Mystery Authors List Their Favorite Mysteries, Part Four

Today's lists continue with those presented in The Armchair Detective's Book of Lists.

Aaron Elkins

Bone detectives, museum curators and professional golfers are among the detective-protagonists of Elkins award-winning novels.

Death of a Mystery Writer by Robert Barnard (1979)
The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie (1936)
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868)
The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin (1946)
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle (1902)
Forfeit by Dick Francis (1969)
Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman (1963)
The Case of Sonia Wayward by Michael Innes (1960)
Tied Up in Tinsel by Ngiao Marsh (1972)
Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters (1975)

John Gardner (Favorite Espionage Novels)

Along with a productive career writing about spies of his own creation, John Gardner continued the story of Professor Moriarty and in another series, the adventures of James Bond. 

Berlin Game by Len Deighton (1983)
Funeral in Berlin by Len Deighton (1964)
Agents of Innocence by David Ignatius (1987)
Smiley's People by John Le Carré (1980)
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carré (1963)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John Le Carré (1974)
The Better Angels by John McCarry (1979)
The Secret Lovers by John McCarry (1977)
The Tears of Autumn by John McCarry (1975)
The Beria Papers by Alan Williams (1973)

Michael Malone

Michael Malone is the author of a series of Justin and Cuddy mysteries set in small-town North Carolina.

Who is Teddy Villanova by Thomas Berger (1977)
Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler (1940)
Bleak House by Charles Dickens (1853)
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1866)
Intruder in the Dust by William Faulkner (1948)
The Deep Blue Good-by by John MacDonald (1964)
The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Chandler (1934)
The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout (1935)
Chinaman's Chance by Ross Thomas (1978)

Marcia Muller

Muller has written over thirty novels featuring the PI Sharon McCone along with a dozen more mysteries. 

The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler (1943)
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (1953)
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1930)
Ripley Underground by Patricia Highsmith (1970)
Listening Woman by Tony Hillerman (1978)
In a Lonely Place by Dorothy Hughes (1947)
Ride the Pale Horse by Dorothy Hughes (1946)
Darker Than Amber by John D. MacDonald (1966)
Black Money by Ross Macdonald (1966)
The Wycherly Woman by Ross Macdonald (1961)

Martin Hill Ortiz, also writing under the name, Martin Hill, is the author of A Predatory Mind. His mystery, Never Kill A Friend, will be available June 27th from Ransom Note Press. His epic poem, Two Mistakes, recently won second place in the Margaret Reid/Tom Howard Poetry Competition.

To Be Continued.

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Mystery Writers Choose Their Favorite Mysteries, Part Three

Yesterday's lists of mystery authors choosing their favorites mysteries was derived from the website "Detective-Fiction.com." Today's set will rely on those presented in The Armchair Detective's Book of Lists.

Robert B. Parker

Among other works, Dr. Parker wrote 40 novels with his detective hero, Spenser. As is reflected in his list, he wrote a doctoral dissertation on the works of Chandler and Hammett. He also completed the unfinished Chandler work "Poodle Springs," and wrote a sequel to The Big Sleep.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939)
Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler (1940)
The High Window by Raymond Chandler (1942)
The Lady in the Lake  by Raymond Chandler (1943)
The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler (1949)
The Long Goodbye  by Raymond Chandler (1953)
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1929)
The Diggers Game George V. Higgins (1973)

Elizabeth Peters

With a doctorate in Egyptology, many of Peters best works were mysteries set in Egypt, including Crocodile on the Sandbank.

The Burning Court by John Dickson Carr (1937)
The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie (1961)
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle (1902)
The Dark Place by Aaron Elkins (1983)
Phantom Lady by William Irish (1942)
Through a Glass, Darkly by Helen McCloy (1950)
The Family Vault by Charlotte MacLeod (1979)
Calamity Town by Ellery Queen (1942)
Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers (1930)
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (1951)

Peter Straub

Although famous for fantasy and horror, Straub has also penned complex mysteries and thrillers including Koko, The Throat, and (appropriately) Mystery.

Trent's Last Case by EC Bentley (1913)
When the Sacred Gin Mill Closes by Lawrence Block (1986)
The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler (1943)
The Long Good-bye by Raymond Chandler (1953)
The James Joyce Murder by Amanda Cross (1967)
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris (1981)
Pale Gray for Guilt by John D. McDonald (1968)
Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker (1975)
Live Flesh by Ruth Rendell (1986)
The First Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders (1973)

Donald E. Westlake

Westlake was a master of the too-cool, humorous caper, many using his master thief John Dortmunder.

The Light of Day by Eric Ambler (1962)
Sleep and His Brother by Peter Dickson (1971)
The Eighth Circle by Stanley Ellin (1958)
Interface by Joe Gores (1974)
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1930)
Kill the Boss, Good-by by Peter Rabe (1957)
The Red Right Hand by Joel Townsley Rogers (1945)

Phyllis A. Whitney

In a career that spanned over fifty years and well into her nineties, Whitney wrote romantic suspense mysteries. She lived on to 104 years of age.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (1909)
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (1938)
A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman (1988)
The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope (1894)
Act of Darkness by Francis King (1983)
Night of the Juggler by William P. McGivern (1975)
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy (1905)
The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers (1934)
Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart (1958)
Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey (1949)

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Mystery Writers Choose Their Favorite Mysteries, Part Two

In Part One of this series I offered up several lists that I had personally come across. The reality is: when it comes to collecting lists, I am merely an amateur enthusiast.

In 1995, Kate Stine assembled The Armchair Detective Book of Lists (Otto Penzler Books) and in 2011, Roger Sobin compiled The Essential Mystery Lists: For Readers, Collectors, and Librarians (ReadHowYouWant). Among their other content, both of these books gathered together records of a variety of mystery authors presenting their favorite mysteries. In Writing Mysteries, edited by Sue Grafton, (2d edition, 2002, Mystery Writers of America), thirty-seven authors were interviewed and, on occasion, the subject of favorite mysteries was addressed. 

One source with a catalog of mystery writers' favorites is www.Detective-Fiction.com where the recommendations of thirteen prominent authors are presented, specifically: Isaac Asimov, Robert Barnard, George Baxt, James Ellroy, Michael Gilbert, Sue Grafton, Reginald Hill, Tony Hillerman, HRF Keating, Peter Lovesey, Charlotte Macleod, Sue Paretsky, and Julian Symons. Their lists are reproduced below.

But first, my top ten list.

Martin Hill Ortiz

Martin Hill Ortiz, also writing under the name, Martin Hill, is the author of A Predatory Mind. His mystery, Never Kill A Friend, will be available June 27th from Ransom Note Press. His epic poem, Two Mistakes, recently won second place in the Margaret Reid/Tom Howard Poetry Competition. My top ten*:

1. Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle (1902)
2. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (1962)
3. The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V. Higgins (1970)
4. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1930)
5. The City and the City by China Miéville (2009)
6. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (1988)
7. The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton (1908)
8. The Getaway by Jim Thompson (1958)
9. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carré (1963)
10. The Specialty of the House and Other Stories by Stanley Ellin (1979)
*Thumbnail reasons for their inclusion on my list is presented at the bottom of this post.

The Detective-Fiction.com lists:

Isaac Asimov
Best known for his science fiction, the extremely prolific Asimov also wrote many mysteries.

Wilders Walk Away by Herbert Brean (1948)
Case for Three Detectives by Leo Bruce (1936)
The Innocence of Father Brown by GK Chesterton (1911)
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (1928)
Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie (1939)
The Judas Window by Carter Dickson (1936)
The Horizontal Man by Helen Eustis (1946)
Pick Your Victim by Pat McGerr (1946)
Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L Sayers (1933)
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (1951)

Robert Barnard
In a productive and varied career, Barnard authored mystery novels featuring contemporary detectives and historical detectives, including Mozart. 

Bleak House by Charles Dickens (1853)
Emma by Jane Austen (1816)
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle (1902)
Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie (1942)
Strong Poison by Dorothy L Sayers (1930)
More Work for the Undertaker by Margery Allingham (1948)
Tour De Force by Christianna Brand (1955)
How Like an Angel by Margaret Millar (1962)
A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell (1977)
Dover One by Joyce Porter (1964)

George Baxt (Best Theater-Related Mysteries)
Baxt wrote for television, the cinema and, in the 1960s, began a pioneering series of mystery novels featuring a gay-black detective.

Death and the Chaste Apprentice by Robert Barnard (1989)
Dead Heat by Linda Barnes (1984)
Murder in the Title by Simon Brett (1983)
Death Mask by Jane Dentinger (1988)
Murder in the Wings by Edward Gorman (1986)
The Skull Beneath the Skin by PD James (1982)
The G String Murders by Gypsy Rose Lee (1941)
Show Red for Danger by Richard Lockridge (1960)
The Dark Wheel by Philip Macdonald and A. Boyd Correll (1948)
Repeat Performance by William O' Farrell (1942)

James Ellroy
A master of the tabloid dystopia that haunts our age, Ellroy through his hard-boiled novels have chronicled the underbelly of the American dream. His choices reflect his works.

Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett (1929)
Double Indemnity by James M Cain (1936)
Farewell My Lovely by Raymond Chandler (1940)
Compulsion by Meyer Levin (1956)
The Chill by Ross Macdonald (1964)
The Diggers Game by George V Higgins (1973)
No Beast So Fierce by Edward Bunker (1973)
The Choirboys by Joseph Wambaugh (1975)
True Confessions by John Gregory Dunne (1977)
Red Dragon by Thomas Harris (1981)

Michael Gilbert
Writing mysteries for over a half-century, Gilbert struck gold early with Smallbone Deceased, considered one of the all-time classics in the genre.

The Fashion in the Shrouds by Margery Allingham (1938)
The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler (1943)
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (1926)
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868)
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle (1902)
The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing (1946)
The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett (1931)
A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin (1953)
Strong Poison by Dorothy L Sayers (1930)
The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey (1948)

Sue Grafton
After learning to recite the alphabet at an early age, Sue Grafton went on to publish a best-selling series of mystery novels, beginning in the early 1980s and continuing today.

Double Indemnity by James M Cain (1936)
The High Window by Raymond Chandler (1942)
Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (1920)
Berlin Game by Len Deighton (1983)
Nerve by Dick Francis (1964)
Death Drop by BM Gill (1979)
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt by CW Grafton (1950)
Cat Chaser by Elmore Leonard (1982)
The Drowning Pool by Ross Macdonald (1950)
Talking to Strange Men by Ruth Rendell (1957)

Reginald Hill
Using several pseudonyms, Reginald Hill published over 50 mysteries. In 2011, he received a Crime Writers Association Diamond Dagger Award for Lifetime Achievement. 

Roxana by Daniel Defoe (1724)
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868)
Bleak House by Charles Dickens (1853)
Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope (1867)
Trent's Last Case by EC Bentley (1913)
The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett (1931)
Maigret in Montmarte by Georges Simenon (1954)
At the Back of the North Wind by Nicolas Freeling (1871)
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (1983)
The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson (1952)

Tony Hillerman
Hillerman's popular and acclaimed mysteries helped expand the world of mystery to feature other cultures, focusing on the Native Americans of the Southwest.

The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler (1949)
A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler (1939)
The Third Man by Graham Greene (1950)
Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household (1939)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carré (1963)
Unknown Man #89 by Elmore Leonard (1977)
The Will of the Tribe by Arthur Upfield (1962)
New Hope for the Dead by Charles Willeford (1985)
The Alvarez Journal by Rex Burns (1975)
The Limits of Pain by K Arne Klom (1979)

HRF Keating
A prolific mystery writer, many of Keating's novels were based in India and featured the detective, Inspector Ghote.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868)
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (1892)
Uncle Abner, Master of Mysteries by Melville Davisson Post (1918)
My Friend Maigret by Georges Simenon (1949)
Beyond This Point are Monsters by Margaret Millar (1970)
The Private Wound by Nicholas Blake (1968)
Mirror Mirror on the Wall by Stanley Ellin (1972)
The Poison Oracle by Peter Dickinson (1974)
The Artful Egg by James McClure (1984)
A Taste for Death by PD James (1986)

Peter Lovesey
The creator of Sgt. Cribb and Peter Diamond, Lovesey's novels have focused on the classic, puzzle style mystery. His works have won three Silver and one Gold Dagger award from the Crime Writers Association.

Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (1892)
Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles (1931)
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M Cain (1934)
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (1953)
Deadly Percheron by John Franklin Bardin (1946)
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith (1950)
My Friend Maigret by Georges Simenon (1949)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carré (1974)
Stronghold by Stanley Ellin (1975)
Fletch by Gregory Macdonald (1974)

Charlotte MacLeod
A master of the cozy mystery, MacLeod has published over thirty novels.

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters (1975)
Case of the Journeying Boy by Michael Innes (1949)
More Work for the Undertaker by Margery Allingham (1948)
Death of a Fool by Ngaio Marsh (1956)
Tragedy at Law by Cyril Hare (1942)
The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie (1961)
Riddle in the Sands by Erskine Childers (1903)
The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain (1884)
Corpse in a Gilded Cage by Robert Barnard (1984)
Miss Melville Regrets by Evelyn Smith (1986)

Sara Paretsky
Like her protagonist, V.I. Warshawski, Sara Paretsky is been a force to be reckoned with. She has 20 novels and short story collections. She was honored as a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 2011.

The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katharine Green (1878)
Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle (1902)
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1930)
Smiler with the Knife by Nicholas Blake (1939)
More Work for the Undertaker by Margery Allingham (1948)
Johnny Underground by Patricia Moyes (1965)
The Spoilt Kill by Mary Kelly (1961)
The Poison Oracle by Peter Dickinson (1964)
The Assault by Harry Mulisch (1985)
Under Contract by Liza Cody (1986)

Julian Symons

Julian Symons was the author of over a score of mystery novels including the award-winning The Colour of Murder and The Progress of a Crime.

