BRAND...what is it?
The Authors Brand is something that you the author in this modern world of ours, will end up building. Whether you self publish or trad publish, you will be stuck with a certain amount of marketing. This will be the first thing the reader thinks of when they see a book by you, it's the thing that sets you apart from all the other writers in your genre. Your brand is also your voice, your style, your colour schemes on your books, your website, your blog, and your social media platforms. It's also your logo, and your reputation.
In a nutshell, the brand is you.
I am going to give you a couple of sites that I've found that will explain it far better than I can, please drop by and give them a read.
Also check out The Creative Penn I've a couple of Joanna Penn's books and have found them very helpful in figuring out my brand, and the business of being an author.
Book Length:
At the very last moment I've decided to add 'Book Length' to the post for B. Don't worry this will be short...just like me lol.
Readers anticipate certain book lengths, as do publishers. I've put together a rough guide from the internet as to book length expectations in certain genres so I hope this helps.
Romance: 40,000–100,000 words (Most romance imprints have specific word count requirements that writers should know and observe before they submit so make sure you check it out.)
Mystery: 80,000 words (Subgenres like cozies tend to be shorter, often coming in at 70,000–80,000 words.)
Science fiction: 70,000–100,000 words
Thriller: 90,000–100,000 words
True Crime: 90,000–100,000 words
Historical fiction: 80,000–100,000 words (This may depend on the topic and demands of the marketplace.)
Mainstream women’s fiction: 90,000–100,000 words
Memoir/Bio: 70,000–90,000 words
Literary fiction: 80,000–100,000 words
Young Adult: 70,000–80,000 words
Middle Grade: 40,000–50,000 words
Picture books: 500–700 words
Flash Fiction: 300 - 1500 words
Short Story: 1500 - 30, 000 words
Novellas: 30, 000 - 50, 000 words
Early Chapter Books: 4,000 - 10,00 words
Standard Non - Fiction: 70,000 - 80,000 words
Biographies: 80,000 - 200,000 words
Self - Help: 40,000 - 80, 000 words
Graphic Novel One-shot/single issue: 20–22 pages for either a standalone short story or single issue as part of a series.
Graphic Novel Anthology/mini-series/maxi-series: A collection of single issues, either different short stories or one series. A mini-series is usually 4–6 issues and a maxi-series is usually 9–12 issues.
Graphic Novel Ongoing: Exactly as it sounds. Most superhero sagas like Batman started long before most of us were born and will likely continue long after most of us are dead.
Manga: 200 - 850 words
Here are three websites that might help you figure it all out.
.jpg)
That's a nice breakdown for book lengths. I've found myself having to Google lengths for specific projects. Checking with agents/editors/publishers (if one goes the traditional route) is definitely recommended, as you mentioned under "Romance."
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked for an indie publisher getting new authors to understand brand was one of my tougher jobs. I once told an author that if the book was a washing machine the author was GE. Someone might not know the model name of machine, but they recognize the company name.
ReplyDeleteThe expected word lengths of different genres/markets are interesting. All the short story markets have different word length requirements, as well.
ReplyDeletehttps://nydamprintsblackandwhite.blogspot.com/2024/03/magical-botany-b.html
Thanks for sharing the book length list and the different sites. Checking those out for sure! See you around the A to Z, and thanks for the visit!
ReplyDeleteBrand is so important in our line of work. Good post!
ReplyDeleteRonel visiting for B: My Languishing TBR: B
Beware the Bogeyman