Take a 5-Question Poll!

7/17/2019

Never mind the endless summertime debate of chocolate or vanilla (yum!),
today I'd love your opinion on what appeals to you in five different aspects of your general preferences with regard to historical romance. It takes just a minute to vote, so cast your ballot and be heard. You can leave any comments or questions below this blog. Thanks for chiming in! :)

Feel free to share this survey with other romance readers!

Thanks for voting!

20 Comments

Ann Mettert

7/18/2019 05:20:44 pm

I voted for the mystery subplot, but really it’s a tie with humor.
I did not vote for a length because I like any length as long as it fits the story.

Gaelen

7/19/2019 09:57:12 am

Thank you for the specifics, Ann! Good to know. :)
Happy Friday!
G.

Katie

7/18/2019 10:37:25 pm

Rather than/in addition to words ... how many pages ... authors think words; readers think pages ... or at least i do

Gaelen

7/19/2019 10:12:46 am

Hi Katie, that's a good point. The reason I used words instead of pages is because when it comes to e-books, it's really hard to know how many pages something actually is.

Also, it will depend on how many words the publisher puts on a page. Two books, for example, could have the same number of pages, but there could be 20,000 additional words in one versus the other, just based on how many lines of text per page there is, how small the font size is, and how wide each line of text is, too.

And really, it also kind of depends on the author's writing style, too. A book with lots of short lines of quick, snappy dialogue could have the same number of PAGES but a lot fewer words than a novel that has more long paragraphs of description or introspection.

Hope that helps clarify some of the aspects that make calculating page count trickier than one might think at first glance.

However, all that said, here are some general estimates in very broad terms, of what the different word counts above might sorta come out to in pages:

Novella: 30-120 pages.
Short Novel: 120-180 pages.
Medium Novel: 180-240 pages.
Standard Length: 240-300 pages
Long Novel: 300-360+ pages.

Hope this helps! I think maybe I'll update my post and copy this list above, since other people are probably wondering the same thing. Thx for bringing it to my attention! And have a good weekend.

:)
Gaelen

PS: Now that you see that list, which length did you end up liking up best?

Ira6808

7/19/2019 12:07:59 am

Hi, it didn't let me correct my mistake - I subscribe to KU. There are times when I don't but in general I do. I accidentally clicked "no" though. As for the length, the longer the better, standard upwards is best. Usually I don't read books with less than 200 pages, though 250 fells better and I really love it when they have at least 350 and more.
Best,
Irina

Gaelen

7/19/2019 10:21:27 am

Hi Irina! Thanks for voting! :) Sorry the poll thingy wouldn't let you correct your answer. My little poll function here comes a new-to-me app and I'm still getting used to it. I'll check to see if I put a setting wrong or something. Anyhoo, your vote correction is duly noted!

Also, very interesting about page count. Thanks for sharing the specifics of your opinion. I have always written long books (especially the last one, DUKE OF SHADOWS, yikes! It was a tome nearly *two* standard books long. But it had a lot going on in there, lol.) I don't want to do them THAT long ago, because that thing nearly killed me, haha, but the downside of writing longer books is that they take longer to finish and send off to my readers. So it's a dilemma. To be frank, though, I'm not sure how much control I even have over it.

A lot of times, a book just wants to be what it wants to be, and who I am to question it, lol. My characters are like, "Excuse me, you're just the writer. It's MY story!"

Guess that's what I get for hanging out with alpha male dukes. *g*

:)
Gaelen

Gaelen

7/19/2019 10:25:11 am

PS: Holy heck, sorry about all the typos in my answer. I just read it over again and saw them. Aaaand in addition to not letting you fix poll answers, my web host does not let us edit/fix typos in comments, apparently. Oy. Sorry about that.

As for me, I clearly need another cup of coffee. LOL. ;)

Judith Barton link

7/25/2019 05:23:43 pm

Gaelen, concerned to hear about publishing houses current thinking but glad you are liking being an indie so much. So far getting books through Book Depository because Australia can be a bit problematic at times. Just about to get Duke of Shadows - looking forward to reading after having read the extract. Thanks for many hours of pure enjoyment, escapism and learning about the Regency period. Judith Barton

Gaelen

7/27/2019 02:35:02 pm

Hi Judith! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and commenting, and, of course, for reading my books! I'm thrilled to hear you've enjoyed them. Yaaay! :)

Also, thank you for bringing the difficulty with getting my books in Australia to my attention. You know, I've heard that numerous times over the years, and I'm really sorry. I will have a look at that and see what i can do. But I'm glad Book Depository is able to help, btw.

