who write novellas are racking up sales. They said they know many more authors doing the same. They get together to collaborate on books, cross promote and to do box sets.

I have more novellas on my kindle than novels. Some are standalones and some are series. My mum loves cozy mysteries and she buys more novellas than novels because she doesn't have the time to read long novels. I have friends who are addicted to authors like M.S. Parker who writes novella series.

There are six novellas in the top 100 on amazon today. Yes, they are all romance but other genres sell too. I see 632 novellas released in the last 30 days.

*So why is there this general talk that short books do not sell? Readers only want novels?*

*Editing to add. Someone mentioned this on another forum but short stories and novellas are popular in Hollywood and several get optioned every year. *

_Here's a list and a link of short stories that have been made into movies_:

Million dollar baby
Brokeback mountain
Minority report
Benjamin button
Shawshank redemption
Breakfast at tiffanys
Total Recall
The secret life of Walter Mitty
The illusionist
The fly
Away from her
Memento
Three-Ten to Yuma

http://www.popsugar.co.uk/celebrity/Short-Stories-Adapted-Movies-40948309?stream_view=1

_
Here's a list of short stories that have been optioned to be made into movies in the near future:_

Anais Nin short stories
Chimamanda Adichie's Short Stories
Gillian Flynn's short story
Let it snow collection of stories by John Green and other authors

This is based on my observation


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## Gentleman Zombie (May 30, 2011)

Thanks for posting this.


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## xbriannova (Sep 23, 2016)

If what you say is true, then I'm glad, because chances are high that I'm going to publish some novellas, some of which will be set in the same world as my other works. I would be glad if people are snagging novellas up too, not just the novels.


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## wearywanderer64 (Jan 27, 2013)

Glad to hear this as I am Novella and short story writer


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## Alvina (Oct 19, 2015)

That's very encouraging! What if I spend a whole year writing a novel that no one will buy?


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## NoCat (Aug 5, 2010)

All your examples there are traditionally published stories from established authors in major publications (many of which won or were nominated for major awards etc). Apples to cows comparison?

Novellas can totally sell, but they won't be an easier sell than novels most likely (and novels aren't an easy sell either, when it comes down to it... same rules apply in that you have to not suck at what you are doing and writing a fulfilling novella or short story is tough, in some ways harder than writing a fulfilling novel). Also, when doing research, make sure to get real numbers. One person might say "my novellas sell great" and what they mean is "I sell a couple copies a month and am happy with that" when what you think they mean is "I pay my rent!" so... hard data is always best. Saying "X sells" doesn't mean much until you start to really drill down what "sell" means and what the expectations are.  If you are self-publishing short fiction thinking you'll make a living and get your short fiction made into movies, you are going to be disappointed, sorry.


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## Lady Vine (Nov 11, 2012)

They certainly do sell. Before Kindle Unlimited came along, they were extremely popular. Outside of it, they still sell really well. Although I now only sell my novelette series as 3-book bundles, these work out to novella-length works, and readers eat these up, especially on Play and Amazon UK. I'm not going to pretend that having novels in your arsenal isn't beneficial, but you can hold off writing those until you've built your fan base. Then, once you release your first novel, the readers will eat it up. Novellas don't require too much time commitment from the author or the reader. And in terms of pricing, they allow new readers to try you out cheaply.

Short novels (40,000 - 50,000 words) are also a good idea. For me, those tend to perform better than everything else. At those lengths you can price at $3.99 and get away with it.


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## TheLass (Mar 13, 2016)

How are novellas and novelettes defined in terms of word count?  Is novellas 10 - 30K; novelettes < 10K reasonable?


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## 41419 (Apr 4, 2011)

Novellas sell, in some genres at least - esp. romance. 

Short stories rarely sell in any genre (erotica aside). There's a difference.


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2016)

Good to know. Thank you. I have 3 that I haven't published. This gives me more of a kick to do it.  

TMG


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## CassieL (Aug 29, 2013)

My most-profitable-per-hour-spent-writing title is an 8,000 word steamy romance that's made me about $100/hr spent writing, so I definitely know that shorter works can sell.  BUT...

Not all shorter works can sell.  (My speculative fiction stories don't sell near as well.)
If they do sell, they don't sell in as many formats or retail settings.  (Audio, print, different stores, KU1 vs. KU2)
Novels are easier to promote because more sites (like the mighty Bookbub) will advertise them.
You can price novels at a higher price point which means that each customer is worth more to you.
In my experience, novels appear to be stickier in terms of sales. (Most of the money made on that short was made in the first year whereas my novels continue to sell here or there organically even with no additional promo.)

Granted, it might be different if you're truly in the novella range and good at writing that particular length.

Overall, I think a lot of the same advice applies to shorter works as to longer: write in series and certain genres sell better than others.

In other words, don't put up a standalone shorter work that doesn't fit into a category well and expect to make millions.  (And, yes, someone out there has thousands of sales of a title that is shorter and doesn't fit into any category, but it's rare.)


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## UnicornEmily (Jul 2, 2011)

Thank you so much for posting this, BellaJames.



BellaJames said:


> I'm going to say this and members can throw rotten peaches at me or whatever. I just read two threads. One is old
> 
> Old one = _Short Stories, do they sell at all?_ - http://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=212162.0
> New one = _Is this normal for your first published book?_
> ...


I would love to know where novella authors go to cross-promote and put together box sets. I love writing short books. I love reading short books. Very often I prefer them to longer ones. Have you any recommendations for me?


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2016)

If I had a dollar for every review that complained my cozy permafree was too short ... However, my next two novellas do sell (no complaints about length), but not as well as when they are bundled all together.

My next series will start with a full length novel (and a novella prequel as a give away).


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## Annette_g (Nov 27, 2012)

I read all lengths, short stories, novellas, novel, doorstopper fantasy  I've published them too. At the moment novels do sell best, but they are what I promote most often.

I've never let the length of the book deter me, if the story sounds interesting then I will give it a go, whether its 5K words or 100K.

One of my longer fanfics is over 160K words and I still get reviews saying they wish it was longer, LOL!


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Annie B said:


> All your examples there are traditionally published stories from established authors in major publications (many of which won or were nominated for major awards etc). Apples to cows comparison?
> 
> Novellas can totally sell, but they won't be an easier sell than novels most likely (and novels aren't an easy sell either, when it comes down to it... same rules apply in that you have to not suck at what you are doing and writing a fulfilling novella or short story is tough, in some ways harder than writing a fulfilling novel). Also, when doing research, make sure to get real numbers. One person might say "my novellas sell great" and what they mean is "I sell a couple copies a month and am happy with that" when what you think they mean is "I pay my rent!" so... hard data is always best. Saying "X sells" doesn't mean much until you start to really drill down what "sell" means and what the expectations are. If you are self-publishing short fiction thinking you'll make a living and get your short fiction made into movies, you are going to be disappointed, sorry.


I'm going to co-sign Annies's post and add that novellas and short fiction don't seem to have the longevity that full novels do. So, yeah, a few people are making money off writing to trend (vs. market) and writing short. That's very few people, though. Just because a few did it doesn't mean others can. And, once that gravy train is over, it's over. You need to be constantly on your feet to hit the next trend. Longer books have a much longer shelf life from what I can tell.
No one is saying what to write. They're merely saying you have a better chance of sticking with longer works. Some people believe they're going to be the exception and some prefer playing the odds. It's a personal choice.
The other big concern is advertising. Novellas limit the type of advertising you can do. Keep that in mind.


