Submissions are going very well so far! I’ve received more than a handful of manuscripts, from authors representing four countries and five genres, and more are trickling in every day.
The question I’m asked the most about Dragon Moon Press’s open submissions is how firm the word-count guidelines are. “My book is shorter than 80,000. Can I still send it to you?” or “My book is longer than 100,000. Can I still send it to you?”
I thought I’d address that here, because I’m not going to make individual judgment calls on a manuscript by manuscript basis.
The first rule of sending out your work — whether it’s to an editor, a publisher, an agent, whatever — is all about picking your market, making sure you’re a good fit and you know what they’re looking for, but it really boils down to “Don’t send people what they say they don’t want.”
In Dragon Moon’s case, “what they don’t want” is non-fiction of any form, children’s fiction, incomplete fiction, short fiction… They publish science fiction and fantasy, and their imprint brings along an expectation that a book with the little dragon and moon on the spine will have elements of the magical or otherworldly. Things that don’t fit that mold, won’t make that cut. Even if they’re good, they’re just not a fit.
Sometimes the guidelines can be a little more fluid. That’s why they’re guidelines and not rules. Word count is one of those fluid ones — that’s why we use a range, in the first place. An article usually has to be a specific length to fit well into a certain allotment of pages in a periodical, and a short-fiction submission often will have the same kinds of restraints to take into account, but a book is different. A book often has more leeway. In general, a book should be as long as it needs to be, to tell the story it needs to tell.
If your word count falls outside the specified range for a particular call for submissions:
Is it close? Being 5% or even 10% off the guidelines isn’t huge. At worst it’ll get rejected, but probably not for word count.
Is it more than 10% off from what the publisher is seeking? More than 20%? That’s not a trivial difference, that’s a significant one. Again, the worst you’ll get is rejected, but if you know it’s not what someone’s looking for then you also know your odds of success are probably rather small.
However, unlike genre and plot and style, word count is something that’s easy to change. If your word count falls outside the posted guidelines, you have three options:
1. Don’t send it. It’s not what they’re looking for.
Certainly a viable option, though you may be interpreting the guidelines too rigidly and denying yourself a potential opportunity.
2. Send it anyway. It’s a fit in all other respects, and if they like it they’ll be willing to overlook the word count, or work with you on it.
There are always exceptions, but it’s never a good idea to go into a situation assuming that exceptions will be made for you. If it’s close to the requested word count, then the chances that word-count will be overlooked are better than if it’s significantly off.
3. If you have time, you may consider doing a revision that brings the manuscript within, or at least near, the requested length. Is there a scene you wanted to write but didn’t? Is there a chapter that the book doesn’t really need?
Consider that an acceptance at the current length might be dependent on doing a little more work to approach the word count guidelines anyway. This school of thought suggests that there’s no harm to seeing if you can get it there, yourself.
I said above that all books should be the length they need to be, I know, but there’s no harm in turning a critical eye to your manuscript and deciding whether it’s at that point yet or not. Don’t just cut or squeeze words in indiscriminately, though. It will show.
There is no single right answer. Ultimately, it’s your judgment call to make. In all cases, from the writer’s point of view, the worst that can happen is a rejection letter.
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