Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
From what I've read, that was due to the practicalities of publishing, not the fact that the publisher didn't want to publish it as a single volume. There was a severe paper shortage in 1950s Britain, and not enough of the high-quality thin paper was available that would have been necessary for a single-volume edition.
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Yes. To the best of my knowledge it was the post WWII paper shortages that necessitated it being published the way it was.
All it takes is for an editor to really believe in a book no matter the length and they can sell there co-workers/bosses on it. A good agent will know which editors at which houses might be the most receptive to a given work. It's true that 80-120K words seems to be the sweet spot for many novels, but that's just a guideline and not any kind of hard and fast rule.
Some long first novels...
Sarum - Edward Rutherfurd
Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts