I was listening to a Brandon Sanderson masterclass on storytelling, publishing, and whatnot — as one does when writing becomes their vocation — when he mentioned something interesting.
He said how one of his books (I can't remember the title) was approximately 400,000 words long, which caused physical bookshops to get a little…
ANTSY.
Sanderson explained how there's a cap, a glass ceiling if you will, to what a retailer can charge for a fiction book. In other words, just because his 400,000-word behemoth was twice as long as his other work didn’t mean they could charge twice the price.
Such is the nature of the book market.
And this bothers them to no end.
Because not only does a book of his size hog more space on the shelf — precious space that could be used to sell other novels — but it also costs more to produce, edit, and transport those extra sweet-smelling pages.
Admittedly, I found this to be quite an illuminating tale.
It warms my stone of a heart that even established bookshops prefer shorter works, and that should I ever honour them with the chance to flog my fast-paced fantasy novels, I know they will appreciate the extra space afforded on their shelves.
And if leaner fantasy reads that don’t skimp on world-building, high stakes, and a cast of interesting, three-dimensional characters appeal to you…
Then you will love The Divided Region.
Or maybe you won't.
Only one way to find out:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/TDR-Bundle
And should your adventures into Estos prove anything less than fun, you have a full 30 days to ask for your silver back.
But be warned:
Any blatant abuse of my generous refund policy will be met with lifelong bans — both for my Storehouse and the Legion.
DJJW