One of the things I have been struggling with is to know what to call the things I am working on. I recently learned that my upcoming second book, Naughty is Hard to Forget, will actually fall into the category of a Novella and not a Novelette. I am about 50% complete and am sitting at about 16,000 words. Work is stalled on the Naughty work as I make this final run toward publishing Rookie Privateer.
Who actually decides this? Well it turns out that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America does. At least they do for the purpose of handing out awards. To my best understanding they have created the following categories:
Short Story – Up to 7,500 words
Novelette – 7,500 to 17,500 words
Novella – 17,500 to 40,000 words
Novel – over 40,000 words
So now you know. Oh and since I am self-publishing I won’t be invited to join the SFWA any time soon.
