Counting Words with Brandi Larsen

We’re getting meta on the pod by talking about page counts in published books and, by extension, word counts in unpublished manuscripts. What is an acceptable word-count range for a novel or memoir, and why does word count matter at all? Writer, speaker, and former Penguin publishing executive Brandi Larsen shares the economic rationale for common page-count ranges in published books and offers tips for writers penning their own manuscripts. While there’s always wiggle room and the occasional exception, there’s a reason why writers might run into trouble when trying to publish a 50,000-word novel or a 200,000-word memoir with a traditional publisher—and this episode will illuminate why.

 

Brandi Larsen is a writer and speaker building a more inclusive publishing landscape. Her work at Penguin Random House helped create NYT bestsellers, and her journalism pieces earned Emmy nominations. Her talks about publishing, leadership, and grief inspire audiences from Zoom to Harvard. She serves as the board president for Literary Cleveland and writes books and essays. Uncultured: A Memoir publishes September 20, 2022 and is available to pre-order now. Learn more at BrandiLarsen.com and @brandilarsen on social media.

 

For full show notes and a transcript of this episode, visit the episode page at https://ohiocenterforthebook.org/podcast. To get in touch, email ohiocenterforthebook@cpl.org and put “podcast” in the subject line.