The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett (1931)
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (1860)
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (1894)
The Two Faces of January by Patricia Highsmith (1964)
Doctor Frigo by Eric Ambler (1974)
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carré (1963)
Cogan's Trade by George V Higgins (1974)
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler (1953)
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allen Poe (1852)
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (1926)


Brief notes regarding my top ten placed here so as not to intrude. 


1. Hound of the Baskervilles 
Holmes is the most dominant figure in all of detective fiction. Acknowledgment must be made.
2. We Have Always Lived in the Castle
A lyrical account of living in the disintegrating world of the aftermath and notoriety of a murder.
3. The Friends of Eddie Coyle
Yes, I got this through Elmore Leonard's recommendation. A revelatory, gut-honest and yet stylized work.
4. The Maltese Falcon
I often measure the quality of a book by how much it mobilizes my writing lust. This was a chief aphrodisiac.
5. The City and the City 
Some find Miéville's works too densely written. I love the density and sheer madness of his visions.
6. The Silence of the Lambs
Kept me awake for many a night shaking in my bed and spraying the room with Lecter Repellant.
7. The Man Who Was Thursday
In my consideration, Chesterton is the most literary of mystery writers.
8. The Getaway 
Some find Thompson amoral. I find a wounded morality. The ending veers into a surreal hell.
9. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
A masterwork that follows Poe's advice that all elements are there to put forward a unity of tone.
10. The Specialty of the House and Other Stories
Each of Ellin's stories are polished to a fantastic brilliance.

Continued in Part Three.

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Mystery Authors Choose Their Favorite Mysteries, Part One

Gathered from a variety of sources, here are mystery writers identifying their favorite mysteries.

P.D. James
Five Most Riveting Crime Novels.
(Wall Street Journal, Five Best List, June 3, 2006)
P.D. James has had several books appearing on all-time great mystery lists including Devices and Desires and A Taste for Death.

1. Tragedy at Law by Cyril Hare (1943)
2. The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey (1949)
3. The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin (1946)
4. Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers (1933)
5. Dissolution by C.J. Sansom (2003)

Andrew Klavan
Five Best Psychological Crime Novels.
(Wall Street Journal, Five Best List, August 2, 2008)
Klavan is the author of True Crime, Don't Say a Word, and Empire of Lies, among other masterpieces of suspense.

1. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1866)
2. The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes (1913)
3. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain (1934)
4. The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham (1952)
5. The Secret History by Donna Tartt (1992)

Thomas H. Cook
10 Best Mystery Books.
(Publishers Weekly, October 18, 2013)
Cook is the author of several classic mysteries including The Chatham School Affair.

1. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (1860)
2. A Crime in the Neighborhood by Suzanne Berne (1997)
3. A Dark-Adapted Eye by Ruth Rendell (1986)
4. A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler (1939)
5. True Confessions by John Gregory Dunne (1977)
6. The Eye of the Beholder by Marc Behm (2000)
7. A Simple Plan by Scott Smith (1993)
8. Sneaky People by Thomas Berger (1975)
9. The Quiet American by Graham Greene (1955)
10. Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg (1976)

John Dickson Carr
(as noted in his novel, The Three Coffins)
Carr, also writing under several pseudonyms, was one of the great writers of the Golden Age of Mysteries. He was a master of the puzzle story.

The Mystery of the Yellow Room by Gaston Leroux (1908)

Arthur Conan Doyle
(as noted in What is the Best Short Story in English? January 25, 1914, The New York Times)
Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes and scores of other mysteries, adventures and romances.

The Pavilion on the Links by Robert Louis Stevenson (1880)
-----------------------------------
Nikola Tesla, Arthur Conan Doyle and Dr. Henry H. Holmes are all characters in my thriller, A Predator's Game.
 
A Predator's Game is available in soft-cover and ebook editions through Amazon and other online retailers.

A Predator's Game, now available, Rook's Page Publishing.

 -----------------------

Back page blurb.

Manhattan, 1896.

When the author Arthur Conan Doyle meets Nikola Tesla he finds a tall, thin genius with a photographic memory and a keen eye, and recognizes in the eccentric inventor the embodiment of his creation, Sherlock. Together, they team up to take on an "evil Holmes." Multi-murderer Dr. Henry H. Holmes has escaped execution and is unleashing a reign of terror upon the metropolis. Set in the late nineteenth century in a world of modern marvels, danger and invention, Conan Doyle and Tesla engage the madman in a deadly game of wits.

