How Long Is It?

When you begin to interact in the world of writers, there are a few terms that are taken for granted, ones that you should know and use easily.

First of all, manuscript length is measured in words, not pages. The number of pages the published book will have can vary greatly and is not evident in your unfinished manuscript. The typical paperback fiction--excluding romances and sagas--is between 70-100,000 words. This can translate into anywhere from 200 to 600 pages, depending on the printer, how chapters are divided, typeface, etc. Your computer-generated word-count is sufficient in explaining the length of your work.

Publishing avenues also vary greatly and you should understand the difference. Typically when asked if you've had a book "published," people mean "by an established, royalty-paying publishing house." Countless print-on-demand publishers, vanity publishers, and self-publishing options exist and can be an acceptable option for a writer--as long as you understand the limitations. Don't be fooled by the fancy ads on the Internet that advertise for "authors." Authentic publishing houses do not have to advertise. They are inundated with more manuscripts than they can possibly evaluate.

So if you are searching for a mainstream publishing opportunity, and the offer looks too good to be true---it is. If you have to pay THEM, it's not traditional publishing. These for-profit printers will pump you up with confidence that your book is fantastic, but the sad reality is, if you've got the bucks, you've got the book. Don't be sucked into this avenue unless you have a sure-fire way to market, promote, and distribute your book. The vanity publishers won't do this for you because they don't have any more clout than you do. The publishing world gives no credit whatsoever to a self-published book unless you have proven sales of tens of thousands of books.

There are reputable self-publishers out there, just be very careful who you're giving money to. If you're in a rush to get your book published and no traditional route opens up to you, it may be because the book doesn't have as much sales potential as you believe it does. The self-pubs won't give you the quality of editing found in the mainline houses and unfortunately, it usually shows in the quality of books produced.