When I was in high school, I read a 300,000+ word, My Hero Academia, Fantasy AU Kacchako fanfiction on AO3. I read it in two days and I still think about it. Probably because it was unfinished and the author never went back to it so I have no idea how it ends.
I have read 150,000+ word Black Widow fanfiction, several 200,000+ word Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfictions, and I've read I don't even know how many real books, on paper in front of my very eyes, that were over 100,000+ words. I've read many a series where all of the books have been well over that, and I have enjoyed them all greatly.
It is with this knowledge in both my head and yours that I inform you I've been recommended to cut my 112,000 word book down by at least 12,000 words.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate and understand the advice; the last person to give it to me was an incredibly kind and thoughtful agent, who recommended I slim the word count down because I'm over what most agents will consider for a debut author. She said I should cut it before I sign with an agent who gives me less control over where to cut, and I deeply respect her for wanting me to have as much autonomy over my book as I possibly can.
The issue that I'm facing is that the recommendation is not given because the book is too wordy, or there are too many unnecessary scenes. No person who has given me this advice has read more than twenty pages of my manuscript. The suggestion comes from knowledge on marketing, what agents and publishing houses do and don't go for, and they do not go for debut authors with books over 100k. From a career standpoint it's great advice, but from a writer standpoint I can't with good conscience lean into it.
Do you know why fanfiction is so popular? Because people yearn for content. They yearn for more of the characters and the world that they already love. The casual conversations, the fluffy in betweens, and yes, the most mind-boggling smut you have ever read in your goddamn life. People love fanfiction for the same reasons people love beach filler episodes or Christmas specials. People love fanfiction for the same reasons they hate how shows nowadays are eight episodes a season and only 30 minutes an episode; because people want to connect. With a story, with a character, with a setting, people want to drown in it. It could be because of the familiarity or comfort it brings, it could be because a part of the character wasn't explored as aptly as you wished, but whatever the reason, people want content.
Motherfucker, I want content. The GenV fanfiction game is abysmal and I'm starving out here.
Maybe not every scene in my book is necessary — I actually know a lot of them aren't — but that doesn't mean they won't be enjoyed, or that they won't add nuance to a later character decision. I'm not writing some grand masterpiece that students will read and analyze in a hundred years, I'm writing something fun and sweet, and that's still good. Red is my baby, not without faults but still beautiful and hardworking and important, and the thought of cutting out twelve thousand words so that maybe I'll have an easier time getting money from it doesn't sit right with me.
In an era so incredibly swamped with ai and a steady decrease in intellectualism, where my teacher-sister has students that genuinely don't know how to sound out words, why would I shorten my book for marketability? When empathy is so rare, why would I erase moments of kindness and tenderness, or moments of hostility that make the kindness and tenderness that much more important? It's a dramatic way to phrase it but I don't think it's entirely wrong. If someone read the book and told me what scenes weren't necessary I would take it a lot better than this. I want to be an author, I want that to be my career more than anything, but I'm not sure if I want it to be like this. I don't know. I got the rejection and advice from that very kind agent yesterday night and it's kind of been haunting me.
So here are the options I've been considering, going forward;
Option 1) I shorten the book. It is the most straightforward option and will solve the problem I have with many agents, where they refuse to even consider a book that is over 100k words. It does require me to cut 12k, and as it stands currently, I don't know what to cut. I've been writing this book for eight years and have already cut and changed so much, every scene that made it into the version agents are seeing is deeply loved and, at least to me, adds something to the story or to a character's development.
Option 2) Fuck the agents and self publish. This is not what most people advise you do if you're looking for a career in writing, but they're also advising I cut 12k for marketing reasons so I'm already going against what most people advise, why not keep going, right? I'm already here. Dig the ditch a little deeper. This would allow me to keep whatever I want, but I would have to fully work out printing, marketing, cover art, etc, and that's a lot to manage.
Option 2.5) If I decide to self publish, I will need to hire another editor to read and critique my book (I did this a few years ago, but a lot of things have changed since then), and when I hire someone I could ask them what they think I could cut. If they give me ideas, maybe I could manage to do Option 1 and cut some things. If they aren't quite sure or have horrible suggestions, I stick with Option 2.
Option 3) 112k is too long for a debut author, so I simply won't be a debut author when I try to publish it. In case that sentence was confusing, allow me to rephrase; I am suggesting I write, edit, have multiple people beta read, and publish an entirely different book that is below 100k prior to my current manuscript, and then once that is out, move forward with Red. Is it an unhinged option? Undoubtedly. But I'm kind of into it. I have tons of books that I started and am still slowly working on on the side, if I commit the next four months to one of them, I could get it done, and then Red wouldn't be stuck in the current that is publishing.
If y'all have any suggestions, I'm all ears. None of these options are super great. Let me know what you think, and happy writing!
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