# Word Count Guidelines



## PiP

[h=1]How Long Should A Book Be? Word Count Guidelines by Genre by Anne R. Allen[/h]_A constant complaint I hear from agents, editors, writing teachers, and reviewers is that they see too many manuscripts with inappropriate word counts._
_If you’re getting a lot of form rejections or simply silence from agents, reviewers and editors, this may be why.

_
_Word count guidelines have been trending down in the last decade. Most editors won’t look at a debut manuscript longer than 100K words—a little longer if it’s fantasy or a non-romance historical. They were not so rigid ten years ago.

_
_Now publishers—and many readers—won’t take a chance on any long book by an unproven author.

_*Article continues >HERE>*


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## Pallandozi

What's the recommended word count for serialised LitRPG web novels, such as those on 

https://www.royalroad.com/fictions/best-rated

?


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## Kent_Jacobs

So, aiming at 80k seems to be about the average for new writers. What's that ... about 250 - 300 pages?


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## Cephus

TheMightyAz said:


> So, aiming at 80k seems to be about the average for new writers. What's that ... about 250 - 300 pages?



Averaging 290 pages.


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## indianroads

Found this online:

Romance: 65,000–80,000 words (Most romance imprints have specific word count requirements that writers should know and observe before they submit.)
Mystery: 80,000 words (Subgenres like cozies tend to be shorter, often coming in at 70,000–80,000 words.)
Science fiction: 100,000–120,000 words
Thriller: 90,000–100,000 words
True Crime: 90,000–100,000 words
Historical fiction: 100,000–150,000 words (This may depend on the topic and demands of the marketplace.)
Mainstream women’s fiction: 90,000–100,000 words
Memoir/Bio: 70,000–90,000 words
Literary fiction: 80,000–100,000 words
Young Adult: 70,000–80,000 words
Middle Grade: 40,000–50,000 words
Picture books: 500–700 words


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## VRanger

THIS is a conversation in slow motion. LOL

* The discussion of page count lacks relevance. There are three main print formats (paperback, trade paperback, and hard cover), each of which will produce a different page count, not even considering font size and margins. So word count, as documented by IndianRoads, is a better indicator.

* As I mentioned recently in another thread, authors with an established following can write outside of those guidelines (long OR short) and get away with it. For example, you'll find some Debbie Macomber (200 million books sold) romances well over 80K, and a few around 50K. However, early in her career (late 70s to early 80s), her word counts were dead in the range noted. Steven King's first novel, Carrie, was quite short. Once he became a reliable best seller, he started producing enormous volumes and no one cared.

So, for anyone who isn't a published author with an established fan base, keeping the above guidelines in mind would be smart.

Want to see how strict some word requirements are?

And here is a list similar to the one above, but with a bit more range indicated:
ADULT FICTION WORD COUNT RANGES​
Literary Novel                       70,000 – 110,000 words
Science Fiction & Fantasy     90,000 – 120,000 words
Historical Fiction                   90,000 – 110,000 words
Thriller                                   90,000 – 100,000 words
Mystery & Horror                  70,000 –   90,000 words
Romance                               50,000 –    90,000 words
Novella                                  20,000 –    40,000 words
Short Story                            1,000   –      8,000 words
Here is another resource ... the comments are possibly more valuable than the blog itself.


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## VRanger

There is a thread with some discussion of this subject in Writing Discussion.


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## Oliver Eurie

Thank you!  These are all helpful, and I appreciate the info on the word range!


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