: A given publisher might have specific rules. In general there's no hard and fast rules, like a novel must be at least 40,000 words, so if your story is 39,998 words it's not long enough

@Bryan361

Vote Up Vote Down

A given publisher might have specific rules.

In general there's no hard and fast rules, like a novel must be at least 40,000 words, so if your story is 39,998 words it's not long enough to call a "novel".

Realistically, if you write a story that is 50 words long and submit it to a publisher as a novel, they're not likely to be interested. Maybe a publisher would print a one-page novel as some sort of novelty (no pun intended), but it would be a hard sell, more a joke than a serious book.

I'd say in general you'd have to have 30,000 to 40,000 words to be considered a "novel". Anything less than that is a novella or a short story.

I'm suddenly reminded of the classic, "Shortest Horror Story Ever Told": "The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door."

(0)

Login to post a comment!