Amid all the excitement of publishing The Tower in the Mist, I also managed a third draft revision of its sequel, which I’m now calling The Grove of Ghosts. It started out being 36,850 words and ended being 36,760. Having only a 90-odd word difference convinces me that the story is really solid at its length.
The whole exercise made me think a bit about word counts and why they matter. One factor is that the word count is a defining characteristic for our genre. The way I was taught is this: 1) Flash fiction is anything under 1,000 words. 2) Short stories are 1,000 to 10,000 words. 3) 10,000 to 15,000 is a novelette. 4) 15,000 to 30,000 is a novella. 5) 30,000 to 90,000 is the Dead Zone. No publications buy stories at this length. 6) 90,000 words or more is a novel.
Based on this, maybe you can see why I was worried that my novellas were 32,000 words (The Tower in the Mist) and 38,000 words (The Grove of Ghosts) in their first drafts. Strictly by the word count, both of them are too long for the novella format.
The word-count-as-definition trope comes from the 19th and 20th Centuries, when all publications were on paper and editors had to gauge how many pages a given story would take up in their magazine. And the calculation still holds true in print books and magazines, which require editors to balance page counts vs. price point.
However, as an author of e-books, page count is really a non-issue. With no actual book to fit on actual shelves or ship in actual boxes, I can write 38,000 words and call it a novella. I don’t have to worry that it’s in the Dead Zone. The calculation that I have to make is price point vs. value to customer. After buying my e-book, I want my reader to believe they got a fair value for what they paid. If the book is too short, they may feel cheated. It it is too long, they may suspect I padded it to inflate the word count.
What’s your thought about word counts and story length over all?
Did you know I have an author newsletter? You can get it! I’ll even give you a free e-book for signing up. Just click here.
Wyrmflight 
I struggle with this all the time. It isn’t paper and bindings, it’s the price point. Serang will make novel length, but The Viral Blues is going to fall in that unknown zone. I’m about tired of publishing 99¢ books, but will a shorter work glean sales if I put it at Amazon’s higher royalty point? The struggle is real.
I am perhaps getting proud as I go on, but I’ve taken everything off $.99, even my short novelettes. People don’t respect things that are so cheap, just like they don’t respect things that are free. Both novelettes are $1.99, although they only sell a copy occasionally anyhow. My longer work is $4.99. I write a good story, and my books are worth that.
I’m getting there myself. I don’t mind leaving the collections there as a test drive for readers. I may be making a few adjustments myself.
I think ebooks have really been a boon for novella-length work. As you say, there’s a calculus that goes into the decision about whether a book will earn a profit for those creating it. Ebooks change that calculus because you don’t have the same kinds of physical costs (though, from a publisher’s standpoint, you still need to think about editorial time investment, cover costs and marketing.)
Of some interest, I remember Jack Williamson once remarked that he thought the novella was the perfect length for science fiction. It’s short enough you can create really groundbreaking ideas without worrying about presenting their most in-depth consequences, yet long enough you can present those ideas fully and allow readers to draw their own conclusions. Of course, you’re writing fantasy, but I think it still does allow the author some freedom to explore and reader a chance to sample more ideas.
A lot of high fantasy can be quite deeply thought in the politics, though. Beneath the exterior of love affairs and fantastic beasts, Martin has a lot to say on that.
Especially in nonfiction, there is no difference in the time required for proper research and documentation of an ebook vs. print.