I am thinking of going down the self publishing path. Now looking at most agents and publishers websites, it seems the expected word count for most novels is around 70-90K. Now these word counts may have made sense in the traditional world, where books had to be printed, bound and shipped all over the world.
If I am self publishing in digital format. Do I still need to follow these arbitrary word count limits?
I ask, as I have a 60k novel, which is longer than a novella (50k words), but shorter than what agents expect. Originally, I was going to add another 10-15k words, mainly by adding more plot, and developing sub plots. But now, I'm wondering, is it worth the effort?
Do readers care for these word count limits? Is it worth me padding in the extra words, to meet the limit of traditional publishers, when I'm going to self publish?
Answer
All that readers care about is that you present them with a well-crafted compelling story. Length is of minimal importance. Some of the best written and most memorable stories have well below 60- or even 50,000 words. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Of Mice and Men, Slaughterhouse Five, Fight Club, and The Great Gatsby all have less than 60k words (Hitchhiker's only has about 46k). If your story is complete at 60k words, type two more, The End, and call it a day.
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