Phrase depend: What number of phrases in a novel?
If you want to get published you need to be aware that major New York publishers look for a specific word count based on the genre. The number of your fantasy novels must be different from that of your YA Fiction book, which has a different word count than other books.
How many words does a novel contain? Or at least one that publishers might be interested in? In this post, we'll explain word counts and how they affect your chances of success.
Are you ready to write your novel? Read our definitive guide on How to Write a Novel here: The Complete Guide.
How long is the average book? And how long should your book be? Here is a quick summary:
Why Word Count is important
You might be wondering if word count matters or not.
Whether you self-publish or traditionally publish, the number of words in a book varies for different genres. It is important that you follow word count guidelines to meet reader and editor expectations.
Although bestselling authors can get away with longer books, most authors, especially those writing and publishing a first book, need to stick to the standard book length for their genre.
There are exceptions for longer books like an epic fantasy novel, but even these stories have an average word count that shouldn't be overlooked.
Long books are not equated as bad books, and novels or short stories are no less impressive stories, but too few or too many words can upset a reader.
And while every writer has trouble killing their darlings, that might be just what the editor ordered to cut down a long first draft.
How long is the average book?
Books can be as short as 25,000 words, about 100 pages, or as long as 3 million words, or about 1,000 pages. Nonfiction books are typically shorter, about 45,000 words on average, and novels are typically longer, about 80,000 words on average.
However, the length of the book varies widely between genres, between authors, and based on the content of the book. There's no one-size-fits-all rule – although traditional publishers and literary agents are likely to prefer a book that is within the average word count for its genre.
Note: The sweet spot for a novel is 90,000 words.
But what is the average word count for each type of story?
Read on for more detailed information on each genre.
Why you should write in Word Count
Right now I'm obsessed with a novel / web series called Worm. It is from an author who goes by the pseudonym Wildbow. The novel is 1.75 million words long, which is roughly 7,000 pages. Give or take. When I first opened it on my Kindle, it said it would take 110 hours to read.
This novel is too long to at least be published by a traditional New York publisher.
I am telling you this because I want you to know that publishers are special and risk averse. They want books to look like this, be a certain length, and fit a certain market.
Does that mean you shouldn't be writing your million-word epic novel? No, you absolutely should. But only if you are open to not being published traditionally.
Sure, there are reservations.
Sometimes publishers are so excited about a book that they are willing to risk a book that is too long or too short. Fantasy and sci-fi stories are the most likely to fall into this exception list, and there are many that are above the word count and have become bestsellers.
However, as the market is currently evolving, the number of risks traditional publishers want to take is decreasing more and more.
Second, there's a reason publishers are looking for books this length. Publishers think books of this length sell best.
They may be fake or nearsighted, but they have been doing this for a long time, and it is at least a good idea to keep an eye on them.
Books of certain lengths have proven to be readers, and there are books outside of those lengths thanks to self-published authors selling on Amazon.
Why you should count words, not pages
Most people think in pages, not words. Why does the publishing industry speak in word counts?
Because the side length can vary greatly. If the font is a little smaller, or the margins are a little wider, or the page size is a little larger, it will result in a completely different page number.
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The number of words remains consistent regardless of any formatting options.
If the publishing industry talked about page numbers, the number would constantly change depending on what stage the book was in. The number of words, on the other hand, remains pretty much the same.
New length guidelines
A novel is usually defined as a little over 40,000 words. There is technically no maximum length for a novel. If it's over 110,000 words, some might call it an epic, not a novel.
Famous novels were extremely long, like 530,000 words for Victor Hugo's Les Miserables or 420,000 words for George R. R. Martin's latest A Dance With Dragons.
Novels can also be extremely short, like Ernest Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea, which is just 26,000 words.
The number of words in a typical novel (i.e., a publishable novel) varies by genre.
It can also change depending on when it was released. Consider the length of a contemporary book compared to a Charles Dickinson title that was paid per word and therefore far more motivated to write longer stories.
