/lit/ - Literature

Sup /lit/,

Super excited with my first novel's 3rd draft. Not only I think the whole thing has improved A LOT since the previous version (both regarding the story as well as the flow of the writing), but I also managed to drop the word count substantially. In fact, my sources tell me that for a debut fantasy novel I should aim for someone around 100~120 K words (and definitely not go above 120 K), so I'm excited to finally manage to get under the threshold

So, to be honest, I just wanted to share my excitement, as I think people I know IRL don't really get how awesome it is to polish a draft down thousands of words

Also, since this is my first novel (or even first writing experience ever), what are you guys tips?

Anything I might implement on this current project?
Anything I can potentially implement on my next project (2021)?
Any pitfalls or common mistakes you know/experienced?
How many beta readers should I find at this point? (*)
Should I even bother querying my novel to an agent?

(*) => I already had 5 people read the previous version; feedback as mostly positive, but those are all non-writers

Sup /wg/,

Super excited with my final word count for my first novel's 3rd draft. My sources tell me a debut fantasy novel should be no longer than 120K, so I'm quite excited with getting it down to 113K !

Also, I'm new to the thread. Any general advice for a first-time writer?