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## Drakon (Dec 6, 2014)

As a reader with over 2,000 novels/novellas on two kindles my sense is that the novella length is going to grow in popularity, especially with Kindle Unlimited. Why? 

Lets take the difference betw a 100 pg novella and a 300 pg novel. Most novels IMO have about 100 pages of tight strong writing and the rest is more or less padding to reach that vaunted novel length. I can't tell you how many books I have read that I can just skip whole pages, even skip whole chapters and not miss a single thing in terms of plot, characterization, etc. 

As a prolific reader I would prefer to read a tight well written novella with great writing that leaves me hungry for more than wading through a lot of stuff that really adds nothing to the story.

This is where KU comes in. With KU it does not matter whether the book is long or short - it's a flat fee either way. KU does away with the illusion that books should be novel length bec the reader is in effect paying per page. Paying for what? 

So this novella trend will be very liberating for writers.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

Author Earnings Report is pretty clear. Go down this particular presentation almost to the end, to the slide on "Which page count sells most?" Or whatever. http://authorearnings.com/2016-rwa-pan-presentation/

Similar data in the full Author Earnings Report. For this type of question, they have collected the most data. Anecdotal stuff--you can find five people with different opinions. Best to just look at the data for what actually makes authors the most money.

(Which is relatively long novels in Romance. Most profitable price point--or the place where the most bestselling authors are writing, if you want to look it that way--is 301-400 pages. Followed by 201-300 pages, then by 401-500 pages. I know there's similar data in the report for all genres.)

People did extremely well in short stuff during the blip that was KU1, for obvious reasons. Post above mine-- KU1 didn't care if a book was 400 pages or 10 pages. With KU2, you are paid by the page, so a 400-page novel will earn you 5 times what an 80-page novella will, assuming both are read all the way through.

People can do whatever they want and write at whatever length they write best. But if you're going to look to the market to decide that--look at data, not opinions or anecdotes.

Those are Amazon numbers. No idea what the world looks like from the other retailers' point of view as far as length of book.


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## SidK (Jul 7, 2015)

What is the range of word length for a work of fiction that is considered a Novella?



BellaJames said:


> I also notice that a lot of authors who write novellas are quietly in their writing corner banging out their next novella and they aren't doing interviews, so there's less blog articles and podcast interviews on them. I haven't seen any of the authors I read on here.


They have found a rich gold vein, can't blame them for keeping it a secret. 

Rest of us should give writing Novellas a try as well and I intend to do in the future.


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## Anarchist (Apr 22, 2015)

The number of indie-published short books that do well is small enough that they should be considered exceptions to the rule. For every T.S. Paul, you'll find thousands of indie authors struggling to sell short books.

To that end, the exceptions *define* the rule.

Readers aren't looking for shorter books. They're looking for faster-moving books. Victor Hugo would probably starve in today's environment.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Rosalind makes a very good point. Most cozy mystery readers prefer 60,000-90,000 words. Some readers won't even look at anything that's less than 250 pages. Talk to the readers in the genre if you want a snapshot. They will tell you what's too short.


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## McKinneyAuthor (Oct 1, 2016)

Thank you so much for posting this. I was the one that posted the newer thread you mentioned. I received a ton of good feedback, but the calls to take the book down and lengthen it broke my heart. If I were to do that, the entire story I meant to tell would be radically altered. I didn't want to add filler or extra subplots. It was meant to be a simple yet moving story. It is the length it needs to be to accomplish that. Maybe it won't sell well or maybe I'll get lucky and it will. In the end, the way it is now is the form in which I feel proud of it.

Again, thank you for making this post. I truly appreciate it.


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## Ravenfire (Aug 5, 2016)

Any sense of which genres?  It sounds like novellas can sell in romance and maybe cozy mysteries - any others?  I'm asking because my work tends to come out on the shorter end, and I struggle with making them longer.  Thanks!


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## sstroble (Dec 16, 2013)

wearywanderer64 said:


> Glad to hear this as I am Novella and short story writer


^


Gentleman Zombie said:


> Thanks for posting this.


^


Annie B said:


> Novellas can totally sell, but they won't be an easier sell than novels most likely (and novels aren't an easy sell either, when it comes down to it.... If you are self-publishing short fiction thinking you'll make a living and get your short fiction made into movies, you are going to be disappointed, sorry.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

Re romance and cozy mysteries being good for novellas--not really. MOST romance readers do not want novellas. See my link above. The vast, vast majority of $$ earned is on books 200-500 pages. As Amanda says, cozy mystery? Novellas? No. Cozy mystery has a preferred page count that's much tighter than romance. 

Look at the Author Earnings Report if you're going to make decisions about what to write based on what's profitable. Really. Or don't, if your gut tells you that individual-you has a winning way to make short pay. Maybe you're right. Maybe you do. But most people don't.


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## BellaJames (Sep 8, 2016)

Thank you all for your comments.

I'm not saying that all novellas sell. That's why I said _ Novels or full length books also sell for some authors and some authors barely sell any novels._

I started this post after seeing the replies to _McKinneyAuthor_'s thread and question. I also saw a similar question on another forum. Thing is *some* authors are making a living from writing novellas or short stories.

Yes most of them might be writing romance or erotica.

Does the Author Earnings Report survey every indie author publishing in every store? Genuine question.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

BellaJames said:


> I'm not saying that all novellas sell. That's why I said _ Novels or full length books also sell for some authors and some authors barely sell any novels._
> 
> I started this post after seeing the replies to _McKinneyAuthor_'s thread and question. I also saw a similar question on another forum. Thing is *some* authors are making a living from writing novellas or short stories.
> 
> ...


Author Earnings I believe is looking at about the top 80 percent? Of books on Amazon. Not sure I have that right. You can look it up. It's certainly a good snapshot of Amazon. The plus of it is that it is NOT a survey; not asking authors to self-report. It looks at what actually happens (making some assumptions, which people can quibble about). It doesn't look at other stores right now I don't believe; you can look that up, too.

"Some" people can do--whatever thing. I just don't believe that's the best basis on which to make decisions. What AER offers is an overview, which does seem like a more solid basis. Like I said (or like they said), in Romance, novellas are NOT the preferred book length. Erotica--sure. And perhaps in some Romance genres, it works better. I believe paranormal tends to be shorter/still serialized, often. Sweet romance books tend to be shorter, I believe; ditto Regency romances. Those are my impressions. If I were interested in writing short, I'd do all that research (starting with the AER), and drill down within the subgenres to see which are most accepting of short works.

People I know who do novellas in contemporary romance write them "in-between" longer books in the series, to keep their readers interested between big books. Those and the Alexa Riley short super-sexy books are the main short books I tend to see.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Rosalind J said:


> Re romance and cozy mysteries being good for novellas--not really. MOST romance readers do not want novellas. See my link above. The vast, vast majority of $$ earned is on books 200-500 pages. As Amanda says, cozy mystery? Novellas? No. Cozy mystery has a preferred page count that's much tighter than romance.
> 
> Look at the Author Earnings Report if you're going to make decisions about what to write based on what's profitable. Really. Or don't, if your gut tells you that individual-you has a winning way to make short pay. Maybe you're right. Maybe you do. But most people don't.


