Agent Response on my Word Count

By Library Romp - 2:11 PM

Got a rejection from an agent today with a little bit of constructive advice.  Too many words, 1,069 words to be exact. I tend to like a word count of 1000 or so, and that’s what I write. Some consider picture books of 1000 + words folktales and fairy tales.  

So what is the magic number editors are looking for?  It’s a word count between 350 to 750.  I often find these shorter rhyming books flat, relying too much on illustrations.  For example, Splish, Splash, Splat by Rob Scotton is disconnected, meaning the text doesn’t flow and the overall writing is weak.  Generally speaking, most books authored and illustrated by the same person do not work. This is not always the case, as my daughter adores Victoria Kann’s Pinkalicious. Interestingly though, Siverlicious did not elicit much excitement.  

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