The novella is a strange beast in writing and publishing. Not quite a novel but lengthier than a short story (and also longer than the craft’s red-headed stepchild, the novelette). It’s a form that allows fiction writers to explore a story and characters in greater depth than a short story but doesn’t require the structural complexity, temporal sweep, and multi-level plotting of a novel.
The novella, however, also presents certain marketing problems: with lengths ranging from 17,000 to 40,000 words (a measurement that in itself is somewhat nebulous), it can be tricky for publishers to convince consumers to shell out their hard-earned money for a slim volume that may not always reach even 100 pages.
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