Let's Talk About Book Length

[Regev]

Last year, I published a thread here asking if $5,000 is worth it for an editor. Lots of water passed through the treadmill since then, and the book is already done. The thing is, it is 145k words, and i'm having hard time deciding whether I should publish it in one piece (ditch some of the chapters, about 125k words in 6x9 on 11 font to have four hundred something total pages), or just in two parts (160k words <i'll add two more chapters> each part 5.5x8.5, so it's about 300 pages each).

The book isn't a linear storyline. It's not a fictional story. Rather, it's a collection of many high-octane stories, each of them infused with its own lesson, philosophical perspective and gambits of advice. They can stand on their own, yes, but all of them together all add up and tie each other and construct the full view. Which is why I'm torn between keeping most of them in one, or all of them in two.

Book site is ready:

http://destinationpoon.com

I got two design covers ready (in case I decide to split the book to two parts).

What's your view and experience on book length?

Thanks a lot fellas, appreciate it.
P.S- Thanks you ChickenHawk, you planted the seed for two books in my head when you wrote:

"You're probably not going to want to hear this, but editing-cost aside, I've got bad news & good news for you to consider... (This is my opinion only, so take that for what it's worth.)

The Bad News - Your Book is Dangerously Long
IMO, 150K is dangerously long. Books these days are trending shorter and shorter. 150K by today's standards is seriously huge and potentially unwieldy to your readers. If you're planning to put your book into Kindle Unlimited, a reader would need to consume 15K words before you'd get paid for a borrow. Part of the reason you were quoted such a high figure for editing is that your book is twice the size of most books these days, maybe even three times the size. Any time you deviate from the norm, you're setting yourself up for challenges. I'm not trying to discourage you, but I really do think you need to look at this. What are you looking to price this at? I can't imagine the price being low, since you're offering so many words in one book. However, if your price is too high, that will likely hurt sales too. I'm just saying, you've got quite a few challenges there with a book this size.

The Good News - You've Got Lots of Words, which Equals Lots of Potential
You've got a lot of words. Yay! Is there any way you could divide this up into two or three shorter books? Maybe make them part of a series? If you're planning to sell on Amazon, this would also help you as far as also-boughts and building a fan base, because those who like one book would likely enjoy the others as well. Also, if you had three books, your editing cost per book drops significantly.

Side Note: I've self-pubbed five (adult) books. Four have hit the Amazon top 100. The fifth one didn't even come close. Why? Hard to say. But I do know that this fifth one was significantly longer (120K words) and more complicated. I do think that was a factor. If I could go back in time, I would break the book up into two parts and make each part juicier.

Good luck whichever route you go! Regardless of which way you go, writing 150K words is a seriously impressive accomplishment, and something most people only dream of. I hope you'll keep us posted."

So i'll keep you all posted. But before I make the final decision, i'd really appreciate any thoughts on book length. Thanks.

 

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