Word Count Wednesday!

I thought I'd get some closure by posting this final entry in the Wednesday Word Count category for THE BOOK OF KELL.  Almost seven years ago (eight if you believe blogger.com), I started writing this novel with a goal of at least 60,000 words.  Back on Day 1, I had 2,774 words and a long way to go.

 

 

My goal changed over the years.  (The book did, too, quite a bit!)  The publisher, Bella Books, has a minimum word count guideline of 60,000.  But these days my goal is always at least 100,000.  THE BOOK OF KELL came in at 99,482 carefully curated, lovingly selected and arduously toiled over words.  (or 433,546 characters without spaces if you prefer)  It was over 100K for a while there, but those additional 518 words were just a wee bit flabby as it turned out.  Nobody needs a belt AND suspenders, right?

 

The goal of 100,000 continues to be something to strive for with the next book - but in the end, it's just a number.  99,482 was the perfect amount for THE BOOK OF KELL.  (For me, at least - we'll see what the editor says...)

99,482:  It's The New 100,000.