We are two published authors, who also have a successful low content side hustle (journals, notebooks, puzzle-books, sheet music, etc.) , and are now turning our attention back towards writing, and a collaborative series of IF/FF/CYOA type books (eBook and paperback).
We’re currently working on the first - Medusa’s Gold - a massive 105K word, 750 location interactive novel with a definite comic slant. This is not a story that takes itself seriously and is definitely more in the Leather Goddesses of Phobos camp than something like The Warlock of Firetop Mountain¹.
It’s currently written and edited, and we’re now laying out the paperback version and adding the final tweaks to the 6"x9" paperback, which looks like will come in around 420ish pages.
We’d love to hear any feedback you may have:
Regular 6"x9" novel or a slimmer, larger format book (8.5"x11")?
What would you expect to pay for a 400+ page book?
What would be your preference, eBook or Paperback?
As a long time collector of CYOA-style books, I think 420pp is definitely on the thicker side for 6"x9", but it’s certainly acceptable. I have 5"x7 3/4" books of that length, like the Bloodsword reprints and the recent Gates of Death, and they are both a handleable length. 6"x9" is the US standard, I think, so you could just stick with that.
As for price, it depends on how it’s being produced: regular distribution, crowdfunding, or POD. The most recent Fighting Fantasy books, which are rough;y the size you are describing, and released under general distribution, match the normal £7-£10 paperback price ($7.50-$11.50) here in the UK. (The one I have in front of me was £6.99, but that was a 2018 publication). Dave Morris’ most recent Vulcanverse novel is £15 ($20) in an 8"x9.5" POD version on Amazon. I’d definitely expect it to be no more than $12, and quite probably less.
I personally prefer paperback. A paperback with an optional download for a hyperlinked PDF or eBook would be perfect.
As for the Medusa’s, I’d definitely expect eggs if they are the Gorgon style with serpentine lower halves. If they are just women with snakes for hair then live babies are more plausible, but either would do. (Of course, some snakes also have live births, so this might be the safer option if you are worried about real-world plausibility for some reason.)
Thanks for all that.
I mostly agree with the formatting comments. and a 400+ page book is definitely a ‘tome’, which is why a ‘letter’ (basically A4) format book would be more manageable. We could drop 50-100 pages or so…
We’ve close to 300 published books between us and there are definite trends, depending on readership. 6x9 is pretty strange for us Brits, we tend towards 5x8, but common in the US (our main demographic), hence the decision to format at that size, it was also a massive 15% saving in page count!
Most classic FF/CYOA books that I know are a lot smaller in word count, mostly being around the 45-65K (and the occasional one in the 80s) and circa 400 passages, making this about double the size of an average one.
Yeah, things like the Vulcanverse very much buck this trend (1600 passage in the final one - EEEK!!), That larger 8x10 format may be a good compromise size to consider, although they do cram the words in with smaller fonts, rather than the standard 12pt. I had the first one (sadly no more), so thanks for that reminder. We’ll consider that approach for sure.
Price-wise, we’re around your numbers, with a 70K being 12-15 quid, we’re looking to be in that ball -park. although your conversion is a tad off. 7 quid is closer to $9. Prices spiked from 2020 onwards. You’ll not be seeing 6.99 paperbacks too often nowadays. Most of our books have increased by at least $3 since then, sadly.
Our Medusa won’t be having babies any time soon, it was just an idle thought, but absolutely, the Harryhousen style, would definitely be egg-layers, I think. The ‘real’ Medusa was a beautiful human before her tragic change, but we tend towards the half/snake versions nowadays, thanks to Clash of the Titans.
