Nathan Bransford - The Forums

I think Sommer made some very perceptive comments, and I don't think it's fair to blame the publishing industry here.

I don't think readers are going to pick up a book that long, especially from an unknown, self-published author. They have no idea what they're getting into, and for $5 why bother when they could have no idea what they're getting into with a different book for between $1-$3?

The lengthy series that were mentioned above are out of the norm, and were, very notably, series (so broken up). J.K. Rowling had to start her series at around 70k before anyone was willing to let her go crazy with word count. It's about proving yourself first.

I'd say the only way you could make it work would be to offer a decent chunk of the beginning for free to lure people in and convince them you know what you're doing, but, still, I do think this will be a very hard sell.

My first thought if I came across that is the writer probably a) didn't get it edited b) is very wordy and long winded. I don't trust a debut writer to pay $5 for a self-pub book that's that long. Your book is nearly twice as long as Atlas Shrugged and there is no way that would have ever become successful if it was Rand's first book. I agree with those who suggested you either put some up for free or break it up in general. You may love your work of art, but you need to understand the psychology of readers -- not all of them love books and writing as much as we do. I can easily finish a full length novel on a flight between NYC and LA, which astounds most people.

I have to say, 10^6 words is almost unimaginably long. I say that as a reader who really enjoys sitting down with a book that's thick enough to be used as a murder weapon.

I also say it as a copyeditor. If I were to contract for a project like this, it would take me at least a couple of months to finish, and to the exclusion of all other projects. I wouldn't be willing to make such a huge commitment, unless I had worked with you several times before and had great confidence in your writing (and your ability to pay the colossal fee I would have to charge). I doubt many other copyeditors would, either. Pare it down. The ability to cut the unnecessary stuff is one of the most important skills a writer can have. Say what you need to say in as few words as possible. That's what efficiency is.