Boy is this a moving target now with the rise of the ebook revolution.
However, its best to break it down by genre - in PRINT Books:
Overall for Adult books: 80,000 – 89,999 words
Chick lit 70,000-75,000 words
SCI-FI AND FANTASY
90,000-100,000 words
MIDDLE GRADE 32,000 – 40,000 words
YOUNG ADULT 55,000 – 69,999 words
MEMOIR 80,000-89,999 words
PICTURE BOOKS 500-600 words
NOW with the rise of the ebook all of the above is different if you DON'T PLAN ON PRINTING the book.
Short Stories:
25,500-45,000
With short story formats in ebooks rising many authors don't need to hit the higher word counts above for adult books in order to make the reader happy.
WHY THE STRINGENT cap on word count?
Well as authors we love to get lost in the story, but for a publisher to PRINT a book and EDIT a book the cost to benefit rises by page/word count. Therefore the Publisher has to pay more to print the books which means the PROFIT hurts with the larger word novels if the publishers wants to COMPETITIVELY PRICE the book for sale with other books in the genre.
I'm so excited! I'll be hanging out at the Book Expo America on THURSDAY handing out invitations to my BOOKSIGNING ON FRIDAY,5/31 at 1:30pm Signing @ IBPA booth#2346.
If you don't see me then and would like to meet up, just drop by the booth at anytime on Thursday or Friday and see me or leave your card.
If you can't make the Book Expo America, I'll be signing books on Saturday June 1st at The Literary Joint at noon.
The YA Indie Author Club is having another great week of releases. This week, we are going to ask you to join us in supporting K.C. Blake. She's as dedicated to writing great stories as any author I've ever met in person or virtually.
At
sixteen Bay-Lee is not your typical girl. She doesn't even try to fit in at
school. What's the point when she'll be moving to a new place within a few
months?
She's
lived her whole life on the run, hiding from monsters.
Then
a reaper uses her closet to cross over from the Spirit Realm. It has a message
for her. Just when she's about to join her father at his school for hunters she
finds out they are dying on their birthdays. Something is killing them,
slipping past locked doors, never leaving a trace of evidence, and her birthday
is only two months away.
Becoming
a hunter isn't exactly her dream come true. She's doing it for her mother, for
revenge, for justice. Nothing is going to get in her way, least of all love.
Then she looks up into a pair of jungle green eyes and everything changes.
Author Bio:
Born
and raised in sunny California, K.C. Blake fell in love with books at a young
age and decided to pursue writing as a career.
Her favorite authors include Stephen King, John Saul, Cassandra Clare,
J.K. Rowling, and Carrie Jones. In her
spare time she enjoys shopping (and when I say shopping I mean go to the mall
early in the day, eat lunch, and then keep going until you don't have any
strength left), reading great books, taking care of animals (she lives on a
farm), and searching for creative ideas to improve her home. A former writer for Harlequin, she now
publishes her books her way and loves every second of it. Okay, she's a bit of a control freak.
Today, the YA Author Club is exited to Spotlight our very own Heather Sutherlin. She's an amazing person and a phenomenal YA Author Clubcontributor who writes young adult fantasy adventures when she's not spending time with her family.
Author Bio
1999 – B.A. in Elementary Education from Harding University 2011 - 1st Place White County Creative Writers’ Conference
First Chapter Contest 2012 – Debut novel, A Light in the Darkness, is released
along with its sequel, To Light the Path. 2013 – Seen and Wandering, two books in a new YA fantasy
series, will be released in the spring. President - Fiction Writers of Central Arkansas Featured Author – Arkansas Literary Festival
About the Author
Heather Sutherlin lives in Arkansas with her husband and three children. She is the author of A Light In The Darkness and Seen both fantasy adventures for young adults. She loves all things creative and enjoys the worlds she dreams up, longing to live the adventure alongside her characters. When she’s not at her writing desk, she is busy exploring and learning with her children or cooking big, elaborate meals in the kitchen with her husband.
Merrilyn’s life is quiet and predictable. An apprentice to
the royal healer, she spends her days helping in the village or up to mischief
with her best friend who happens to be the handsome younger son of the king.
But when a mysterious archer shows up in the forest and shoots their escort,
Merrilyn’s life is forever changed. Caught in a battle between two forgotten
gods, she must embrace her destiny and fight the very powers of darkness before
it’s too late.
Prince Jarrod and his men have been missing for months and
still Merrilyn has no idea where they are hidden. Now the king of Zinder is
missing, too, and his children seem to think Merrilyn’s the key to finding him.
