Topic: How Many Words To Publish For Review

I'm trying to get a sense for how many words I should publish at a time. I broke up my first chapter into three parts because it's a long chapter. Chapter 2 is over 6000 words as well. I'm trying to decide whether to split it in half or post it in its entirety. I've noticed some inline reviews tend to peter out after the first several paragraphs. So I'm wondering if I post a large chunk if it will get completely reviewed. What are your thoughts and what do you do?

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Re: How Many Words To Publish For Review

Break it into smaller chunks. Something a person can easily finish in one sitting. The alternative is to structure your story so your chapters are shorter to begin with.

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3 Reply by B Douglas Slack (edited by B Douglas Slack 2018-04-23 18:08:01)

Re: How Many Words To Publish For Review

I tend to keep my chapters above 2000, yet under 3000 for a couple of reasons. 1) it takes more points to post a long chapter, with the corresponding time to build points back up. And, 2) reader participation (by that I mean reviews) tends to fade--as you've found out--on a long chapter in-line review. I refrain from posting chapters in a bunch. You don't get as many reviews.

Bill

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Re: How Many Words To Publish For Review

A 6k chapter is long by any measure. You should probably read up on the normal expectations for your target genre and try to craft/edit your chapters to a reasonably acceptable length accordingly. For instance--a lot of Literary Fiction chapters can run quite long, whereas a commercial fiction chapter is better being under 3k. You can easily find 'norms' for your target genre with a google search. 

Good luck!

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Re: How Many Words To Publish For Review

Stephen,
This is a really hard question to answer. I've read 6000 word chapters that flew by, and 600 word chapters that moved so slowly I thought they'd never end. I think the best thing for you to do is use your own judgement. With a novel a chapter usually ends with a hook that will make the reader go on to the next chapter. That might help you break up your 6000 word chapter if you want to.

smile

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Re: How Many Words To Publish For Review

I just checked the word count on each of your three-part posting. They're roughly perfect in size, in my opinion (1 to 2 points). I've posted longer chapters (up to 3 points), but I have a very forgiving group of readers. If the material is compelling and polished, then larger chapters are fine. If they need dozens of edits, shorter chapters are better, otherwise the reviewers may begin skimming.

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7 Reply by njc (edited by njc 2018-04-23 21:28:17)

Re: How Many Words To Publish For Review

If the reviewer has found twenty or thirty instances and commented in them for just a few issues, I think he's justified in leaving the author to find the others.  It's probably more helpful to offer explanation and general suggestion in the end comment.

And if there are more than 80 comments, you could argue for a softball 'mercy rule' for both author and reviewer.  Yes, I recently did one whose reported comment count went over 100.  I've learned not to trust the exact count, but I'd be surprised if there were fewer than 85.

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Re: How Many Words To Publish For Review

As a reviewer, I am more apt to do an in-line review for a short chapter than for a long one.  My idea of a short chapter is 1500-2000 words.  I will do a longer one if the story moves along.  But when I get into a really long chapter by accident, I tend to skip the middle of the chapter and jump to the end unless it's a story I just can't put down.  But that's just me.  Many times I review a story I'm not really interested in, but grammatical mistakes are the same in all genres.  But I hesitate to review a 6000-8000 word chapter in a genre I don't care for.  Unless I really love you!  smile

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9 Reply by Sideman (edited by Sideman 2018-04-24 07:34:43)

Re: How Many Words To Publish For Review

When I first joined TNBW in 2008, there was a limit of 5000 words you were permitted to post in one chapter/story with a single post. I don't know if that's still true or not. If it's still true, that alone would preclude you from posting a chapter longer than that. If it's not still true, I guess your best judgment will have to make the decision. Personally, if a chapter is much over 3000 words, I tend to move on to the next thing unless, as Marilyn said, it's a "can't put down read" or someone of whom I'm very fond (there are several of you out there - you know who you are!)

Also, I think genres such as "Adventure", "Action Thriller" and "Humor" need to move quickly to keep reader interest. A new chapter generally suggests movement in the story/action, which can be an enticement for the reader to continue reading. That could be movement  in the scene or movement in a new direction.

Another thought (this applies to me and several folks I know) is that I have only so much time to read at one sitting and I don't like to quit reading in the middle of a chapter. So novels with very long chapters tend to make me look elsewhere for that very reason. I'm a huge Janet Evanovich fan and her chapters are generally 1200 - 1800 words. I have every book she's ever written and love the quick pace.

Just a few thoughts for what they might be worth. Good luck with your writing!

Alan

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10 Reply by j p lundstrom (edited by j p lundstrom 2018-04-24 15:53:18)

Re: How Many Words To Publish For Review

I just finished reading part three of your first chapter. It was all very easy reading, not at all ponderous or intimidating. If your writing continues in this caliber, I think you could post a chapter this size with no ill effects.

The possible negatives I see: first, there were three very definite structural parts to this beginning, each of which could function as a chapter on its own. Lumping them all together might cause them to lose some of their impact.

Second, the sheer size of a 6000-word chapter is enough to deter some of us, myself included. When it comes time to publish, will prospective readers be scared away, too?

It's a great story, so far. I encourage others to read and review.  JP

P. S. Randall Krzak recently published a book that required several chapters to set up. You might ask his opinion.

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Re: How Many Words To Publish For Review

Thank you to everyone for responding and chiming in. I appreciate all the thoughts and good advice. My chapters were originally much shorter, chapter 1 was three chapters, and I may end up going back to that. I felt at the time they were not only too short, but I didn't want to drag out the set-up. I will revisit this later, so thanks to all of you for your thoughts.

P.S. And thanks for putting up with my blind spots to commas and hyphens. Something I'm working on, but no promises.

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