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| March 2010 I was a bit disappointed when Yesterday's Promise was contracted as an e-Book. It's just under PBG's required length for a print book. |
Novellas are a new thing for me, as a writer.
I’ve read many through the years, usually in anthologies such as the Barbour
Christmas collections. But it never occurred to me to write one myself until I
was contracted by White Rose Publishing, and I have discovered that I truly
enjoy writing these shorter works.
That said, please don’t misunderstand: I did not
say they’re easier to write. They’re not.
What they are is less difficult to plot. At less
than half the length of a full-length novel, these stories simply don’t have
room for an excess of sub-plots and cliffhangers. However, it can become quite
a challenge to fit all the elements necessary to the storyline into 20,000
words—or less, depending on the project. So the novella becomes an exercise in
brevity—a challenge to find ways of saying a thing less wordily, but with equal
impact.
“Why should I write a novella, when I can write a novel that’ll actually go to print?”
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| December 2010 |
But a very wise woman who happens to know a
great deal about publishing convinced me that these shorter stories have their
place in the industry and that they
can be a boon to an author’s career. She may not even remember the
conversation, but I do.
I probably won’t be able to quote her
word-for-word, ‘cause my memory’s not that good. I left the half-century mark
behind a few years ago, so I hope Nicola Martinez won’t come back with, “I
never said any such thing.”
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| April 2011 If I'd been on my toes, and clued in to the benefit of novellas, I might have avoided the long gap without a release between this book and the next one... |
I’ve thought about those words a lot. And I’ve
come up with a few reasons for that “correlation.” Just my opinion, but that’s
what this blog is for, right?
1. The
author’s name remains out there in the public eye, so readers don’t forget a
writer they like in between books.
Let’s face it…the length of time between
contracts for full-length novels can be daunting. And that’s not even counting
the wait between “the call” and seeing the book in print. I was averaging a
book every couple of years up until Solomon’s Gate. That’s long enough for a
reader to forget they ever read a book with my name on the cover.
2. The
author continues to write.
The temptation to rest in between books is
almost irresistible…but a bad idea. Having shorter projects in between keeps
the imagination active and the writing skills honed.
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| March 2012 |
‘Nuff said.
4. E-publishing is the wave of the future. Why not get in on the ground floor?
Although it still has a ways to go as far as convincing
the public to embrace it, e-reading has gained considerable ground in recent
years. Almost everyone owns an e-Reader of some kind. Which says to me that
e-Books are becoming recognized as “real” books. Readers are learning to
appreciate the ease of purchase (order, pay, and be reading within a couple of
minutes—and all from the comfort of their recliner); compact storage (yes, I
love bookshelves, but they’re never big enough for an avid reader, which means
books overflow into every area of the house); ease of transport (ever tried to
pack ten Summer reads into a suitcase small enough to fit overhead in a
jetliner’s coach class seating—along with all your clothes and toiletries?);
and cost-effectiveness of e-Books.
4. They’re
fun to write.
And who needs any better reason than that?
And who needs any better reason than that?
by Delia Latham