Yes this. 
Some of the bigger romance authors have some xmas novellas out, or in betweeners. Big names like Balogh or Milan. But the majority of their catalog is always full length. Most romances are full length and most readers want full length. Erotica might work well for short stuff, romance doesn't really. Just not enough time for any emotional development and character development, while still having a great storyline at the same time. That takes time.

I personally don't read novellas or shorts anymore. Even from my most favorite authors. They just aren't satisfying and the ones I did read felt like cliff notes of what they were suppose to be. I always felt disappointed at the what could have been. Few times I felt cheated when the author finished a romance series and the last one was a novella so I felt the couple got cheated. Especially sad if you waited for a character to get their own story throughout a series. 

I see a handful here and there in the top lists, but not many. At least not in the genres I like reading.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

I have actual data points. I do five shorts a year in my most popular series. Those "shorts" are actually 28,000 words. In comparison to the full books in the series, the shorts sell about 60 percent of a full novel. So, yeah, it's great that they sell 6,000 copies on release day (they go up for preorder). However, that's quite a bit less than a full novel and since I only charge .99 for a short the profit margin is skewed heavily away from the shorts. I keep them going because they're marketing tools. The only reason those shorts sell at all is because they're tied to a popular series. They wouldn't sell nearly as much as that if they weren't.


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## LindsayBuroker (Oct 13, 2013)

An author who has built up a following can sell anything. 

You probably need to look predominantly at the people who write and sell novels _and_ novellas in the same genre to the same readers to get a feel for the potential.

For me, in fantasy, I've always found that my novels sell better, but a novella set in the same series as a bunch of novels can do well for me. I've done okay with a series of novellas too (marketing tip: don't _call_ them novellas anywhere in the description). But novels ultimately sell more, even one-offs.

These days, I've mostly written off novellas, because unless they're quite long (almost up into short novel length), I don't feel I can charge $2.99 for them. If I can't get that 70% split, I don't care if they're selling or not. The earnings are pitiful, especially considering I could have had something novel length without much more time invested.


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## BellaJames (Sep 8, 2016)

LindsayBuroker said:


> An author who has built up a following can sell anything.
> 
> You probably need to look predominantly at the people who write and sell novels _and_ novellas in the same genre to the same readers to get a feel for the potential.
> 
> ...


Thank you Lindsay for commenting. Love your podcast, watch it on youtube.

When you say don't call them novellas, what about the readers that complain? Should you just add the word or page count to the end of the description then?


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## Fill in the Blank Author (Jul 12, 2015)

BellaJames said:


> When you say don't call them novellas, what about the readers that complain? Should you just add the word or page count to the end of the description then?


Lindsay might have a different answer but I suggest simply pricing appropriately for the size of the book. I tend to go $4.99 for full-length, $3.99 for short novels, and $2.99 for novellas.


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## Chrissy (Mar 31, 2014)

Fill in the Blank Author said:


> Lindsay might have a different answer but I suggest simply pricing appropriately for the size of the book. I tend to go $4.99 for full-length, $3.99 for short novels, and $2.99 for novellas.


What word lengths do you associate with each category?


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## LindsayBuroker (Oct 13, 2013)

BellaJames said:


> When you say don't call them novellas, what about the readers that complain? Should you just add the word or page count to the end of the description then?


Amazon adds the page count and puts it in the short reads categories, so not really. People can see if something is only 86 pages.

I used to call them novellas, then realized that's really more of an author term. Most readers don't think in terms of word counts anyway. The novella authors I've talked to that are doing well don't use novella anywhere in their description, and it definitely seems like you might be turning some people away if you do, those who think they don't like short fiction (or those who don't really know what a "novella" is). If they've enjoyed your other work, chances are they'll enjoy your novellas too!


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## S.L. (Jun 6, 2016)

I would say your assessments are the exception, not the rule.  No one is saying you can't make money from other forms of writing, but I believe it is a harder way to go.  And it all depends on if you are looking at it as a business or for pleasure.


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## Eddie Jakes (May 13, 2016)

I plan on doing a six part mini-series in novella form. Mostly because I need a break from thinking about the novels I've been writing in my series. Novellas and short books probably don't sell as well because they aren't tailored and marketed right, perhaps?


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## wheart (May 26, 2016)

I normally like to back up my words with proof, because without that, who's to say where I'm making my assessments from? Actual/quantifiable data is the only proof as to what's true.

I believe novellas sell just fine as long as the story satisfies the readers' expectations. Before I started my cozy mystery series, I made sure to do my research to see how novella lengths sell since that's my preferred story length. Since I found many authors doing well with them, I dove in. Since I only have two books out so far, I can't give my own data results yet (although I will say that I'm currently happy with my sales for being an new/unknown author pen name in this genre. At least I get sales and KU reads every day, lol. My 3rd book is coming out next week, so that should help too) but below is proof that novellas sell in cozy mystery.

I would suggest anybody who wants to write shorter works, you check out the TOP 100 Bestsellers list, Short Reads, and Short Stories sections in your respective genres at Amazon. Go through them to see how those authors rank on their backlist of their other shorter works to see how they have done over time.

Here are the first 2 pages (Ranks 1 - 40) of TOP 100 Bestsellers list in Cozy Mystery (as of when I grabbed them, so the ranking will change when Amazon does their hourly refreshes. Also note that the ebook page count may be even less if it has a paperback version too, since the ebook pages normally take on the paperback page count. I didn't bother to do that extensive a report, sorry) ...

#6 (173 pages) Witchy Trouble by Nic Saint

#7 (156) Murder at the Clinic by Dianne Harmon

#8 (192) Much Ado in Maggody by Joan Hess

#9 (163) Nightmare in Nantucket by Hope Callaghan

#14 (18 Murder Takes Center Stage by Tracy D. Comstock

#17 (15 Count Catula by Kathi Daley

#19 (112) The Pumpkin Killer by Stacey Alabaster

#23 (173) Pumpkin Pleas by Jessica Beck

#24 (70) The House on the Shore by A.L. Jambor

#25 (190) Witch Myth Omnibus by Alexandria Clark

#32 (18 Wash, Rinse, Die by Constance Barker

#36 (142) Bacon Chedder Murder by Patti Benning

#37 (106) All Hallows Eve Heist by Anna Celese Burke

There are probably a lot more novella lengths on the other pages of the TOP 100 list, but I didn't want to spend the time to go through all of them lol. You get the idea from just the first Top 40. Anyway, good luck everyone who wants to write shorter works! Like somebody earlier said... I too believe that novellas will become more popular as time goes on. As for myself, I only read shorter works. I enjoy the faster-paced stories. As long as the story satisfies me, I'm happy 

*Edited to add the TOP Bestsellers link*


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

I think everyone is going to write what they want to write because they don't want to listen to others and then learn their own lessons the hard way. That's how people learn best, after all. That's certainly how I learned best.


