Word count. Page length. Book volume.
These terms haunt writers when creating their works. Do I write to fit the book into a certain length? Do I cut things I love to make sure my book is short enough that an agent/ publisher will look at it? Do I lengthen it just to make sure it meets the “standard” word count for that type of genre?
Even at conferences, a writer can get mixed feedback. Some editors say if it’s too long, no one will look at it. Some say, write the book the length it needs to be and then find an agent/publisher who wants that length. Some say book length determines whether a reader will pick it up or not–too long, no interest, too short, they think it’s a throw-away book.
So what’s a writer to do?
What do YOU think? Do you find that the length of a book determines if you want to read it or not?