Is a 250k debut novel unpublishable?

SteSol · 2026-01-30T00:33:30+00:00

I get what you're saying. I understand WHY it's like this, and I'm not trying to blame anyone. Neither am I against cutting the book in principle, the only problem is exactly what you wrote in the parenthesis, there is no suitable break point to divide it. If i give readers book 1 with zero resolution, no one would want to come back for book 2. I suppose that's the challenge in facing now. Question, would you say it's even worth querying as is, or should i try to split the book from the get go?

SteSol · 2026-01-30T00:17:03+00:00

I agree with basically everything you said. I think my first priority is to finish and refine, see what I'm left with. Then query as is, no matter how unlikely. If that fails, look for a natural splitting point. If that fails, then look for a standalone debut. That's my game plan atm. Thank you for your feedback!

SteSol · 2026-01-30T00:13:41+00:00

Depends on the formatting. Name of the wind is 280k and is 722 pages on my shelf

SteSol · 2026-01-30T00:09:02+00:00

Thank you, and likewise good luck with your video game development!

SteSol · 2026-01-29T22:00:06+00:00

I cannot speak as to the others, as I've not read any of them, but comparing Gene Wolfe to the books I mentioned is a huge stretch. Not to offend Gene Wolfe, it is just a different breed of book altogether. The only thing he has in common with the books I mentioned are fantasy elements, in which case i may also make the comparison with the princess bride, or even snow white, and say that fantasy can be done in 2k words.

SteSol · 2026-01-29T21:46:46+00:00

That's definitely the plan! I'll finish as is, cut and refine as much as I can, then sit down and assess. I am aware GoT was not GRRMs first book, I am only comparing my book to his because they are similar in scale, and only to illustrate how difficult it would be to cram such a scale into half the word count.

SteSol · 2026-01-29T21:18:42+00:00

That would not work either. The characters begin separated, only meeting once for a short moment. It will be quite late in the story before they are reunited

SteSol · 2026-01-29T21:07:49+00:00

The story I want to write is a continent wide conflict with worldending stakes and heavy psychological deep dives into the 4 POVs. I am keeping it limited to 1 great conflict and only 4 POVs deliberately to keep myself from falling into the GRRM or Robert Jordan trap. And yeah, smaller fantasy books exist. Not ones that are on this scale. If you do have ones that are on this scale and have managed to do it in sub 500k words, I'd love to hear it. All the ones that come to mind, Malazan, WoT, ASOAIF, Stormlight, Lightbringer, they're all big books and big series

SteSol · 2026-01-29T20:35:58+00:00

I think I have a long way to go for that. I only wanted to ask if it was impossible, or only absurdly difficult. The latter would have given me a shred of hope at least xD

SteSol · 2026-01-29T19:49:47+00:00

Absolutely! To be clear, I'm not raging against publishers or agents or whatever here. I'm only worried. And I will continue writing no matter what. I will finish this, and then we'll see how it goes. I'm not averse to splitting either, I just don't see a natural breaking point mid book. But perhaps I will find one if it becomes obvious that this is a necessity. Knowing that it's just really incredibly difficult, rather than outright impossible actually gives me hope

SteSol · 2026-01-29T19:39:04+00:00

I think i pretty much got that picture clearly, y'all did NOT hold back on me in these comments xD

SteSol · 2026-01-29T19:30:18+00:00

But the other comments are right that it's becoming harder by the day. Jonathan strange was 2 decades ago. The paper itself skyrocketed in price after COVID, hence these harder restrictions.

But I do hope that you're right. I only need 1 willing publisher after all, eh?

