I was cruising Amazon the other morning, checking out the reviews for Destiny Kills and Deadly Desire. Many authors consider this an ill-advised pursuit given some of the reviews there can be over-critical and author attacking, but I’ve always found it really interesting to read what people hated about my books (mostly they bring up some very good points, but other times I have to wonder if they’re reviewing the right book! lol).
Anyway, I was reading a recent review for Destiny, and the reviewer–who liked the book–had something of a mini rant about how she’s “sickened that these once not so famous authors (Kenyon, Moning, Frost, Arthur…) are cutting there work in half by selling us half the story and charging us the same price…blah, blah, blah” (her words, direct quote from Amazon).
Now, I can’t speak for Kenyon, Moning or Frost, but I sure as heck can speak for myself, and I’m NOT cutting my books in half at all. I generally aim for 400 formatted pages for each book. For those who aren’t writers, pages are generally formatted into courier 12 font, 25 lines per page. Which, with an average of 10 words per line, gives you roughly 250 words per page and 100 000 words for 400 pages–which is the average size of a genre novel these days. Some of my books go over 400 formatted pages–the early Riley novels tended to be slightly longer, around 430 formatted pages, whereas the later books tended to come in closer to 410 formatted pages. Destiny Kills was one of my shorter novels, because it came in at 393 formatted pages. Which, of course, is 7 pages short of my general target and probably 17 pages shorter than most of the Riley books. To get more into the figures, 7 pages means 1750 words on average. 17 pages is 4250 words. Neither of which is cutting the novel in half, although it does mean the books are slightly shorter.
Now, I’m not saying there aren’t authors out there who are writing short, because I’ve certainly picked up books myself and thought I’ve gotten a novella rather than a book (although I have to say here, if a book hooks me, I really don’t notice or even really care about how long it is. As long as I’ve gotten a damn good read and characters I care about–which is all I demand out of a book–then I’m a happy reader.) But for the most part, most authors are writing the way they’ve always written, and it’s the publisher changing formatting, paper, etc, that can make it seem the book is shorter. Of course, sometimes they are trying to conceal the length by making the font bigger.
But maybe that reviewer was talking about the actual plotline rather than book length (although it didn’t sound like it) and in that case, well, what defense is there? I wrote a complete book–Destiny’s story has a beginning, a middle and an end–and her story does not continue on in the next novel (which is about Trae’s sister, and her journey). But if the reviewer didn’t feel it was complete, then I haven’t done my job properly. And if that’s the case, by all means rant about it. Let me know–but give me some clue as to where you think I’ve gone wrong. Don’t just rant about it only being half a book, because technically, that’s not true.
Oh, and by the way, authors have no say in the price of books. And most of us don’t even have a say about which format it comes out in. Or the covers. Or the blurbs. Or the marketing. Or where it’s shelved….so if you hate any and all of the above, complaining to the author is a wasted effort. Try sending those complaints to the publisher. All we authors can control is the quality of the story and the characters, and if you have a complaint about those, by all means send it to us. (although not every author reads the good and the bad–it’s only us weird ones 
)
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I wonder if the reviewer was frustrated with somewhat cliffhanger endings? I ask, since Moning was mentioned, and I’m still frustrated with the ending of the latest -fever book. Being left with lots and lots of unanswered questions at the end of a book is one of my least favorite reading experiences. In fact, I have stopped reading a series or two because of an ongoing tendency toward such endings. (I’m giving the -fever series one more book before I decide.)
I don’t expect every single thread to be tied up at the end of a series book, but I do need to feel some sort of closure on the main part of the story. Lover Avenged is a good example – there are still plenty of open questions/threads, but the main thread of the story tied up enough to be satisfying and not frustrating.
Keri if it makes you feel any better I loved Destiny Kills, and I am patiently waiting on the second book.
Hi Ms. Arthur!
I’m not sure the average reader understands what the average author has to go through to get a book published. As readers, we wanted the whole story, but as a writer, sometimes, the whole story can’t be told in a single book (seriously, if every book I read was 1000+ pages, I’m not sure I wouldn’t get bored). I love series for this reason. Unless the reader has taken the time to ‘look into’ what it takes to get make a book come to life, it’s hard for them to comprehend. I just wish that if you’re going to rant about book length or design, and not content, check and see what the publisher of the book will allow the author to do. Some of my favorite authors were mentioned (Arthur, Moning, Frost, Kenyon), and I have never felt cheated by the story provided in their books, just eagerly anticipated the next.