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## Decon (Feb 16, 2011)

wheart said:


> I normally like to back up my words with proof, because without that, who's to say where I'm making my assessments from? Actual/quantifiable data is the only proof as to what's true.
> 
> I believe novellas sell just fine as long as the story satisfies the readers' expectations. Before I started my cozy mystery series, I made sure to do my research to see how novella lengths sell since that's my preferred story length. Since I found many authors doing well with them, I dove in. Since I only have two books out so far, I can't give my own data results yet (although I will say that I'm currently happy with my sales for being an new/unknown author pen name in this genre. At least I get sales and KU reads every day, lol. My 3rd book is coming out next week, so that should help too) but below is proof that novellas sell in cozy mystery.
> 
> ...


Those page length counts for nothing if they have a paper book. Those ebooks with paper books are likely a lot less of a page count in eBook terms. 90% of them are 99c. Make of that what you will. Those with 170 pages plus for the ebooks are a decent length for the genre.


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## BellaJames (Sep 8, 2016)

Thank you Wheart.


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## Pam771771 (Sep 24, 2016)

LindsayBuroker said:


> An author who has built up a following can sell anything.
> 
> (marketing tip: don't _call_ them novellas anywhere in the description).


Really? I am publishing a novella at the end of this month (currently on final edit), it's around 25,000 words.

I've been lurking on this forum for a while, and I picked up the impression that if you didn't want negative reviews about the length of the story to make it clear that it was a novella and not a novel.

Now I'm not sure what to do??


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## wheart (May 26, 2016)

Decon said:


> Those page length counts for nothing if they have a paper book. Those ebooks with paper books are likely a lot less of a page count in eBook terms. 90% of them are 99c. Make of that what you will.


Huh? They do count for something. You're actually saying what I already said in my post about paperbacks jacking up the page count, so those page counts I listed may be even LESS for the ebook version. Which even further proves Bella's (and those of us who advocate that novella length CAN sell) point. Am I reading your post correctly? lol. Sorry, but I might not be interpreting your post how you intended it. Are you for shorter works or against?



Decon said:


> Those with 170 pages plus for the ebooks are a decent length for the genre.


I believe that any length where you satisfy your audience's expectations and can make them happy with reading your works is 'decent.' To me size doesn't matter. It's the content and how you affect your reader to want to read more.

Some can do it within shorter works and do so successfully. Others prefer to do it in longer works and do so successfully. So in the end. Nobody is right. Nobody is wrong. It's just what works best for each of us.

An author who just doesn't resonate with readers won't sell whether they write longer or shorter works.

I'm looking for readers like me who want a fast light read. That's me. I know there are readers who read long and short. They don't care on the length as long as the story is entertaining and well done. They're also who I write for.

Then there are those who only read long works, and that's fine. They won't be my readers but that's okay. I don't need to rule the world, lol. But I'll be happy entertaining those who don't make length the deciding factor to delve into what may be a wonderful little story.

I write popcorn entertainment. I don't presume to do anything more than that. And if I can make my readers fall in love with my characters and want to keep reading about them and what they go through with solving each mystery, plus add those little twisty-turns to keep my readers guessing, then I'd have done my job and I'm happy


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## wheart (May 26, 2016)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I think everyone is going to write what they want to write because they don't want to listen to others and then learn their own lessons the hard way. That's how people learn best, after all. That's certainly how I learned best.


As I said in my above post, Amanda... I'm not saying anybody is right or wrong. I'm saying the only proof to what's true is quantifiable data. The data shows that novellas sell in Cozy Mystery. It doesn't mean that every novella-writing author is going to succeed (but as I also mentioned above; they may not succeed writing novel length either) but that's not what my above data was meant for. It was only to prove that novellas do sell and, yes, every author has to find out for themselves if it will sell for them.

Authors who write novellas may or may not make as much or more income than authors who write novels; I don't know that info because I haven't done extensive quantifiable data on that. And I don't really care to. But does it matter? For me, as long as there are successful authors making a good living with their novellas, that's good enough for me 

But I do know, from the author rankings, that Dianne Harmon writes novella-length cozies and her author's rank looks like this as of this posting:

#38 in Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery 
Yours, Amanda, looks like this:

#24 in Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery 
So you're ranked higher than she is, but to know what that stems from is hard to say (again, I don't have the data). What I do know is... you have 5 pages worth of books while she has 4. Your books are higher priced than hers are, as well.

Now let's hypothetically say she upped her book count in the next month to exceed yours by 10 or more (you're obviously a fast writer so she's gonna have to go like hell, lol, but of course, we're talkin' hypothetically  )... will she be ranked higher than you when that happens? Who knows? She may or may not. For me, I don't care. All I care about is that I have a chance with doing novella-length stories in my series because there are authors who are indeed doing them successfully.

Dianne Harmon and a few others who write novellas are always in the TOP 100 bestsellers list in Cozy, and there are others who never make it in the TOP 100, but their rankings are normally under 20k, so in my book, these factors are worth it for me giving it a try.

I'm not saying those of us who write novellas will have the same success as those authors, but we might not with novels either. All we can do is do our best to give our readers an enjoyable experience that makes reading our stories worth their while.

For me, I'm willing to give it a try.

Yes, again, many people have to find out for themselves. In some things, I can agree with you about 'Why reinvent the wheel? Learn from other people's mistakes;' however, in this case, there is no ONE way to do things and because there is proof that novellas are selling, I feel every author should find out what is true for themselves.

If our stories/writing just simply sucks, well, there's no hope for us with novels either, lol

So for now, even though I have utmost respect and admiration for your success (as well as Rosalind and any other successful author who advocates novels being the only way to go) and only wish you all much more to come... I must go with those like Dianne Harmon and the other novella-length authors who are having success to be my inspiration in my endeavors because that's where my heart lies. For now, anyway


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## sstroble (Dec 16, 2013)

BellaJames said:


> Thank you all for your comments.
> 
> ... Thing is *some* authors are making a living from writing novellas or short stories.
> 
> Yes most of them might be writing romance or erotica....


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

wheart said:


> As I said in my above post, Amanda... I'm not saying anybody is right or wrong. I'm saying the only proof to what's true is quantifiable data. The data shows that novellas sell in Cozy Mystery. It doesn't mean that every novella-writing author is going to succeed (but as I also mentioned above; they may not succeed writing novel length either) but that's not what my above data was meant for. It was only to prove that novellas do sell and, yes, every author has to find out for themselves if it will sell for them.
> 
> Authors who write novellas may or may not make as much or more income than authors who write novels; I don't know that info because I haven't done extensive quantifiable data on that. And I don't really care to. But does it matter? For me, as long as there are successful authors making a good living with their novellas, that's good enough for me
> 
> ...


And not all of my books are mysteries so they don't count toward mystery ranks, I have a pen name on there that also ranks high in the mystery category, etc. Dianne has been around a long time. She's one of the few who does novellas and makes it work. A lot more who do novellas don't make it work. Only writers with established followings are making it happen. What newbies are breaking through on the list with novellas and staying? How many of those books are on promo? How many of those books have staying power? How many of those books will only be on the list for three days and fall off? You have to watch a list closely to know how it works. I watch the cozy mystery list closely. I'm part of several reading groups and the bulk of the readers themselves (not my readers, mystery readers in general) say they want 60,000-90,000 words. I'm up on all of the category happenings. I gave my insight in that category because I watch it.
I'm a firm believer that everyone should do what they want. People want to hear what they want to hear and they have to come to their own conclusions. No matter how much evidence -- and trust me, we tear this apart in groups all of the time -- we have, people are going to do what they want to do. People learn better by failing. I know I did. Everyone should do what they want to do because they're honestly not going to listen to others.
It's fine. I'm used to it. Back to writing.