General fiction / literary fiction word count
Ideal word count: 90,000 words
Most traditionally published adult novels are around 90,000 words long. They can be up to 110,000 words. However, longer than that is too long for most publishers, especially if you are a first-time writer. 70,000 words or less is usually too short for the average publisher.
You can also take into account the category of book or the age group in which it is usually read. Middle-class books, for example, will be shorter than adult literature, probably around 60,000 words.
40,000 words are considered a novella.
And short stories can range from 1,500 to 7,000 words.
Children's books have the lowest word count of all.
Again, this does not necessarily apply if you have already published a bestseller. With publishers, you can do almost anything you want at this point.
Number of science fiction and fantasy novels
Ideal word count: 100,000 to 110,000 words
Sci-Fi / Fantasy usually last longer than general fiction. Why? Here are three (unconfirmed) theories:
- Perhaps sci-fi / fantasy readers are more inclined to put up with a longer story
- Chances are that the amount of world building it takes to make a good fantasy novel will require a longer book
- Or maybe these novels are more like part of a series, readers are more excited and looking for a longer continuation of the story
Science fiction and fantasy novels typically have a word count between 90,000 and 125,000 words. According to Donald Maas, the sweet spot is 100,000 to 115,000 words.
This applies to debut novels and seasoned writers.
YA fantasy novels too.
Think about how J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which is drastically shorter than the later books in the series that begin after The Goblet of Fire.
Part of the reason for this is that Harry Potter actually jumps from middle class to young adult on the series, and they're also longer because Rowling sold millions of books by the end of the series.
Rowling had proven that readers would read her stories regardless of their length. I'll give an exact difference in word counts in their books later in this post.
Mystery Novel Word Count
Ideal word count: 80,000 words
I found some disagreements about the ideal length of detective novels.
Traditionally, detective novels tend to be shorter. Agatha Christie, the best-selling mystery writer of all time, wrote novels averaging 40,000 to 60,000 words.
However, most agents and writers say that your crime thriller should have the same word count as general fiction, 80,000 to 90,000 words. We'll do more research on this, but when in doubt, try searching for 80,000 words.
Young adult novel word number
Ideal word count: 60,000 words
Young adult novels vary greatly in length.
I mentioned J.K. Rowling earlier in this post. She started out with shorter novels – The Philosopher's Stone was 76,000 words – perhaps because of her editors' restrictions.
As she gained her trust, her novels soared. The longest is the Order of the Phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words.
Outside of YA Fantasy, however, YA Fiction is unlikely to get that long. For examples, check out the leading YA fiction companies in the publishing world such as John Green, Angie Thomas, Adam Silvera, and Becky Albertalli.
If you've read any of these author's books, you know that the length of a book does not determine the quality of a book. Most of her books fall within the average length of the YA fiction words and are delightful.
(For YA Fantasy fans, check out Suzanne Collins, Cassandra Claire, Sabba Tahir, and Maggie Steifvater, among others.)
Overall, most young adult novels are between 55,000 and 70,000 words.
Longer books don't mean higher quality stories.
Memoir Word Count
Ideal word count: 80,000 words
As with a general novel, a good target word count for a dissertation is 80,000 words. 70,000 words are likely too short and 100,000 words or more are too long.
Are Word Counts Really Important in Novels?
Now that publishers are becoming less and less important in some ways, word counts are becoming less and less of an issue. Successful authors today publish 30, 50, or 80,000 word novels as part of large series that include a dozen or more books.
Others, like Wildbow, whom I mentioned earlier, write epic books of a million words or more that take months to read.
Publishers stick to their word count, but in the Wild West, the current marketplace for publishers, the word count of the idea is largely up for grabs.
Hope this helps you be better informed about word count in the publishing industry, but the rule is:
First, write a great story. Worry about your word count on the second draft.
What about you? Do you think about the number of words as you write? Let me know in the comments.
WORK OUT
Pick three novels you like and count the words. Here's how it works: First count how many words are on an average page (you can count the average words on a line, then multiply by the number of lines) and then the number of pages. This will give you a rough estimate of the number of words.
What do you think? Do these word numbers surprise you?
Post your word count results in the comments section so we can learn from your research!
