Manuscript Word Count

So when I first finished my Young Adult Urban Fantasy story, I didn't realize that it would be considered too long to sell to a publisher, let alone an agent. My friend, whom I showed the manuscript to first after I finished revising it, suggested that I split the book into three and make it into a three book series, or trilogy. She told me a publisher, or an agent will be more than willing to take a good books series. I remember Twilight was a really thick book, as well as the Harry Potter books. 

After what my friend told me, I started to get even more curious and decided to investigate. I got some really good information from this website Fiction Factor, she even mentioned how as a debut author my story, which I completed at over 100,000 words, is something that an agent and publisher would not read. Mostly because of tight editing schedules, and after Twilight was released not many editors will take on a story that long. Another source that gave me this good information was Agent Query. Also the blog Literary Rambles had a really good post.

1 page            250 words 

100 pages      25,000 words 

200 pages      50,000 words 

300 pages      75,000 words 

400 pages      100,000 words 

500 pages      125,000 words

After reading that I think I will follow the advice my friend, and that website stated and split the book into three, a trilogy. The final word count after revisions was 175,000 WORDS! So what I can do is read through the whole thing all over again and see where would be a good place to split the book.

Tigers Curse by Colleen Houck

So I finally found some time to read this book series that everyone is ranting about, and I was a bit curious because everyone has a specific reading taste and everyone has their own views on books. My friend Shilpa said this is something refreshing to read from all the vampire books that are taking up space at the bookstores.I bought all three books so that way I could read them straight through. I'm picky, I like to wait until all the books are out in a series before I read them. I like to read them straight through, because I get so anxious waiting for the next book to come out. Alyson Noel's series The Immortals did that to me, I was so impatient waiting for the next book in the series to come out, I was going nuts. That's one thing with me and my books I read, I like to wait until the entire series is out then read it because then I just go to the next book.

Tiger's Curse

Passion. 

Fate. 

Loyalty.

Would you risk it all to change your destiny?

The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that’s exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.

Basically Tiger's Curse is a paranormal Romance series that follows a young girl falling in love with an Indian prince who is cursed. It's such a magical book and I really liked it.

This book series is a prime example of something unique and original to the paranormal romance that was self-published and made a big success among young readers. I thought the premise was unique but it lacked some things in the Indian culture it was more of something that Disney would make into a movie. It was a pretty good book. 

Ring Around the Publishing World

There are so many options for publishing a book now and days. The original advice from many brand name authors is to get an agent, and your book will be everywhere. 

Now we have small presses, self publishing and traditional, but now there are small presses who can get your books into the bookstores. There are so many options for publishing, and many of these small presses are in fact succeeding in many ways. I think one of the reasons a person will self publish is simple, they don't want to wait for the amount of time it takes to see their work out there, they want to see their books out there now. 

If you look at the way the traditional publishing model works, it can take you six months to a year or longer to find an agent. Then depending on if your agent is editorial, you and your agent might go through several rounds of edits to make sure your manuscript is in tip top shape before sending it out to editors for publication. Then depending on how good your agent is, there are agents who can sell books within a week and some who can take about a year to sell your manuscript. Then between covers, edits, the publisher sending you an ARC copy to make sure everything was caught, then the books being printed, promoting your book while writing the next one. Following the traditional model a writer can expect for it to take about two years to see your book in the stores. Then when the author receives the advance, their books have to sell enough through that advance. In some cases, if the books don't sell through the advance, there are some cases where the publisher will have the author give back some of the advance. There are independent publishers who can get the books into the bookstore who give you high royalties or a small advance. They are a new take on those who wish to publish the traditional route.

Most small presses take roughly around six months for each book to be published. Some don't have the best editorial staff, but they have been acquiring more experienced editors. What is better about the small presses is how they are strictly royalty. The author doesn't have to worry about their book selling more over their advance. The author gets to have input on how they want the cover of their book to look. 

Self publishing is quite simple, all you have to do is just upload the book to Kindle Direct Publishing (minus the costs of finding a graphic designer to design the cover of your books and finding a qualified editor) and within a few hours your book is live for everyone to buy. I think one of the reasons an author will self publish is the patience. They don't want to wait two years for a targeted audience to read their work, they want to put their work out there now. I have one trilogy I wrote that is dystopian, since most publishers aren't taking dystopian books anymore calling dystopian a dead genre I will have to investigate more into self publishing the trilogy.

YA adult Elana Johnson wrote a blog post from a made some valid points in which I happen to agree with one hundred percent about reading a book not showing prejudice against which way they were published and released to the public.

Here's my view, I don't give a crap whichever way a person decides to publish their book; self, small press, or traditional, I don't really care I just want one thing when I choosing books to buy, curling up with a cup of coffee and reading a good book on my e-reader, which I'm pretty sure many other readers out there in the world want. If an author writes and publishes a book that deals with the things I like to read about. Which ever way a person decides to publish their book shouldn't matter. Readers want only one thing to read a good book. It shouldn't matter which way we publish, we are all authors, friends with each other, and want the same thing, to see our books succeed. 

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.
Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding. It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans--except Katniss. The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay--no matter what the personal cost.



The final book in The Hunger Games trilogy. Mockingjay picks up where Catching Fire left off. This was a dark conclusion to a gripping series. The writing on the pages kept me flipping until I finished the book. I mostly kept reading because I wanted to see the fearless Katniss save Peeta from the capitol. The ending of the book I did not see happen. I'm not posting any spoilers because I don't want people who haven't read the series to get mad at spoilers.