Question!

I've finished writing a 98,000 word YA fantasy novel. I'm worried that it's too long and I was wondering if it would be a good idea to cut it in half. There is a part where doing that would be perfect. I could probably cut 1,000-2,000 words out during the edit, but still. If you think I should cut it in half then do you think I could get both halves published or would it be easier to just do it as one?

I was thinking about querying for the full book and if that didn't work out and agents said it was too long then I might consider cutting it in half.

Dang that's a lot of words! Impressive.
Personally, I would go with pages. If after printing it's gonna be more than 800 pages, cut it in half, because a 900 page book might turn down readers because it's so long.
I would see what publisher's have to say too. If they're interested in the full version than by all means go for that.
I would vote two books cause then you can leave the first in a cliff hanger, get a fan base and then have the epic sequel

Query for the whole book, and best of luck! ^^ I hope it's not too long though... mine is 127K. xD But! Recent authors have paved the way for longer YA novels, so you're in fairly good shape.

98K is not too long... unless your actual storyline stretches on for too long. You shouldn't go by word count too much, no matter what NaNo seems to instigate, because it's really the pacing and quality of the story and characters that matter.

So how are those?

Cutting it in half is probably good, seeing as that is what the editor will probably tell you anyway. Just make sure the first part has a decent ending and the second has a good beginning and maybe doesn't start at the EXACT time that the first one ended.
These are just some ideas, but good luck!
-Lydia

An average young adult book is 68,000 words. Of course there are those writers that surpass this norm and do fine Harry Potter, Twilight, Eragon. It all depends if you story makes sense when you cut it in half. If it does then do it.

I say split it, though like Rosey Amon said you could leave it. Knowing the people I know, most would be intimidated by 'big' books.

Um...900 to 1,000 pages? Isn't that like all the Harry Potter books put together? Mine's about 350 pages long double-spaced in Word.

At this point I'm thinking of querying it as one and then cutting it in two if agents say it's too long.

Horserider wrote:Um...900 to 1,000 pages? Isn't that like all the Harry Potter books put together? Mine's about 350 pages long double-spaced in Word.

At this point I'm thinking of querying it as one and then cutting it in two if agents say it's too long.

Harry Potter is over 3,000 pages total.

<--- geek.

By the way, congrats on finishing! I'm working on a YA fantasy novel of my own, and no where near finished. Urgh.

Don't make big cuts if you don't need to. A lot of small cuts can have as large an impact as editing out a whole chapter or scene.

If anything, I would suggest paring down the action: make the plot tighter and faster-paced, building up the tension so the reader is desperate to know what happens in the end.

Don't make big cuts if you don't need to. A lot of small cuts can have as large an impact as editing out a whole chapter or scene.

If anything, I would suggest paring down the action: make the plot tighter and faster-paced, building up the tension so the reader is desperate to know what happens in the end.

I'm trying, but it so hard! I'd rather write a whole other story at this point. I cut out all of chapter one and I know of one scene I'm going to cut out completely just because it's basically completely useless to the story, just something really girly that I got overly excited about.

I think three hundred and fifty pages is actually a good amount. I'll read any book from 100-800 (the most I've ever read) pages. But 900 is a little bit too much for me, and I know that 1,000 pages is too much (for me, I have 3 friends who will read it). I will, however read a 1000 page book if my friends have said it has a great plot.

Not to say anything bad about this novel I've never looked at, but unless your plot is long and has no 'filler' don't cut it. A longer work does not mean it is bad, but yes it can be intimidating if the prose is awkward. Two books means two purchases, and if your publisher has to put out two separate pieces to the same work the chances of getting published decrease greatly.

However if you are going to publish it through a trusted POD and deal with them, chances are they will be more then happy to go over something with you on a split. If you do this chances of being published by a major name or having your item appear on the shelves of Borders or whatever chain nearest you will probably be 0.

Either way, its a painful process and figuring out exactly what you need to do to the manuscript before the publishing task comes first. You've come this far and yet it seems like battle has only just begun if you have high hopes, prepare for rejection and brave it out.

Oh and Midnight, anything about 100 pages probably won't get much attention from typical readers, those are still very short. 350-450 is typical I guess, but a good story can go 700+ without too much of a hassle. The Stand by King was always a daunting book, 1200 pages I believe, unsplit.

I say go for the whole thing!
I am personally a lover of long books!
Tell us if (and when) it gets published!
Good luck!

Keep on writing!!!!!