Martin Hill Ortiz, also writing under the name, Martin Hill, is the author of A Predatory Mind. Its sequel, set in 1890s Manhattan and titled A Predator's Game, features Nikola Tesla as detective. 
(Continued)

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The Women Are Winning

Kamila Shamsie recently wrote an intentionally provocative piece about women being overlooked in publishing. They are not being overlooked in terms of sales: indeed, if there were a lesson to publishers: sign up more female authors.

Since 2010, this is a list female authors who have been in first place on the NYT Adult Fiction Bestseller list for at least four weeks. (Book, author, number of weeks).

The Help, Kathryn Stockett, 21 weeks
Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen, 8 weeks
Fifty Shades of Grey, E. L. James, 29 weeks
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn, 7 weeks
The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt, 4 weeks
Girl on a Train, Paula Hawkins, 15 weeks (plus? - currently second)

Compared to the males.
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, Stieg Larsson, 9 weeks
Safe Haven, Nicholas Sparks, 7 weeks
Inferno, Dan Brown, 6 weeks
Sycamore Row, John Grisham, 7 weeks

This is the June 7, 2015 NYT Adult Fiction, Top 15 Bestsellers List (10 of 17 authors/co-authors are women)

1 Radiant Angel, by Nelson Demille.
2 The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins.
3 Piranha, by Clive Cussler and Boyd Morrison.
4 All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr.
5 Memory Man, by David Baldacci.
6 14th Deadly Sin, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.
7 Luckiest Girl Alive, by Jessica Knoll.
8 The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah.
9 A Match for Marcus Cynster, by Stephanie Laurens.
10 The Marriage Season, by Linda Lael Miller.
11 Mended, by Sydney Landon. 
12 Beautiful Sacrifice, by Jamie Mcguire.
13 Gathering Prey, by John Sandford.
14 The House We Grew up In, by Lisa Jewell.
15 Against the Tide, by Kat Martin.

David Baldacci, James Patterson (68), John Sandford (71), Nelson Demille (71) and Clive Cussler (83) all have decades of building a readership. The young turks are the female authors. The lesson here to publishers is: ignore women at your peril.

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Don't Count Words; Make Words Count, Part Two

Word Counts of Successful Middle-Grade Novels by Rookie Authors

In my prior post, I looked at the word counts of fifty of the most popular middle-grade novels published between 2001 and 2014 and compared their lengths to guidelines that are given to would-be authors. In general, over 50% of the books were outside the length of the guidelines.

The former post only dealt with part of the issue of word counts, with most of the novels written by established authors. While this does provide a sense of what the audience is willing to read, for the author completing or else trying to sell his or her first middle-grade novel, the length of the sixth installment in the Harry Potter series is of little relevance. A more pressing matter is: what were the lengths of the debut novels of middle-grade authors?

I used very restrictive criteria to assemble a database to analyze this question.

• The book must have been published in the last twenty years.
• The novel was the first book published by the author. I strictly did not allow for authors who had previously published even though there are several prominent authors who began publishing middle-aged fiction immediately after a single young adult or adult fiction book (e.g., Lemony Snicket and Rick Riordan). These authors (probably) already had an agent.
• The book must have been successful. Success was defined in the previous post (New York Times Bestseller, recent Newbery winner, or most recognized in its genre at Goodreads, typically 100,000 or more ratings). Or:
• I did allow for authors who became successful from subsequent books, i.e., the first book was seen as the calling card for talent. In these cases, I traced a bestselling middle-grade author back to that author's first published book and added it to the list if it was a middle-grade book.
• The author did not enter with a big platform.

For this database, I was able to find 22 novels. These were:

In my previous post, I also identified three sets of guidelines that are commonly used to define the proper size of middle-grade novels.

• Writer's Digest: 20,000–55,000.
• Word Count Dracula. Realistic Middle Grade: 25,000-60,000 words. Fantasy Middle Grade: 35,000-75,000 words. 
• Literary Rejections: 25,000 to 40,000.

So, how many of these first-time efforts fit into the guidelines?

Writer's Digest: 45.5%
Word Count Dracula: 59.1%
Literary Rejections: 13.4%

If these guidelines were taken as law, all of them would have rejected Seesaw Girl, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Wonder, The Goose Girl, The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had, The School for Good and Evil, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, and Moon Over Manifest. Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn Dixie, Rump, and A Snicker of Magic, did not fit two out of three of the recommended guidelines.

Conclusions.

For the most part, word count guidelines don't represent what is being published. In the case of the restrictive guidelines from Literary Rejections, they only serve to provoke anxiety. Use common sense. It will be easier for you if work is near to conventional norms because unconventional works are harder to sell, but this is a less important element than having a great work to sell.

To phrase it in another way, as I said when I began this analysis, Don't Count Words: Make Words Count. I cannot say whether word count hindered the acceptance of the above set of books, but the talent they represented was ultimately recognized and they were published. Aim for that level of talent.

