[ OT ] Two years ago , I read a prompt on here that inspired me . Five minutes ago , I just finished writing my first novel !

>... at a behemoth 500 pages 
 
 General wisdom has it that a first time unpublished author should submit a novel to agents of not much more than 80000 words. 
 
 Anything larger is a larger cost to the publishers ( checking, typesetting, printing, paper, storage, etc... ) but the exact same chance of profit from sales. 
 
 Also, after cutting it back, you can not sell it as the first of many in a series ( like a trilogy ). Sure you can say it has `` series potential'', but that first novel has to be a completely self contained work ( like the first Star Wars movie ) that can stand on its own feet even if no others get made. 

