1. Kit Carruthers

    Kit Carruthers New Member

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    Short Story How long does a story have to be to be considered a novella?

    Discussion in 'Genre Discussions' started by Kit Carruthers, Dec 20, 2015.

    Would like 20, 25 pages be considered a novella or a short story?
     
  2. datahound2u

    datahound2u Member

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    And if I could so impose on those gifted and experienced writers who decide to answer and/or comment on @Kit Caruthers' thread, what kind of market is there for novellas?
     
  3. X Equestris

    X Equestris Contributor Contributor

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    They're usually separated by word count rather than page number, which varies based on formatting. Even then, the distinction is rather arbitrary. Different places have different standards. The SFFWA considers anything between 17,500 words and 40,000 words to be a novella.
     
  4. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Assuming 250 words per page, a 20 page story is about 5K words - definitely short story territory.

    In terms of a market? As with so many other things, it depends on genre. There's a pretty solid erotica and romance market in novellas, but less so in other genres. It may be easier to sell self-pubbed novellas (at an appropriately lower price) than self-pubbed novels, as a reader may be more willing to take a chance on a 99 cent novella rather than a $3.99 novel.
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2015
    AASmith and datahound2u like this.
  5. datahound2u

    datahound2u Member

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    That's very good information, @BayView! Thanks for sharing.
     
  6. Kit Carruthers

    Kit Carruthers New Member

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    Yes! Thanks guys.
     

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