Martin Hill Ortiz is the author of three mysteries for adults, each between 55 and 70K words: one published, one due out June 27th, and one to come out at the end of the year. He has a pair of unpublished middle grade novels which fall into accepted guidelines.

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Don't Count Words: Make Words Count

This post deals with the recommended length of middle-grade fiction. As I will attempt to show, for both well-established and first-time authors, the guidelines do not correspond to the length of successful books. Rather than approaching this issue through examples or anecdotes, I systematically assembled a database with the intent to include all of the most successful middle-grade fiction novels from the past 15 years.

Book Length Angst

The pursuit of the proper book length torments would-be authors, an anguish they convey to agents and publishers whom they see as the austere gatekeepers who guard the entrance to the promised land of page and ink. In order to herd the fledgling authors and to salve their troubled souls, internet magi offer word count guidelines.

Foremost, the guidelines are presented to provide a sense of what can and cannot sell. They are said to represent a facile, albeit imperfect, means by which eccentric submissions are winnowed out.

Nearly all of these advice-givers include these two bits of wisdom at the margins: Don't take the guidelines too literally and use common sense.

Don't get caught up in word count to stick to category norms. Then again, don't submit a manuscript that's 150,000 words either. But straying 10k in either direction is totally fine. From: http://www.dystel.com/category/middle-grade/

In spite of these caveats, the most restrictive of guidelines are presented as being authoritative, when all they do is provoke unnecessary anxiety.

Comparing Actual Word Counts to Guidelines

Where do the numbers in word count guidelines come from? Often, no sources are given. I suspect in some cases, the origin is an accumulated wisdom coming from poring over thousands of manuscripts. Other times, it seems to be repeating something someone else has declared as law. In a few instances the guideline author provides word counts from a list of books, drawing on classic and recent examples from a particular genre.

One of the ongoing themes of my website is the question of how long actual novels are and whether they fit into the common guidelines. I have addressed this question already regarding mystery novels and have found that, contrary to what the guidelines recommend, among bestsellers, the short mystery novel is alive and well. I am continuing this analysis to look at a subject close to my heart: middle-grade books. I set out to determine: How long is the modern middle-grade book?

Assembling a Set of Successful Middle-Grade Novels for Analysis (2001 to the Present).

Rather than looking at the length of all-time classics, I decided to focus on recent, successful middle-grade prose fiction. Limited to prose and fiction, I excluded the occasional guide (The Care and Keeping of You) and poetry books. I used three sources. Firstly, since December 2012, the New York Times has run a separate middle-grade bestseller list. I also sampled their Children's Series list for the middle-grade entries. To limit the number of books in my analysis, I selected the most successful: those with at least 25 weeks on one of the two lists.

As a second source, I included the middle grade Newbery winners from 2010 to 2015. While the Newbery Awards have received some notoriety for celebrating virtually unread books, this reputation hasn't been deserved as of late. In the last seven years the primary winners have included the runaway bestsellers: The One and Only Ivan; Flora and Ulysses; The Graveyard Book and When You Reach Me.

My final source was Goodreads. I pored over the fifty books most commonly "shelved" as middle grade fiction. I added to my analysis any of these published since 2000 which had not already been included in my list. These are popular books: even the 50th entry received over 100,000 ratings.

To prevent any one author (e.g., Riordan) from dominating the list and skewing the results, I limited the number of books per author to a maximum of three. For these three I chose the author's two most recent bestsellers and the debut book in the series. I divided the entries up into reality and fantasy. Most often this was an easy call. My reference list totaled a nice round 50 middle-grade novels published between 2001 and 2014 (median year: 2011). I used this database to answer the more general question: what are the lengths of the best-selling books*. A second database, discussed in my next post, will look at the question which is of greater interest to authors still seeking to get published: how long were the successful middle-grade books by recent first-time authors?

The Guidelines Examined.

I compared my database to three sets of guidelines for middle-grade book length.

To summarize the rules put forth by Chuck Sambuchino, Editor of Writers Digest:

"Middle grade is from 20,000–55,000, depending on the subject matter and age range... With upper middle grade, you can aim for 40,000–55,000 words. ... With a simpler middle grade idea (Football Hero, or Jenny Jones and the Cupcake Mystery) ... shoot for 20,000–35,000 words."

A popular entry in this field is from Jennifer Laughlin of Andrea Brown Literary Agency in her post, Word Count Dracula. I applaud her for offering up more generous guidelines and separating out realistic from fantasy.