Along with Aiden and Prince Justan, she travels to Zinder looking for clues in
the king’s journals. When a mysterious man begins whispering in her dreams,
tempting her to reconsider all that she believes, she must face both her fears
and her desires. Merrilyn may be a light in the darkness, but she’ll have to
trust Loian to light their path as they travel through foreign lands and face
new enemies in their search for the missing men.
Rory has no idea what’s going on in the woods behind her
house, but it’s driving her crazy. On the last day of her senior year she finds
herself caught up once again in the curious happenings of the forest and walks
away without any of the answers she was hoping to find. To make matters worse,
she is sent to visit a sick neighbor and instead finds the hottest guy she’s
ever seen. When she discovers his brother’s incredible secret she falls further
into her own chaos and into a fate she never could have imagined.
Jaron is just counting the days until the summer is over and
he can get back to his real life. Stuck with his little brother on a tiny farm
in rural Oklahoma is not exactly his idea of fun. But when Rory shows up on his
doorstep with an armload of pie, he knows his summer has just taken a sharp
turn into new territory. He never expected the adventure they would discover
next or the quest that would change their lives forever.
I'm taking it off! Revealing a new cover today for Ruby's Fire by Catherine Stine
Wait for it.
Wait for it.
Ta da!
Details!
Ruby's Fire
Catherine Stine Series: Fireseed, #2 (however, can be read as a stand-alone)
Publication date: June 26, 2013 Genre: YA Sci-Fi
Synopsis:
If everything about you changes, what remains? Seventeen
year-old Ruby, long-pledged to the much older Stiles from the Fireseed
desert cult, escapes with only a change of clothes, a pouch of Oblivion
Powder and her mute little brother, Thorn. Arriving at The Greening, a
boarding school for orphaned teens, she can finally stop running. Or can
she? The Greening is not what it seems. Students are rampaging out of
control and as she cares for the secret Fireseed crop, she experiences
frightening physical changes. She’s ashamed of her attraction to burly,
hard-talking Blane, the resident bodyguard, and wonders why she can’t be
happy with the gentler Armonk. She’s long considered her great beauty a
liability, a thing she’s misused in order to survive. And how is she to
stop her dependence on Oblivion to find a real beauty within, using her
talent as a maker of salves, when she has nightmares of Stiles without
it?
When George Axiom, wealthy mogul of Vegas-by-the-Sea offers a
huge cash prize for the winner of a student contest, Ruby is
hopeful she might collect the prize to rescue her family and friends
from what she now knows is a dangerous cult. But when Stiles comes
to reclaim her, and Thorn sickens after creating the most astonishing
contest project of all, the world Ruby knows is changed forever.
This romantic fantasy set in 2099 on earth has a crafty heroine in Ruby,
and a swoonworthy cast, which will surely appeal to the YA and
new adult audience.
Catherine
Stine writes YA, New Adult and middle grade fiction. Her YA futuristic
thriller, Fireseed One, illustrated by the author was granted a Bronze
Wishing Shelf Book Award and an Indie Reader Approved notable stamp. Her
YA Refugees, earned a New York Public Library Best Book. Middle grade
novels include A Girl’s Best Friend. More and more, she’s enjoying
writing speculative tales. She teaches literature at the School of
Visual Arts and creative writing at the Philadelphia Writing Conference
and in her own ongoing NYC writing workshop. Catherine earned a double
focus MFA in Creative Writing at the New School. Visit her at www.catherinestine.blogspot.com and at www.catherinestine.com.
It's been a couple of months since Emma and Lana entered the
Praxos Academy and life has been hectic ever since. What with regular A level
classes combined with learning all about the supernatural world, control
classes, self defence and fight night, the girls are constantly busy.
But when their world seems to stop right in front of them,
they and their fellow Watchers, have a huge mystery to solve. A mystery which
leads them on a long road trip across south west England where they meet all
kinds of strange creatures, some intent on causing harm and others desperate to
put a stop to the problem.
The Temporal Stone is the second full length novel in The
Morgan Sisters series. The first book is entitled The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw.
There is also a free novella, Daisy Madigan's Paradise.
Suzy Turner has worked as a journalist, assistant editor,
features editor and magazine editor. Early in 2010 however, she began writing
full time and has since completed a trilogy for young adults, The Raven Saga,
as well as several books in The Morgan Sisters series.
Although Suzy is a Yorkshire lass at heart, she left her
home town of Rotherham, UK, to move to Portugal with her family when she was
ten.
The Algarve continues to be her home, where she lives with
her childhood sweetheart and husband of 15 years, Michael.
Seventeen-year-old
Gilbert Garfinkle is the ultimate tech geek. He likes to take apart,
figure out, and fix things, and he dreams of someday fixing the world.