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## 75845 (Jan 1, 1970)

The Hollywood point is often misunderstood. If a director makes a movie of a novel they have to cut out a lot of the story and get flak from the fans for leaving out their favourite bit (Tom Bombadil?). If they buy a short story they get the story and get to insert a lot of their own creativity in without too many fans screaming "That's not in the book."

Many of the best-selling novels of yesterday would be considered novellas by today's buying public as the publishers pushed paperbacks to be wider so that they would market better spine out in a bookstore with fancy graphics etc. E.g. Hitchhikers Guide 42000 words is hard to read from a distance as you quickly glance along the shelves, but Breaking Dawn with a big chess piece is much more eye catching.

Personally I prefer shorter novels (what novellas were once called) as I can get through my reading challenges quicker on Goodreads.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

Nobody's saying novels are the only way to go. Just saying that your odds are statistically better with novels, and cautioning folks to look at the whole picture. Does novella x's author primarily write novels? What is the price? Etc. 

Individual authors aren't averages. If individual-you can write crackerjack novellas and connect with that subset of your market that prefers novellas, could be you'll do awesome. Odds are just odds, not determinants.


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

BellaJames said:


> When you say don't call them novellas, what about the readers that complain? Should you just add the word or page count to the end of the description then?


[/quote]


Fill in the Blank Author said:


> Lindsay might have a different answer but I suggest simply pricing appropriately for the size of the book. I tend to go $4.99 for full-length, $3.99 for short novels, and $2.99 for novellas.


Even with that price 'guide' I would think that, if it's a new author, or new series, readers might be miffed or surprised when they realize the book is a novella rather than novel length. (For an established novella series, this might not be an option, as many readers know what to expect.)


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## Ros_Jackson (Jan 11, 2014)

The data from several years of Smashwords surveys, plus the Author Earnings Report linked to earlier in the thread, points conclusively in one direction: more readers like novel-length books than short stories. In both cases this is data taken from the performance of a large number of books, and it's been very consistent over the years. This is why I'll be focusing on novels in the future.


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2016)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I'm going to co-sign Annies's post and add that novellas and short fiction don't seem to have the longevity that full novels do. So, yeah, a few people are making money off writing to trend (vs. market) and writing short. That's very few people, though. Just because a few did it doesn't mean others can. And, once that gravy train is over, it's over. You need to be constantly on your feet to hit the next trend. Longer books have a much longer shelf life from what I can tell.
> No one is saying what to write. They're merely saying you have a better chance of sticking with longer works. Some people believe they're going to be the exception and some prefer playing the odds. It's a personal choice.
> The other big concern is advertising. Novellas limit the type of advertising you can do. Keep that in mind.


And to take it one step further, Annie has sold more shorts than anyone I know. If there is an expert on this subject here, she is it.


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## Copperfield City (Apr 4, 2016)

xbriannova said:


> If what you say is true, then I'm glad, because chances are high that I'm going to publish some novellas, some of which will be set in the same world as my other works. I would be glad if people are snagging novellas up too, not just the novels.


I'm guessing the novellas would be a good way to expand the world and see if there's interest in those characters for more stories, either novellas or novels.


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## NoCat (Aug 5, 2010)

This_Way_Down said:


> And to take it one step further, Annie has sold more shorts than anyone I know. If there is an expert on this subject here, she is it.


Maybe. I'm quitting the short game. I stopped writing things under 45k words a long while ago (SFWA defines novel as 40k and up) and I'm now quitting writing anything under 60k words. I want longevity and flexibility. Shorter works don't give you either.


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2016)

Annie B said:


> Maybe. I'm quitting the short game. I stopped writing things under 45k words a long while ago (SFWA defines novel as 40k and up) and I'm now quitting writing anything under 60k words. I want longevity and flexibility. Shorter works don't give you either.


No doubt about that. I've only written a few short pieces. None were meant to be money makers - just fan fodder in between novels. For that, they are extremely useful. Particularly, if you expand a character or part of a world that you would have ignored in the main story.


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## tommy gun (May 3, 2015)

Just jumping in here with a quick question for those who write novella's to flesh out a series (characters, races and so on).  Are those novellas listed in the series or do you have a spin off series set up similarly titled?

I ask as I am in the middle of this now and several of the books I am writing will be shorter than a full book.  (SF and between 40-50K words)


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## Evan of the R. (Oct 15, 2013)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> Dianne has been around a long time.


Goodreads says her first book was published in 2012. However, that book ("Blue Coyote Motel") is not a cozy. Nor were the books like "Tea Party Teddy (The Teddy Saga #1)" that followed it.

As far as I can tell (and from what I remember), Ms. Harman started writing cozies with "Kelly's Koffee Shop (Cedar Bay Cozy Mystery #1)," which Goodreads says was first published on November 7th, 2014. That's less than two years ago.

Cheers to wheart for posting with actual, quantifiable data. Always nice to see.


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

_My experience is:_ Novellas do sell, but not well enough!

I make a living from novellas, but I do have 18 of them, plus box sets, across three series.

Would I personally recommend doing it? No. After three years at this I am switching to novels. No more novellas. I learned the hard way. Will I have much greater success with novels?_ In my opinion_, Yes. I don't doubt that for a second.

I love to read novellas and I love to write them, but this is my job, I'm in it to make money as well. And just sustaining my income level is becoming harder and harder, it isn't going upwards anymore continuing to do what I do. The market is constantly changing and we must change with it. I've heard people say that books are getting shorter, which I think is true, but they mean they are becoming more like 60k instead of 80k, _so far as I can tell._

Take these words to as the voice of experience _(for me, it might be different for you)_ or ignore them, the beauty of this industry is that you can do whatever you like! 

*Edited to add all the bits that are in italics so that no one reads this as me telling them what they should do, which was never my intention. I'm only giving my own viewpoint as a novella writer on the issue of selling novellas.*


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I'm going to co-sign Annies's post and add that novellas and short fiction don't seem to have the longevity that full novels do. So, yeah, a few people are making money off writing to trend (vs. market) and writing short. That's very few people, though. Just because a few did it doesn't mean others can. And, once that gravy train is over, it's over. You need to be constantly on your feet to hit the next trend. Longer books have a much longer shelf life from what I can tell.
> No one is saying what to write. They're merely saying you have a better chance of sticking with longer works. Some people believe they're going to be the exception and some prefer playing the odds. It's a personal choice.
> The other big concern is advertising. Novellas limit the type of advertising you can do. Keep that in mind.


Tagging Annie and Amanda here, and also Rosalind. And for gosh's sake, if one won't believe Lindsay Buroker, I don't know who they'll believe.



> Thing is some authors are making a living from writing novellas or short stories.


Some authors are making a living from writing a lot of things, or will say they are, but that's no reason to write a thread that encourages others who want to make a living to do the same, when there's more evidence to the contrary. There are always outliers. You can't base business decisions on them. Or, you shouldn't.