"Realistic Middle Grade: 25,000-60,000 words. Sweet spot: 30,000-45,000 ...
Fantasy Middle Grade: 35,000-75,000 words. Sweet spot: 45,000-65,000"

The cruelest of corsets comes from the Literary Rejections website:

"Middle Grade: 25,000 to 40,000–Such a tight restraint can be beneficial to a writer because it allows them to demonstrate their ability to edit accordingly. For debut books in this field the average word count tends to be 35K and it has therefore become the marker many industry professionals look for in queries from new writers."

The Results

Since I am addressing the question of whether the guidelines fairly describe the length of middle-grade books, the average is unimportant. A 15,000 word book together with a 120,000 word book average out to be 67,500 words, but neither fall within the guidelines and both could well be considered hard-to-sell. The important metric is to examine how many books fall inside and outside of these guidelines.

Without taking into account extenuating factors (below), 23 out of 50 (46%) of the books were within the Writers' Digest guidelines. This figure increased to 24 (48%) for the Word Count Dracula guidelines even though this offered a broader range and took into account fantasy versus reality. Only 26% of the books fell within the restrictive Literary Rejections guidelines.

Percent of Successful Middle-Grade Novels That Fit the Lengths Offered by Popular Guidelines, 2001-2014.

 Guideline Source      % within guidelines
Literary Rejections          26%     
Writer's Digest              46%    
Word Count Dracula           48%   


One matter which the guidelines did not take into account were graphic heavy books such as those by Jeff Kinney which ring in at 19K words. (Although, equally graphic heavy books by Rachel Renee Russell and the I, Funny series fall within the recommended counts.) Another explanation for these anomalous book lengths comes from the issue of author platform.

Platforms Big and Long.

This first analysis is not directed at the works by newbie authors. Many of the authors on the list had already built an audience among middle-grade readers (a long platform) or else were famous going into the field (a big platform). An argument could be rightly made that these authors could come in with virtually any length manuscript and have it published.

For those not following popular middle grade books, they might be surprised to find the list of the bestselling authors includes John Grisham, James Patterson, Carl Hiaasen and Rush Limbaugh. Another bestseller entered the field with a big platform: the authors of the novelization of Disney's Frozen (Sarah Nathan and Sela Roman). To be fair, their runaway success was not solely due to the popularity of the movie: other Disney novelizations have not fared so well. A final member who entered the field with a big platform is Jeff Kinney, whose Wimpy Kid had an internet following in the millions before he published.

Another set of authors built their platforms based on prior success in the field, often through a series. J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan have enormous followings. Both of these authors publish well above the range of word count guidelines.

In terms of the 50 books in my database, 17 were by authors with big platforms, 20 were by authors with long platforms, and 13 were by authors with little or no publishing history. The last group will be expanded and dealt with in my next post. The results are presented in the tables below.

                        Platform Size
Guideline Source      big (n=17)  long (n=20)
Literary Rejections      17.6%        30%
Writer's Digest          52.9%        45%
Word Count Dracula       52.9%        50%


One too-facile argument used by those defending the word count guidelines is "don't be blinded by the exceptions." J.K. Rowling, with her fan-base, could write whatever length book she wanted. But it is not just Rowling who has written middle-grade books that run over 100,000 words. So has Cornelia Funke, Rick Riordan, Soman Chainani and Trenton Lee Stewart (among others). Chainani was a first time author and Stewart had one prior, adult novel. The others were established authors, but their detailed world-building helped establish them. Perhaps it is time to rethink what length the middle-grade audience is willing to read.

Conclusions

When I started this analysis, I suspected that the large majority of middle-grade novels would fall into the guidelines and that Rowling would define the outliers. This was not the case. I approached this analysis thinking that word count anxiety was a silly concern of uninformed writers who are waiting to publish their first works. After running into the restrictive Literary Rejections advice, I've come to the conclusion that cruel and unrealistic restrictions are being recommended by some. 

The bottom line of common sense still applies. Write that great novel at the length it needs to be. Make it irresistible because, regardless of word count, you will encounter resistance in getting it published. Don't flout conventions, but don't let them hamstring you.

*To determine word counts for these analyses, I referenced Renaissance.com which maintains a massive database for most all popular children's books. Word count has a good degree of concurrence with unabridged audio book length and a poor correlation to page count. [Note: as of June 1, 2015 access to the Renaissance service has been discontinued.]

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The Opening Lines in Children's Fiction

Back when I used to perform stand-up comedy, a joke went around among my fellow comedians: You don't want a sober audience—they expect you to be funny. I feel the same way about writing middle grade fiction: the young reader will not stand for boring, unfocused prose. The most popular children's literature books invariably have well-told stories: engaging, clear and satisfying. The characters are vivid and the author's voice is commanding.

Writers who write for children don't wait to start their stories. They set out to grab their readers in the opening sentences, sometimes even before that first sentence. Many of the best middle grade books have chapter titles that excite and demand attention. I challenge you to read the following titles of first chapters and tell me that you are not intrigued. 