I know for my books in series OTHER than Moonlight Square (the ones that'll be under control of my former publishers until I'm dead, LOL), the UK/Aussie and various other territories could sometimes be an issue.

Which, I've gotta say, is JUST another reason to be indie, because if I had control of them, I could probably get it sorted out quicky, lol. Unlike a huge corporation where the right hand doesn't always know what the left hand is doing, sigh. Sorry about the aggravation!

But if you DO ever do ebooks, Amazon AU is about to have a sale on Duke of Shadows starting in August! I will be linking to it from my home page once that sale begins so my readers Downunder can easily find it. ;)

Thanks again for your support of my work.
xo,
Gaelen

Gina

7/28/2019 12:00:40 am

I just wanted a little bit of humor should also beca part of love. laughing with your special person makes things sometimes a better perspective. BTW I use Nook. I have worn a few out, but your books are on there , right now I'm re reading the Knight Miscellany series for the 5th time.
Love your books
G

Gaelen

7/30/2019 02:53:52 pm

Aw, thank you, Gina!! I really appreciate that. xo

stephanie McGlothlen

7/29/2019 07:57:31 am

I wish you had books on kindle unlimited, I have all of your books in paperback but love to read on my phone or my tablet.

Gaelen

7/30/2019 03:00:21 pm

Hi Stephanie! Thanks for the input and also for reading my novels. (Yay!!) *g* I'm keeping Kindle Unlimited in mind. (That's why I wanted to find out if my readers are using it or not.) Since I've been around for so long, I have readers that use all the different e-book sources, so I could do that for new releases or I'd have a lot of people mad at me, but at some point, once the books are older, it would be nice (I agree) to at least do one or two of those 90-day periods that an author can put their books on Kindle Unlimited. I just wish it were up to me to do that with my titles before Moonlight Square. The publishers control the Knight Miscellany and the Inferno Club, etc. Clearly, I need to roll up my sleeves and WRITE A LOT MORE BOOKS!
Thanks again for your comments and I'm delighted you stopped by!
:)
G.

stephanie McGlothlen

7/30/2019 03:54:20 pm

For sure!, especially the older ones I would love love love to re-read but I work 12hr days and just like to get on my kindle or nook on my phone on my lunch break. Its way easier than lugging around books to work, but I will buy all my faves to physically have because you cant beat a full book shelf lol....although my husband would argue that since I have 4 with everything from your books, to history, to cookbooks, to odd and end ones like devil in the white city and the walking dead books.

Gaelen

8/1/2019 07:07:56 pm

You sound like a definite book addict, Stephanie, lol. (Funny, my husband says that same kind of stuff! What do THEY know, haha.) And omg 12-hour days! Yikes. Yes, much easier to keep your Kindle on hand than lugging books.
BTW, I typed that wrong above. Meaning, I *couldn't* put a New Release on Kindle Unlimited or my Nook and Kobo and Apple readers would be mad at me. But I've heard it's a good thing to put books on there (at least for a while) once they get older. Keeping it in mind. All the best to you and your husband!
:)
Gaelen

Jessica Kleman

7/29/2019 04:05:56 pm

I especially like series where we get to experience supporting characters stories as they build throughout others. I really enjoy the details and having flawed characters instead of picture perfect people. Thanks so much for providing such great entertainment!

Gaelen

7/30/2019 02:55:22 pm

Hi Jessica, this is great feedback that I can use in a practical sense. Thanks for letting me know what's working! And thank you VERY much for reading my books. So glad you stopped by. xo, G

Sandi Kunkel

8/1/2019 01:00:06 pm

I really love all your books! Long or short! I enjoy reading a series as opposed to a stand alone book. Humor is always good! Its so nice to start laughing while reading a book. Getting lost in them is fun!

Gaelen

8/1/2019 07:04:57 pm

Thank you for the wonderful feedback, Sandi! That's very helpful. I love to laugh, too. (As you could probably tell!) Thank you so much for visiting my blog and for reading my books! I deeply appreciate it.
xo,
Gaelen

Lisa Cox

11/8/2019 08:56:04 pm

I voted "Adventure" as my favorite subplot but I really enjoy mystery and humor, as well. Which is why your books are a perfect read for me. Your stories bring a welcome blend of elements that keep me turning the pages until way past my bedtime. 😂

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