Page Me

I just finished reading a book by Rex Stout, a long-dead writer of detective mysteries like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. 

The book, Right to Die, was one of his later efforts. It was also short, less than two hundred pages. These days, it would probably be classified as a novella. Having something of a mathematical mind, I am interested in book length as a factor in publishing. At first, I thought it was all about word count. I’ve tried to exceed 80,000 words with all my manuscripts. 

There appears to be more to the subject than meets the word meter.

As I compare mystery titles by various authors, I’ve discovered a remarkable coincidence: regardless of the writing style or density of words on a page, the books end in a neatly tied knot around page 305.

Robert B. Parker, who is known for his laconic dialog and two-word paragraphs, has Spencer, Sunny Randall or Jesse Stone all wrapping things up on the same last page. Janet Evanovich manages to get Stephanie Plum untangled from her underwear or someone else’s at the same distance from the title. The same is true for Nevada Barr, although she seems to have winkled out a little more leeway. Some of her books drag on almost to four hundred pages. Only Patricia Cornwell has reached escape velocity. Her last two books finally run out of steam just shy of five hundred pages. Stieg Larsson is also an exception, but he may have died before his publisher could beat him into submission. His books run to seven hundred pages.

I’m not sure what’s so magical about a book that size, but the precision is such that I could use my hardcovers instead of rulers. I don’t know if the same can be said for paperbacks. I’m not much of a fan. 

The other thing that is odd is that the rule doesn’t seem to apply to other genres. The Harry Potter books grew by at least a hundred pages with each new volume. J. K. Rowling conformed to the three hundred page rule with her first effort, but by the time the Deathly Hallows went to press, it was over 750 pages. Clancy’s books (after The Hunt for Red October) are all much longer.

Science fiction, fantasy and thrillers may have more to explain, so perhaps they have more leeway. Maybe if you sell a bazillion copies of a book, the publishers have less sway. Successful authors become eight hundred page gorillas.

I’ve absorbed the message. I’m cleaning up the manuscript for book three in my Frank Healy series. It’s going to come out at three hundred seven pages. 

Or else.