July 17, 2012
It’s not a short story but it’s not a novel. What the devil is it and what’s it worth to you? 19
by Beverley
Yes, indeed, what is this thing we call the novella?
Well per RWA (Romance Writers of America) a novella is fictional work between 20,000 – 40,000 words. To put that into print perspective that would be 67 – 135 pages. For those who read Harlequin’s shorter category novels like Presents, Romance or Desire, it would be at least 10,000-15,000 words (33 – 50 pages) shorter than that and as short as less than half that length.
Now that I’ve hopefully given those who aren’t familiar with novellas a little perspective on their length, I’ll tell you how else novellas usually differ from novel length books (50,000 words and up–don’t ask me what the books in the 40,000-50,000 word count range are called. Apparently they end up in the Twilight Zone or something). A novella doesn’t have room for any subplots. Word count just doesn’t permit it. It moves at a faster pace because it has to to go through all the key points that make up a good story. The key though is it needs to be a satisfying read so the reader doesn’t feel short changed. The story shouldn’t feel rushed. Sure you can wish the book was longer and drawn out more, but isn’t that the same for a really great full-length book (80 – 100k +)?
With the advent of digital publishing, every major publisher has a digital-only line. In the past, publishing novellas on their own–as in, not part of an anthology–was cost prohibitive, it’s not anymore. Publishers and authors are putting out more novellas than ever before. My question is this, what is the most you’d pay for such a book, this book that would be anywhere from 67-135 pages? Would you expect to pay less if it was 67 pages and more if it was 135 pages? Or would it be all the same for you?
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Jul 17, 2012 @ 14:13:40
I don’t mind novellas but I would rather have a little bit longer story.
Jul 17, 2012 @ 14:53:37
So, Bev, is this your way of testing the waters to write more novellas? (And remember, we believe more from you is a good thing!)
Jul 17, 2012 @ 15:01:11
Hehehehe. Actually, I’m not asking this specifically for me. I won’t say never (because you’re NEVER supposed to say that unless it has to do with some heinous crime or something like that), but I’m disinclined to do novellas. I’m so long-winded, I have a hard time writing that length. LOL. I however, will do category length books. I think I would manage those much better.
Jul 17, 2012 @ 15:05:17
If a novella only has 65 pages, I’m not sure readers will pay more than $.99. Overall, I think an author is safe if she prices a novella between $.99-$1.99. If it’s more than this, then it really depends on the page count and if it’s a favorite author.
Jul 17, 2012 @ 15:12:00
I voted that I wouldn’t pay more than $2.99 for a novella, but Once and only once I paid $4.49. I wanted the book so bad that it didn’t matter to me, but that is not normal for me.
Jul 17, 2012 @ 15:13:06
I like the Holiday novellas the best, but the kind that will segway into a full length story, those are great.
Jul 17, 2012 @ 15:20:42
I love novella’s no matter what the length. I find that often they are a great way for an author to “connect” two books that might have a long time between publication and also for characters that we’ve met in a story but who have never had their own story told!
I generally don’t decide to buy or not buy a book depending on it’s price whether it’s s short story, novella, anthology or “regular” book (whether that’s an e-book or “traditional” book – hard cover or paperback).
After all have you checked out the prices in the grocery store lately? When I got married we had a $10 – $15 a week food budget and I was up-set when chicken went up to 9 cents/pound and thrilled when Prime Rib would go on sale for 99 cents/pound. Now your lucky to be able to buy just the protein for two dinners what I paid for a week’s groceries!
When you look at the cost of a book and that years from now you can re-read it, gift it or donate it that’s a pretty good “bargain” to me!
Jul 17, 2012 @ 15:21:06
I like novellas because sometime they have a back story to a novel series, but I would like it to be longer than 65 pages at least make it 100 or something. But I do expect the price to not be higher than $3 because it is a novella and not a full length novel.
Jul 17, 2012 @ 15:23:53
My general rule of thumb is absolutely no more than $1 per 10k. I’m more likely to pay that for a favorite author and less likely to pay the max on that rule for a new-to-me author.
In general, I’m not that keen on novellas because if I like the characters and their story, I don’t want to leave them and if I don’t like them, story length doesn’t matter anyway.
Jul 17, 2012 @ 15:44:54
So you would pay $10 for a full-length 100k book?
Jul 17, 2012 @ 19:16:25
Unlike print books (where you can flip to the back and check), an ebook doesn’t always indicate a page/word count and the short/novella/novel definitions vary by publisher so the “value” of your dollar is more ambiguous. When you consider that the average hardcover is closer to $30 and “premium” paperbacks are $10, I have no problem paying $10 for a 100k book (print or digital). I wish there were more tiers in pricing as I don’t think it’s fair, for readers or authors, to have the same price on a 50k novel and a 150k one. It seems like three times as much work product (not taking effort and quality into consideration) should yield different results. There is a limit however, as I don’t want to be paying out the nose for an opus (War and Peace runs ~560k).
Jul 17, 2012 @ 15:41:21
I like reading novellas. Especially when I just want to get a quick read in. I don’t mind paying for a story as long as it is worth it. I will buy one from my favorite authors.
Jul 17, 2012 @ 18:50:57
A friend of mine is trying to get me to purchase a novella written by her cousin and a co-author. They’re selling this for $5! I told when it’s $3 less I’d buy it.
I do buy a fair number of 99¢ novellas, and several have led me to purchase the author’s longer works.
Jul 17, 2012 @ 19:01:00
I enjoy novellas as sometimes you just want to read something short. I don’t think I would pay more than $3 for one, and that would have to be from a favorite author and at the longer length. I’m not really a fan of prequel novellas if the full length book isn’t going to be out for months. I kind of feel that I’m left hanging after getting just a taste and I want the rest within a month or two. I also really appreciate when authors clearly spell out word count or page length in the description!
Jul 17, 2012 @ 20:45:18
Hi, Beverley!
This was a tough one to answer. In general, I’d pay between 0.99 to 3.99 for any work that interests me — novella or full-length. (I’d probably pay the max 3.99 for a favorite author’s novella.)
Length is not a factor for me — it’s the quality of the story rather than the number of pages that draws me in.
From what I’ve seen on Amazon, 0.99 – 1.99 seem to be the price point for short stories to e-novellas. 3.99 and 4.99 are promo prices for full-length novels — with regular prices being 6.99 to 7.99 (which reflects their paperback prices.)
Jul 17, 2012 @ 20:54:30
Interesting poll results. For me the longer the better, so I am a little in the minority. But fun to see what others thought!
Jul 17, 2012 @ 21:05:52
Interesting questions. I prefer full length novels, but don’t mind a novella every once in a while.
Jul 17, 2012 @ 23:21:56
Interesting post Bev. I enjoyed reading everyones comments. I don’t mind reading short stories in anthologies. Especially at Christmas. I guess it all depends on my mood. If I’m in the mood for something short, or something longer.
Jul 18, 2012 @ 16:18:13
I typically will NOT buy a novella. I read way too fast and way to much to be spending money on something I can have read in an hour or two. Like Sandra Lynne, if the novella is in an anthology, I am more likely to purchase it. Typically, I wait to see if the library gets the novella, if it does, then I usually will check it out in digital format, but I am most likely NOT going to purchase it – and it doesn’t matter if it is my most favorite author or not – right now one of my got-to-read authors has out a novella, and I can’t justify spending $2.99 on it – plus, I would hate to encourage her to write more shorter stories when what i really want her to write are the longer novels that I want to read.