A Novella Of 148 Pages Too Short To Receive Publication?

Question

The 1984 book, The Lover, by Marguerite Duras is said to be 148 pages but the one I bought (I have several different copies, versions) is 115 pages, fattened up with a lot of spaces and larger print font.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lover_(…

The copy I have of about 115 pages...Have you read this version?
http://www.literarymama.com/images/books…

Is such a short novella possible to have published these days?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Lana,

As Randall states, you can self-publish a novel, novella, or short story of almost any length.

I'm assuming you are asking about being published by a legitimate publishing house, and that you're asking because you yourself have a short manuscript you wish to publish?

Novellas and short stories are published today, but they are very difficult to sell to publishing houses, except in an anthology or a collection of short stories, and usually even these are acceptable for well-known writers. If you are Issac Asimov or Stephen King or J.K. Rowling you can write the text on the back of a cereal box and get it published, but I'm assuming you are not.

Publishers are more strict about the kinds of manuscripts they will accept from a first-time author because they know the formula of what sells: they like to see novels between 50K-100K words, depending on the genre (YA fiction is shorter than Space Operas, etc.).

By the way, the publishing industry measures manuscripts by word count, not by page length. Your question is a perfect example of why: the same story can be 115 pages or 148 pages depending on font and spacing. If you start quoting page length to publishers, they will know you are a novice - get in the habit of speaking in word count. Microsoft Word, or whatever software you're using, should be able to tell you the word count of your manuscript.

Depending on the length and genre of a manuscript, an author's best bet may be to publish in a magazine. Short stories are accepted in a variety of rags - sci fi magazines, airline magazines, reader's digest, and hundreds more.

If your manuscript is a novella, you may consider teaming up with one or two other novella authors who have works on a similar theme. If the stories can be packaged as a logical and interesting set, a publisher may go for it. Or, you can write one or two other novellas yourself and sell the set as a single volume; just make sure they work as a set.

Other options include stripping the story down to a short story, or beefing it up to form a short novel - but beware either one, especially the "beefing" up version; most stories, especially by new authors, can stand to be edited down, but don't add or subtract if it detracts from the quality of the story.

As a reference, the Science Fiction Writers of America (as good a source as any) define manuscript lengths as the following:

Short Story = > 7,500 words
Novelette = 7,500 - 15,000 words
Novella = 15,000 - 40,000 words
Novel = < 40,000 words

Good luck with your writing!

xoxo

Michelle
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Answer 2

Yes, you can self publish a work at http://www.createspace.com as long as it is at least 20 or more pages. I used this platform for one which has 42 pages.

Answer 3

yes you can publish one that short thats why its called novella and not a novel
~~~Daddy's Baby Girl~~~