As most of you know, I write in several genres, and within those genres, I write short stories, novellas, and novels. Several people have asked what the difference is between each type of writing. The answer comes down to numbers, and even these aren’t written in stone. Whenever I list my books for sale, if they are a short story or novella, it will be easy for you to tell because they’re always labeled as such. Let me give you some examples:
In a nutshell:
Short Stories: 1,000 to 7,500 words
My short story Sansha is an example of this coming in at 6,436 words
Novellas: 7,500 – 40,000 words (some people consider anything over 30,000 words a novel – like I said, nothing is cast in stone.
My novella Lilas comes in at 16,174 words
My novella Credo’s Revenge has 21,564 words
Novels: 40,000 – On Up
Credo’s Hope, for example, has 97,935 words
As I mentioned, this is variable. Some of the greatest books–referred to as novels–ever written are under 32,000 words. The list goes on, but I thought I’d give a couple of examples.
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The Call of the Wild
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Jack London
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27,000
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Of Mice and Men
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John Steinbeck
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31,465
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Animal Farm
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George Orwell
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27,695
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Anyway, I hope this answers your questions and as always, please keep your questions coming. I love hearing from you guys and always try to get back to you as quickly as possible.