But now his own life has been taken apart by the one thing he'll never
be able to figure out. Her name is Amber, and she's a gorgeous girl with
a killer smile who wants to turn him into her platonic BFF--literally
forever! It's the ultimate geek's ultimate nightmare, and it leaves
Gilbert asking life's ultimate question: "Why me?"
Why
My Love Life Sucks is a funny novel about geeks, girls, gadgets,
vampires, and the start of a most unlikely friendship. It's the first
book in The Legend of Gilbert the Fixer, the series that proves it takes
the ultimate geek to be the ultimate hero.
MY Review- I gave this book to my daughter to give a read first. She's 16yr old and doesn't exactly like scary books. This book was perfect for her. A paranormal edge with lots of wit and humor! Gilbert is loveable as well as sarcastic. She gave the book a 5 out of 5 stars. After she finished it, I picked it up and started reading. Let me just say as sad as Gilbert's life was, he had a wacky perspective that just kept me reading and reading. If you like quirky humor, a character with depth and just want to laugh, pick this up!
About the Author-
I've always been super geeky about comedy, fantasy and science fiction.
When
I was little, I'd take them apart and analyze them, kind of like what
Gilbert Garfinkle--the hero of Why My Love Life Sucks--does with
electronics. This continued into my college years, when I majored in
English Literature and Theater Studies.
For
twelve years I worked in magazines and newspapers as an editorial
cartoonist, illustrator, editor, arts-and-entertainment writer
(specializing in children's entertainment and, of course, comedy), and a
consumer columnist.
My last job was at the Jerusalem Post, but I had to quit when my family decided to move to New Jersey to pursue better education options for my autistic son.
This
was in February 2001. Since then I've written 40 picture books and
seven novels for kids and teens, four of which I've indie published. I
was an ABNA quarterfinalist with Why My Love Life Sucks, and I won third
place in SmartWriter's Write It Now contest in the the YA category
(which was judged by Alex Flinn, the author of Beastly) for my romantic,
YA ghost story, Ride of Your Life.
There's so much going on for the release of PURGATORY REIGN and THUNDERING LUV this weekend!
First a TWITTER party today @ 7pm EST #PurgatoryReign
Then...In Person Booksigning at EXPRESSION BOOK STORE, in Baltimore MD at 12pm-4pm!
And the Facebook RELEASE PARTY will be kicked off by my friends and my daughter! I'll be there at 5:30pm and at 10pm to close the party out. But show up and get your PARTY ON all DAY!
TWITTER PARTY:
Friday, 5/17 at 7pm-9pm EST, use the hashtag #PurgatoryReign and @LM_Preston
prizes include $5 Amazon Gift cards for 2 winners & books, swag prizes
Starring 5 other authors
and blog hosts, tons of prizes and fun.
6 hour Party with Spotlight Authors, trivia games, food, itunes
gift cards, list of freebie party favors, interactive chatting, singing,
dancing, nonstop games, music, prizes and free stuff!! Author segments each
hour that are themed and more giveaways!!!
PURGATORY REIGN, Something
Evil This Way Comes…unfortunately for it, Peter Saints awaits…
Me and my fabulous crew of host authors will be hanging out tonight at 9pm EST on twitter. Chatting it Kate Tilton's twitter chat #K8chat this Thursday night from 8-9pm CST and (5/16) 9pm EST.
Also Friday Night! The party's live at 5/17 @ 7pm Est-9pm EST using the #PurgatoryReignhashtag for some games fun and party teaser prizes!
Introducing Emma Michaels! Spotlight author for Facebook Party this Saturday, May 18th, 2013
When I Am Not Writing
My
journey to publication was a bit odd. I have gone from blogger to cover artist
and now published author and still enjoy all three! Normally when I am not
writing I am working on cover art or reading. I can’t help but continue to read
books veraciously because I am so passionate about them and love to know what
is going on in my genre. My cover art tends to take up the majority of my time but
when I have time away from all things literary I turn to things like bike
riding, finding adventures wherever I can and eating chocolate… because
seriously… it’s chocolate. It should count as either a hobby or an entire food
group.
Getting
to work as a cover artist has really been a blessing. Not only to I get to meet
amazing authors and publishers but I get to do what I love and then see it go
out into the world! If you would like to know more feel free to stop by my
website or portfolio at www.EmmaMichaels.com
Here are
a few examples of my work and thank you so much LM for including me in the tour
and featuring me on your blog!
TWITTER PARTY:
Friday, 5/17 at 7pm-9pm EST, use the hashtag #PurgatoryReign and @LM_Preston
prizes include $5 Amazon Gift cards for 2 winners & books, swag prizes