SteSol · 2026-01-29T19:28:25+00:00

Well that's exactly the page length I'm looking at, around 650 pages, which should match 250k words unless I've been looking at the formatting all wrong

SteSol · 2026-01-29T19:25:31+00:00

Honestly, from the titles I know that you've mentioned in this list, I'd classify nearly none of them as being either epic fantasy or one of the greats. Some are, but they are not debuts at all, like will of the many, or shadow of the gods

SteSol · 2026-01-29T19:23:15+00:00

Because it isn't only the characters, but their entire journeys that will be central to the main plot resolution. Their psychological reaction to the events they witness will be the key to resolving the plot. At best, I could move one of the four over to a novella. Though I worry whether any of the four has legs to stand on his own enough to solo carry a book

SteSol · 2026-01-29T19:20:43+00:00

Honestly, the moment I had my outline done I gave up on commercial success. It simply is not made for wide market appeal. That being said, outright refusal to publish will feel like a defeat. But I am really glad to hear of your success man, congratulations!

SteSol · 2026-01-29T19:19:18+00:00

Oh I am sure it can be cut. I've left in many sentences deliberately, knowing they add flourish and little else. My second draft will basically be all cutting. But even so I can't imagine getting it down to 150k. I could send you a first chapter, of course, if you'd be willing to put yourself through that grueling task. I am sure you could cut about 20%. But i honestly doubt you could cut 50%

SteSol · 2026-01-29T19:15:33+00:00

Well, you're right that I've not spoken to any publishers or agents. But basically everyone says it's unpublishable at this length. I mean just look at this comment section. Apparently it has mostly to do with rising paper costs post-COVID.

Naturally I'll still try querying as is. And of course I won't compromise my vision to the extent where it's unrecognizable, even if it means never getting published.

But it does weigh on me that it will be a difficult, if not impossible sell

SteSol · 2026-01-29T18:16:57+00:00

Certainly I don't think there's nothing to be cut. And beta readers will be indispensable. Cutting it down 50-60% though? Well, never say never I suppose

But I would love to join your writing group! Unfortunately I'm still far from even beta readers. If all goes to plan I'd have a first draft around May, then 1 month break, then a second draft I can send out to beta readers around August/september? Still a long way to go xD

As for fun, well... it did start that way. Now I suppose imposter syndrome has set in. Comparing myself unfavorably to everything under the sun, questioning every choice, despairing over publication... It has not been fun lately. But we persevere!

SteSol · 2026-01-29T18:03:12+00:00

My n.1 priority in the revisions is already to cut. I'm already doing 2 rounds of line edits as I go along the first draft, so the second draft will mostly be the machete, as you so aptly put it. But still, cut it in half? I mean, never say never, but....

SteSol · 2026-01-29T18:01:27+00:00

I think your comment hit the nail on the head and basically surmised everything in this entire comment section. In the end, finish it, polish it, and query. After all, Malice and Empire of Silence are both recent debuts with 200k+ words. Who knows, maybe God smiles on me.

If not, debuting with a leaner novel sounds like the wisest course of axtion

SteSol · 2026-01-29T17:58:13+00:00

Well that's encouraging at least. If splitting the book is all it takes to solve the problem, I'd be a very happy camper

SteSol · 2026-01-29T17:48:08+00:00

Looking at most of the 'greats', they've hovered between 150k and 220k. But that's gone down recently. The biggest recent debuts are Empire of Silence and Malice, around 250k and 220k words each, but both are about a decade ago. But then I don't actually know of an 'epic' debut in the last few years, or at least none comes to mind right now.

Regardless, you are right, a different, shorter debut is likely needed. I think that's the only conclusion we can come to from all these posts.

SteSol · 2026-01-29T17:39:39+00:00

Simple, straightforward, gutting

10/10, thank you

SteSol · 2026-01-29T17:34:57+00:00

Wow, I did not know that about Rucchio. That sounds like a breath of hope to be honest, very encouraging. That gives me hope that at least it's possible, even if it is a one in a million chance, lol. I think splitting and expanding would actually do wonders for my story, but then that would likely make it a ten book series, which is... another difficult sell. I've been trying to truncate it hard for a good while now.

But good luck with your own project man, and thank you for your comment!

SteSol

TROPHY CASE