Dottie
Keri, I agree with you, if I feel I have had a good read and characters I care for then size doesn’t matter. There are no problems with the size of your books, you have never disappointed me with any of your books. Keep up the good work.
As a reader who writes, it amazes me that people feel they have the write to complain about how an author structures a book. My 2-3 hour, $7-10 reading experience took you months to create and thousands of dollars worth of work time.
If the story demands 400 pp, it demands 400 pp. If it demands 360, that’s what it takes. I’m not purchasing a word count, I’m purchasing an experience. And I’m damned grateful for those authors who will sweat blood for weeks on end to give it to me.
And, by the way, that was the “right” to complain . . .
Reading Amazon sounds like a daunting task.
5k is a long chapter, or two average chapters for me. It’s not a huge loss. And I’d rather have a tight story and lose the 5k of flab than be bored for a chapter.
I think that some reviewers attack the authors like a pissy customer attacks the waitress in a restaurant with a bad cook. They can only get at the waitress, so they do.
And some are just pissy and can’t help themselves…….
I personally don’t pay much attention to length. I tend to like shorter chapters, but that’s more so that I don’t get stuck in the middle of one at the end of my lunch break at work. Lol.
If anything, longer books are kinda daunting in two situations: (1) A first book in a series by an author I haven’t heard of because I wonder how long it’s going to take to pull me in, and (2) When an author averages around the same number of pages, and then BAM! the next book is like 200 pages longer. Now, option 2 could just mean there’s more craziness and twists/turns which is fantastic, but it could also mean there’s some un-needed rambling in the middle.
But yeah, if you need 900 pages to tell the full story and can keep me up at night to finish, awesome. If you only need 300 pages to do the exact same thing, that’s awesome too. I don’t feel like I’m getting short-changed. When I think of some other things I spend a good amount of money on (four dollar lattes, twenty dollar dvds, $2.35 for a gallon of gas…) books aren’t that expensive.
The farther I get in the process of becoming a “real” author, the more shocked I am how little control we have of anything besides the story. I just breathe into a bag and try to pretend the universe is helping me become more Zen.
Would you rather have a book that rambles and goes on and on, like a bad french teacher does about nouns and pro-nouns? Please.
Any author, worthy of being published knows like a painter when a story is done, it’s done. Whether it’s short, long or epic. That’s the difference between being a writer, and being a published writer.
the other thing that is happening quite widely is that publishers are making the print size smaller as a cost cutting measure. I was shocked that my new release, which clocked in at 104,000 words, the longest by far of my Atlantis novels, came in at almost the same page count as the earlier ones!! At this rate we’re going to need magnifying glasses to read books in a few years. I was very worried that readers would think I was giving them a short book, and reading your post magnifies those concerns. Sigh. One more of those “authors have no control” issues, right?
“Many authors consider this an ill-advised pursuit given some of the reviews there can be over-critical and author attacking, but I’ve always found it really interesting to read what people hated about my books (mostly they bring up some very good points, but other times I have to wonder if they’re reviewing the right book! lol).”
As a reviewer I think it’s both very brave of you Dame Keri to read what reviewers think of your work. Especially when it comes to sites like Amazon where amateur reviewers (like myself) are voicing their not-always-handled-with-professionalism opinions. I have seen some really antogonistic statements in reviews and the author attacks are certainly not appropriate. But there (in my opinion) is a fine line between stating in a review that you feel a series has gone astray plotwise in a bad way and insulting an author for the choices she has made in doing that. Afterall, these are the author’s characters/plot/etc.
And there is no way to please all readers or reviewers. I really admire that you are willing to say that sometimes they make good points! Don’t let this person’s review get you down… I think some reviewers get frustrated when they find something they don’t like and it’s simply a personal dislike not something actually wrong with the book. It took me a couple of years of reviewing to realize that sometimes what I can’t stand in a book (ie. frequent label-dropping) doesn’t really matter to the general reading audience.
Keep writing books you’re happy with Dame Keri and ignore the silly nitpickers.
Rhianna, the review didn’t get me down, I just felt the need to answer the dig about book length. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that not everyone was going to like my writing (not a hard conclusion to come to when your own partner hates your writing), and that’s probably why I can read very critical reviews and not be bothered if they get too personal.