Short works are very hard to achieve a ROI. When you factor in covers, editing, formatting and whatever other expenses there are, then the selling price (not much outside of erotica is going to get you more than .99), and it's going to take a very long time to earn back. Add in the fact that most places won't take anything shorter than a novel for advertising, and how are you going to get readers to buy it?

As has been noted, shorter works don't "stick" very well. There has to be a continued stream of books to even keep the author name up. When the amount of effort is factored in writing all those short works for very little return, it only makes sense that going for novels is the right way to go.

I've been reading about some coming revolution in which short stories/novellas are going to really take off. It's been years, and it hasn't happened. There was a brief moment of glory with KUv1, but that's long gone. Like many, I'm doing longer works, going to decent novel length. And I love writing short stories/novellas. Just love it. Short stories suit my writing style. Now, I've accepted that I really can only do them for anthologies where they might help get my other books seen.

I can see reality. I'm not going on what some authors say, I'm looking at things like the Smashwords surveys and Author Earnings, plus what others with time in the trenches are reporting.

I'm sorry if feelings are hurt when people are advised to not do short stories, but it's good advice nevertheless.


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## Guest (Oct 6, 2016)

tomgermann said:


> Just jumping in here with a quick question for those who write novella's to flesh out a series (characters, races and so on). Are those novellas listed in the series or do you have a spin off series set up similarly titled?
> 
> I ask as I am in the middle of this now and several of the books I am writing will be shorter than a full book. (SF and between 40-50K words)


You could expand on it, but the real fleshing out needs to be done within the series. Not everyone will read the shorts. In fact most won't. Your core fan base will love it though. And you really need to do everything you can to keep them happy. Backstories of secondary characters who have become fan favorites or bit of world history can be fun.


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## Can neither confirm nor deny that I am W.R. Ginge (Oct 12, 2014)

I write Fantasy--and sometimes a bit of scifi  --and my novellas outsell my novels. (They're in my sig: Twelve Days of Faery, Fire in the Blood, and The First Chill of Autumn)

However.

HOWEVER.

Three of the novellas are a trilogy (standalone but connected), and they are the biggest sellers of all my novellas. A lot of readers who buy one go on to buy the others. Also, I'll be publishing the second novel in my full-length novel series early next year, so the buy-on effect of a series of full-length novels vs a series of novellas will be interesting to see. Also ALSO, my novellas are 30k-49k in length, so a little on the longer side for novellas.

Make of that what you will


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## Decon (Feb 16, 2011)

wheart said:


> Huh? They do count for something. You're actually saying what I already said in my post about paperbacks jacking up the page count, so those page counts I listed may be even LESS for the ebook version. Which even further proves Bella's (and those of us who advocate that novella length CAN sell) point. Am I reading your post correctly? lol. Sorry, but I might not be interpreting your post how you intended it. Are you for shorter works or against?


I'm for shorter works and enjoy reading them, but I've given up selling them. In fact I've just about deleted them all and only left the compilation and a couple of 10,000 word stories. Just making my own observations which were similar to yours, that's all. I write short stories (5,000 words) up to novelettes (10,000 words) I've not tried novellas (around 40,000 words) For now I concentrate on full length works around 100,000 words.

My 10,000 word story eBooks come in at around 45 pages. So that's why I said anything around 170 pages + is a decent length as a novella (40,000 words +) as they border on novel length.

The point I made about the 99c, is from what I experienced. With my Lunch Break Thrillers, (65,000 words total) when it was 99c, I regularly sold 300 + per month in the UK which gave me a top five spot in anthologies, rubbing shoulders and jostling for chart position with the likes of Edgar Allen Poe, Agatha Christie and Stephen King. As soon as I increased the price to $2.99, it tanked. So yes, you have to write what people will want to read, but there is also the consideration of what they are prepared to pay to consider them value for money when set against longer works, or branded authors as competition.

If Amazon allowed 25c to 45c for short stories, then I would have not deleted my individual shorts, because that is where they should be on price in relation to longer works.

I'm not saying you can't make money from writing shorts, novelettes, or novellas of whatever length, or that people shouldn't publish them, but they should be aware that the market is limited to certain genres as you have pointed out and a niche market in others and that price does count.

Unfortunately, while Amazon have given us all the opportunity to publish shorter works that trad-publishers would not consider, they have overlooked the 'value for money' price points in their royalty structure and minimum pricing in relation to lower word counts. All I am saying is that makes it harder at the lower page count to find customers willing to buy in most genres. As an example, if you price a short story of 10,000 words at 99c, then that equates to a 100,000 word story at $9.90. At 99c for a 40,000 word novella, I would consider that value for money, but then I like shorter stories.

I'm tired, so I hope that what I have said makes sense.


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

Oh good heavens, here we go again. Can't people just accept a fact as true and leave it at that? SO WHAT if you don't write novellas. SO WHAT if your bread-and-butter comes from full-length novels. Does that mean it should be denied that another form of writing sells also? It's not an either/or thing--just because some people buy novellas doesn't mean that novels _don't_ sell.

From the OP:


BellaJames said:


> I'd say Novellas and short stories do sell. Maybe they don't sell for you but they do sell for some authors, in some genres.


See? Nowhere does Bella say that novellas are overtaking full-length books, or that they're the _only_ thing that's selling. Only that, yes, they DO sell, maybe better in some genres than others. (After all, if they didn't sell, would Patterson the Great have started a whole line of them?) In any case, I have trouble believing that people might feel threatened by it. 

So why can't people just accept the statement at face value, and say either A) I'm happy for those having success with novellas, or B) darn, my novellas don't sell that well, for some reason or another, but I'm happy for those who _are_ selling.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Jena H said:


> Oh good heavens, here we go again. Can't people just accept a fact as true and leave it at that? SO WHAT if you don't write novellas. SO WHAT if your bread-and-butter comes from full-length novels. Does that mean it should be denied that another form of writing sells also? It's not an either/or thing--just because some people buy novellas doesn't mean that novels _don't_ sell.
> 
> From the OP:
> See? Nowhere does Bella say that novellas are overtaking full-length books, or that they're the _only_ thing that's selling. Only that, yes, they DO sell, maybe better in some genres than others. (After all, if they didn't sell, would Patterson the Great have started a whole line of them?) In any case, I have trouble believing that people might feel threatened by it.
> ...


So no one is allowed to have a different opinion or share what they've learned from their own publishing experience unless they agree?


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## Evenstar (Jan 26, 2013)

Jena H said:


> So why can't people just accept the statement at face value, and say either A) I'm happy for those having success with novellas, or B) darn, my novellas don't sell that well, for some reason or another, but I'm happy for those who _are_ selling.


It might be a bit of a short and boring thread if we didn't debate it? I rather like reading the back and forth and the interesting and informative opinions of all the different points of view.


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> So no one is allowed to have a different opinion or share what they've learned from their own publishing experience unless they agree?


Some of it's less like 'sharing opinions' and more like putting those opinions out like fact, which isn't very helpful to anyone. Makes it sound a bit like a schoolyard: "Yes, they do too sell!" "No, they don't, not enough, anyway!" "Says who?" "Says me!" Etc., etc.



