Have you ever seen the movie Amadeus? There is a rather funny scene in which Mozart performs a piece for one of his noble patrons and a room full of courtiers and ladies. The pattern is quite disturbed by Mozart’s rather manic manner and the tsunami of notes pouring out of his harpsichord. The nobleman asks Mozart if he doesn’t “have too many notes” in his composition, whereupon Mozart looks at the man as if he were crazy and assures him that there are “exactly the right number of notes, not an extra one anywhere.”
The authors ask questions
I often think of this scene when I meet authors who are thinking of publishing, because a common question I get at these meetings is, “How old should my book be?” If you love Mozart as I do, you cannot imagine him removing even a note of the divine music that he has transmitted to us. Not one! The books are very similar. You need “exactly the right number of words” to tell the story, and not an extra one. But how many are those?
Does gender dictate duration?
It is true that in certain genres publishers place great importance on the length of the book based on their marketing plans. For example, some business book publishers have told me that regardless of how many words are in a book, it has to look “to be a speed read,” because otherwise busy executives won’t believe it. And we press until we reach the desired page length.
At the other end of the spectrum are some fiction publishers who want their books, once again regardless of length, to look like “great beach reads” no matter what, on the theory that otherwise the Book buyers will be looking for something more “meaty.” . “Invariably, I advise these authors to tell their story and let the book designer create a book that is appropriate to their niche, attractive to read, and delivers their work in the best possible way to their readers.
The prince and the potter
As an example, look at the two best-selling “children’s books” on Amazon, although neither of them is, strictly speaking, just a children’s book. At number 1 is Antoine de Saint-Exupery The little Prince. This charming parable, which can be read by anyone regardless of age, is 96 pages long and weighs 7 ounces. At number 2 is JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, a book that I certainly enjoyed. It is 870 pages long and weighs 1.5 pounds. But here’s the thing: each of these books is a completely satisfying reading experience in itself. Each one skillfully tells a story, and they walk you through the book to the end. In fact, when I read a book that I really love, I just don’t want it to end, even if it is 870 pages long!
Therefore, the only answer to the question “How old should my book be?” It’s the answer “How long will it take you to tell your story to the best of your ability?” Because that, in the end, is how long your book should be.
Remove: As an author, your job is to keep your readers reading, eager to know “what comes next.” If you can do that, don’t worry or obsess over the length of your book, because it will be the correct length.