With the popularity of self-publishing platforms for ebooks, there are a growing number of authors churning out short stories of varying quality and flooding the marketplace. For a traditional romance that follows the boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back formula, how long do you think the story needs to be in order to satisfy readers?
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Hi Elizabeth,
I just joined this site and this is my first post. I'm a romance writer who's been traditionally published and who has self-published.
Like you, I'm seeing a HUGE number of books published that aren't ready for market. People are in a big hurry to see their work in print . . . or name in lights . . . and forget all the stuff required to make the book sellable. Like editing and an attractive cover. Self-publishing authors also and mostly don't have any experience in the industry to qualify them for publishing . . . eg: developing a thick skin for criticism, proper editing of their work, marketing knowledge, etc.
Personally, I don't really believe in a 'traditional romance formula'. Not all romances have a boy meets loses and gets back a girl (or boy). Today's romances are relationship stories and often feature plots where the hero and heroine work together toward a common goal, falling in love at the same time.
Regarding your question about length . . . I don't believe there's a set length for any story. A story will be told in as many words as it takes. The final version length only puts it in a class . . . short story, novelette, novella, novel, super novel.
Writeres are as varied as stories. I know readers who only read short stories, some who prefer novellas and others who only read 100K word books or bigger because they love long stories and sagas.