     How Nobody Came to the Graveyard. (The Graveyard Book)

     The Boy Who Lived. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) 

     I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher. (The Lightning Thief) 

     Down the Rabbit Hole. (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) 

     Mrs. Whatsit. (A Wrinkle in Time) 

     There Is No One Left. (The Secret Garden)

And, of course, they often follow this up with a zinger of an opening. 

    There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife. (The Graveyard Book) 

    When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everyone agreed that she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. (The Secret Garden)

Or they combine title and first sentence for a walloping one-two punch.

    You Are Entering Camp Green Lake. There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. (Holes)
   
    The Thief. From his perch behind the clock, Hugo could see everything. (The Invention of Hugo Cabret)
   
    Before Breakfast. "Where's Papa going with that ax?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. (Charlotte's Web)

The best opening lines in middle grade fiction resonate with voice: you know immediately the author is in charge of telling the story.

    Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
   
    Ba-room, ba-room, ba-room, baripity, baripity, baripity, baripity—Good. His dad had the pickup going. (The Bridge to Teribithia)
   
    It was Mrs. May who told me about them. No, not me. How could it have been me—a wild, untidy, self-willed little girl who stared with angry eyes and was said to crunch her teeth? (The Borrowers)

As in the example from The Borrowers, we are immediately confronted with characters who are outcasts and we are invited to make friends with them.

    There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader)
   
    Meet George Beard and Harold Hutchins. George is the kid on the left with the tie and the flat-top. Harold is the one on the right with the t-shirt and the bad haircut. Remember that now. (The Adventures of Captain Underpants)
   
    There once was a boy named Milo who didn't know what to do with himself—not just sometimes, but always. (The Phantom Tollbooth)

In many instances, right away, we hear directly from these outsiders. We are treated to their distinctive speech and we see the world through their eyes.

    I know I'm not an ordinary ten-year-old kid. (Wonder)
   
    Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. (The Lightning Thief)
   
    First of all, let me get something straight: This is a JOURNAL not a diary. I know what it says on the cover, but when Mom went out to buy this thing I SPECIFICALLY told her to get one that didn't say "diary" on it. (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)
   
    When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. (To Kill a Mockingbird)
 
The reader is often presented with the conflict or else the dilemma that drives the plot right up front. No time to waste wondering whether this book will deliver.

    Beatrice Quimby's biggest problem was her little sister, Ramona. (Beezus and Ramona)
   
    It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened. (The Giver)
   
    David often wondered about how he happened to be sitting there on the stair landing, within arm's reach of the headless cupid, at the very moment when his stepmother left Westerly House to bring Amanda home. (The Headless Cupid)
   
    Sophie had waited all her life to be kidnapped. (The School for Good and Evil)
   
    Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot, but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville—did not. (The Grinch Who Stole Christmas—not a middle grade book, but a magical example of introducing characters, conflict and setting (time and place) in one sweet sentence.)

Finally, in contrast to Elmore Leonard's advice, the authors are not afraid to start with weather. Many prominent middle grade books demonstrate a dark and stormy shamelessness.

    Rain fell that night, a fine whispering rain. Many years later, Meggie had only to close her eyes and she could still hear it, like tiny fingers tapping on the windowpane. (Inkheart)
   
    Some things start before other things. It was a summer shower but didn't appear to know it, and it was pouring rain as fast as a winter storm. (The Wee Free Men)
   
    It was a dark and stormy night. In her attic bedroom Margaret Murry, wrapped in an old patchwork quilt, sat on the foot of her bed and watched the trees tossing in the frenzied lashing of the wind. (A Wrinkle in Time)

I once had the task of entertaining a crowd of children for a couple of hours while a filming was delayed. I was not judged as to whether I was funny enough. I was judged against the funniest people they saw on television. Similarly, an author's competition isn't merely other books, it is whether the presented story is more involving than other entertainment options. What's more daunting, the internet and reading devices make a fair slice of the archive of literature readily available. This means you're not only competing with the here and now, you are competing with centuries of giants. Practice your long strides and learn to walk among them.

With thanks to:

Frances Hodgson Burnett
Lewis Carroll
Soman Chainani
Beverly Cleary
Cornelia Funke
Neil Gaiman
Theodor Seuss Geisel
Norton Juster
Jeff Kinney
Madeleine L'Engle
Harper Lee
C.S. Lewis
Lois Lowry
Mary Norton
R.J. Palacio
Katherine Patterson
Dav Pilkey
Terry Pratchett
Rick Riordan
J.K. Rowling
Louis Sachar
Brian Selznick
Zilpha Keatley Snyder
E.B. White

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