Evenstar said:


> It might be a bit of a short and boring thread if we didn't debate it? I rather like reading the back and forth and the interesting and informative opinions of all the different points of view.


Again, some of this thread has been honest debate (which genres sell with shorter works, etc.), but other posts have been more dismissive and defensive.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Jena H said:


> Some of it's less like 'sharing opinions' and more like putting those opinions out like fact, which isn't very helpful to anyone. Makes it sound a bit like a schoolyard: "Yes, they do too sell!" "No, they don't, not enough, anyway!" "Says who?" "Says me!" Etc., etc.
> 
> Again, some of this thread has been honest debate (which genres sell with shorter works, etc.), but other posts have been more dismissive and defensive.


I think sharing data points is fact. I have 10 of the top 100 mystery short reads right now. I write both long and short. My long sells much, much better than my short. Should I not share those data points?


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## Jena H (Oct 2, 2011)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I think sharing data points is fact. ... Should I not share those data points?


Yes, pertinent data is good; as I said, honest debate is always useful, But, as I said above, rather than being productive, some posts are more dismissive and defensive. Those are the ones that are not helpful.


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## BellaJames (Sep 8, 2016)

Jena H said:


> Oh good heavens, here we go again. Can't people just accept a fact as true and leave it at that? SO WHAT if you don't write novellas. SO WHAT if your bread-and-butter comes from full-length novels. Does that mean it should be denied that another form of writing sells also? It's not an either/or thing--just because some people buy novellas doesn't mean that novels _don't_ sell.
> 
> From the OP:
> See? Nowhere does Bella say that novellas are overtaking full-length books, or that they're the _only_ thing that's selling. Only that, yes, they DO sell, maybe better in some genres than others. (After all, if they didn't sell, would Patterson the Great have started a whole line of them?) In any case, I have trouble believing that people might feel threatened by it.
> ...





Jena H said:


> Yes, pertinent data is good; as I said, honest debate is always useful, But, as I said above, rather than being productive, some posts are more dismissive and defensive. Those are the ones that are not helpful.


Thank you

That's my point. I've seen the same thing discussed on another forum and the more established authors come in and say, "Novellas don't really sell, write novels."
That's pretty much whats happening here.

You are only looking at your experience, your success in selling novellas. You are also not considering indie authors and trad pub authors who publish in other stores. You are mainly looking at Amazon.

I did have a list of authors in the short reads chart who are selling but I didn't post it. _My bad._ I should have. I just mentioned that 6 novellas are in the main top 100 on amazon.

I repeat that some authors make a living off publishing shorter works and some authors make barely nothing. Some authors make a living off publishing novels and some authors cannot even sell a handful of books a month.

Making a general statement that novellas don't sell, based on your experience doesn't make any sense.

It's not really a healthy debate and discussion, when more established authors say, "Just listen to this author, she knows what she's talking about. She's published loads of novellas and her novels outsell her novellas."

Then this thread might as well be locked.


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## Douglas Milewski (Jul 4, 2014)

Share away. Today's data points are ... today's data points.

The real question for the writer is whether you will get an acceptable return for novellas, with "acceptable" defined by the writer. If everyone gets out of novellas, will that create underserved markets that are good for a few people but lousy for many? I don't know, but somewhere in there, markets will get underserved, even the novella market. When? Which genre? I don't know. Some writers are bound to figure this out and be happy. Go them.

Right now, for many writers, novellas aren't worth their time. Price points, readers, and royalties reward longer works. Odds are, Hollywood won't option anything.  The math is easy. However, none of this means that your business decisions are invalid if you do write novellas.


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## Gentleman Zombie (May 30, 2011)

People are also confusing short stories with novellas. There's a word of difference between a 150 - 180 page novella and a 20 page short story.

All the OP said was that novellas appear to sell well in some genres. She didn't say they sell better than long novels. She didn't say "hey everybody write short stories." I don't get the controversy.

Novellas do sell well in some genres. Erotica & Erotic romance being the most obvious. But there are some other short read categories that aren't doing badly either. Including Young Adult & Teen as well as Scifi & Fantasy. You can go and check the short read rankings and author profiles yourselves.. it's all right there.

There's nothing controversial about stating that in some genre Novellas seem to do o.k. For those writers who enjoy reading and writing novella length that's encouraging information. Of course in the world of KU a 60 to 80k novel is going to net more profit than a 35-40k novella. That's just common sense and the OP didn't say anything to contrary.

Also not too long ago, an author who did well starting out with shorts was interviewed on the Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u8YIpdKLZY

It's an interesting interview for those who are curious about publishing shorter stuff. At least another perspective to consider.


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## The Bass Bagwhan (Mar 9, 2014)

Like a few others in this thread I've learned the hard way that novellas aren't the way to go. Most dedicated readers — that's the same readers who represent a majority of the market we're hoping to appeal to — prefer and actively seek out full length novels over shorter works.

Forget data, market analysis and emerging trends, it's just the way it is.


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## DexyDoo (Jul 12, 2016)

There are plenty of digital first publishers that accept novellas. (Romance / Erotic Romance) 

Carina Press (an imprint of Harlequin), Loose ID, Evernight, Liquid Silver, etc. 

If novellas didn't sell, seems like publishers wouldn't want them.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Just as a point of reference for cozy mysteries, I compared a new release for a short (which is 28,000 words) and a full book (which is about 90,000 words). For release month, I made $5,500 off the short. Certainly not bad. For the full book, I made almost $30,000 for the month (just off the book). These are books in the same world. If you take out KU reads, I made $800 on the short and $18,000 on the novel in those months. I keep writing the shorts to use as marketing tools and they serve their purpose, but the money for me is in full novels. Also, the shorts don't stay nearly as high on the charts, so in subsequent months I make less on sell through because the short market is much more limited. They fall faster in ranking and are much harder to juice for promotions. Also, since a lot of places won't take shorter work for advertising purposes, I'm limited with how I can promote them.
I think everyone should write what they want. In fact, I think everyone should write novellas and I'll stick to novels by myself. However, I'm not going to pretend that I don't think novels have a significantly longer shelf life and aren't capable of bringing in a lot more money. That would be a lie.


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## Mari Oliver (Feb 12, 2016)

she-la-ti-da said:


> Tagging Annie and Amanda here, and also Rosalind. And for gosh's sake, if one won't believe Lindsay Buroker, I don't know who they'll believe.
> 
> Some authors are making a living from writing a lot of things, or will say they are, but that's no reason to write a thread that encourages others who want to make a living to do the same, when there's more evidence to the contrary. There are always outliers. You can't base business decisions on them. Or, you shouldn't.
> 
> ...


I couldn't agree more. I found this out the hard way as well. Right now I'm focusing on longer works and hold out hope in that.


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## Drakon (Dec 6, 2014)

Amanda M. Lee said:


> I think sharing data points is fact. I have 10 of the top 100 mystery short reads right now. I write both long and short. My long sells much, much better than my short. Should I not share those data points?


How long is the best story that you have ever written? Not the one that has sold best but the story that still gives you chills when you read it?


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Drakon said:


> How long is the best story that you have ever written? Not the one that has sold best but the story that still gives you chills when you read it?


Probably 95,000 words.


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## Amanda M. Lee (Jun 3, 2014)

Drakon said:


> Do you mind briefly explaining why that particular 95,000 word book is your personal favorite?
> 
> I ask because I write novel length books. When I finally decided to write a novella I found it the most freeing thing. No longer was I pounding down the proverbial word count beat. Everything that came out was tight and hot to the plot and characterization. I haven't published it yet but to me it's the best thing I've ever written.
> 
> ...


I don't pad books, nor set out with a word goal in mind. I outline my story and write. The book ends where it needs to end.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

Wow, that wasn't insulting much. O_O


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

Whether novellas sell for everyone and whether they're a good idea I don't know. I can tell you that I have a single novella that has been selling enough to stay between 7k and 15k since it came out in July. Of course, some people don't consider that 'selling'.

ETA: However, it was the 2nd in a series. It wasn't 'fodder' because I try not to write 'fodder' but it was intended to build on the characters and to set up the situation for the next novel.


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## 75845 (Jan 1, 1970)

I prefer to read shorter novels, but I find in both trade and indie published work that short is often not written tight. A short novel should have the same type of twists and turns to compel the reader to keep reading, but too often short novels (aka novellas) read like a simplified plot. In other words they are not a full narrative written tightly, but a skimpy narrative written as loosely as a long novel. Writing short novels is a different skill and art form to writing long and it is a skill that is passing into yore. I am sure that many readers have had my second thoughts about purchasing or borrowing short novels because of too many experiences of reading what turned out to be a padded out short story. Publishers have trained readers to expect longer works, but authors of poorly written short novels have had their part to play in the preference for length. Having said that I would rather read a poor short novel than a long novel that is really just a padded out short story and I've read a few too many of those lately.


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## Gentleman Zombie (May 30, 2011)

Ok...  I don't think insulting people is the way to go here.  Especially after a best-selling author has has gone out of her way to share information with the rest of us. This is exactly the kind of behavior that's chased away other popular authors - and I'd hate to see it happen again. 

Pretty much we're all saying the same things: 
- Novellas sell O.K. in some genres. 
- Novellas don't sell as well as novels. 
- Novels give better R.O.I. than novellas - in general. 
- Some authors have managed to carve out a niche w/novellas. 

None of this information is contradictory or invalidates the other. This can certainly be a civil and respectful conversation. 

Also, thank you Amanda for your post and your graciousness.


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## wheart (May 26, 2016)

Oh my, lots of posts happened before I could post this, and since I had already written most of it last night but couldn't post it until today, I'll leave it. It's responding to Amanda's last post to me ...



Amanda M. Lee said:


> Dianne has been around a long time. She's one of the few who does novellas and makes it work. A lot more who do novellas don't make it work.


I totally understand that. But there are a LOT of novel authors that don't make that work either. It all boils down to compelling content, and targeting those readers who don't mind shorter works. For my definition of novella, I'm use this chart (novella = 17,500 to 40,000 words)

Here's a few other authors making entire series novellas work in cozy mystery (although Stephanie Bond isn't cozy per se, I added her to this list) ...

Samantha Silver (new pen name, 3 books in series, all ranking less than 6k, price: $0.99, $3.99, $3.99)
Stephanie Bond's Coma Girl Series (Author Rank: #18 in Kindle eBooks > Romance > Mystery & Suspense > Suspense 
Emma Watts (Only her Book 1 is novel length; all the rest in the series are novellas)
Emily Page
Raven Snow
Leona Fox
A.R. Winters
J.R. Pearson

Good to see other authors chime in about the genre they're writing in.



Amanda M. Lee said:


> Only writers with established followings are making it happen. What newbies are breaking through on the list with novellas and staying? How many of those books are on promo? How many of those books have staying power? How many of those books will only be on the list for three days and fall off?


But isn't that the same for novel authors too? Most won't make it happen whether they're newbies or not. And as far as newbies ... well, everyone was a newbie once, even Dianne Harman, so we gotta start somewhere.

It stands to reason most newbies won't have sticking power because they haven't got a large enough fan base yet, and unless they get a heck of a lot of people spreading the word about their book, just as is done with novels, you have to write more books in the series, and do some advertising to promote them. Those who are already established/successful have the advantage of a fan base/mailing list to boost their sales and get them into the better rankings for Amazon's algos to provide more visibility.

Again, every successful author started as a newbie. Some are successful out of the gate, while others have to build their way.



Amanda M. Lee said:


> Everyone should do what they want to do because they're honestly not going to listen to others.


It's not a matter of people not wanting to listen to others, it's more likely a matter of everyone finding out what works for them and the level to which they'll be satisfied with, income wise, and what's 'doable' for their pacing and current situation.

You write fast. Many others don't. Some people can only write part-time due to their fulltime jobs and other obligations. Some people might be writing fulltime, but can't spit out a novel every month.

Some people aren't satisfied with making only $3,000 per month, but to some others, that amount might make a huge difference for them. Heck even just $1,000/month will help someone struggling with bills and who's living 'pay check to paycheck.'

But because they can't write fast enough (whether it's just their pace or they can only write part-time), writing a full-length novel might take them MONTHS. So with a compelling story in novella length, they might possibly turn out a story a month within their series and be able to keep the visibility momentum to some extent.

They can always bundle into boxed sets by 3's or 4's for a higher royalty take if they're selling individually for $0.99 each (but novellas can sell for $2.99 also), but at least they'll be having a chance to publish something.

Might keep them in the game and prevent that lengthy novel to sit for 10 years or more because they can't finish it and don't have those little spurts of money coming in to give them incentive to keep at it.

Not every author can get a boost from BookBub (or the other promo sites) even if they wrote novel-length books. They can't either afford it, or BB doesn't pick them, or don't have enough reviews to qualify. Even soliciting for reviews and generating sales from a mailing list will be hard, since most newbies won't have one. It takes time to build a fan base/mailing list.

How many authors writing novel-length works can do one a month? Or even one every other month? Probably not many if they can't write fast or write fulltime.

But with starting with novellas, they may be able to do one a month and eventually make some money to be able to pay off bills, which will keep them motivated to continue writing, and eventually they may endeavor into novels when time and circumstances permit.

So I'm sorry that you feel that people aren't listening, but there are successful authors saying their novellas sell well for them, so it's not about 'not listening' but who each chooses to listen to.

Again, everyone's circumstances are different and we need to start out with what's doable/attainable to meet our short-term goals. Then later, for those of us who are keeping on the back-burner what you novel advocates are saying ... we can go for the long-term advantages, should that be novel-length stories for those of us who can write them and make them work better for us, in the way that you and others have.


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## wheart (May 26, 2016)

Decon said:


> I'm tired, so I hope that what I have said makes sense.


LOL, I know the feeling. Yes, I did understand what you said. Thank you for expounding on my request for clarification and sharing your experience.

Actually, I'd like to thank everyone for sharing their viewpoints and experiences. And I mean those on both sides of this debate. I feel if we can't discuss issues, disagree civilly, and share experiences/opinions/viewpoints, then it defeats the value of these forums.

There should always be people chiming in with their POVs on both sides so that those on the fence (or maybe thought one way but due to reading others' experiences might change their mind), can assess what's right for them for their situation/circumstance/style/whatever.

I have valued everyone's input here.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

locking temporarily while we review . . . thanks for understanding.


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