How long should your novel be?
March 1, 2023 | Daphne Strasert
You’re ready to write a novel, but now that you’re staring at a blank page, you face a new question: how long is a novel, anyway? You’ve read books, so you know what a normal book length is, but how do you make sure that what you’re writing is an acceptable (publishable) length?
The answer is to use your word count.
You may be wondering, why am I talking about word count at all if readers use page number? While page numbers make sense when you are holding a physical book in your hand, the question becomes more complicated within the world of publishing. Pages come in all sizes and shapes. Font, size, character spacing, and margins all affect how many words fit on a single page. A mass market paperback will have a different number of pages than a hardcover version of the same book. And that isn’t even getting into e-books! Word count, however, is the same every time, regardless of formatting.
Why use word count?
Word count, rather than chapters or pages, is the publishing industry’s standard for measuring the length of a fictional work. Whether you are submitting a short story to a journal or a signing a book deal with a publisher, word count gives the publisher an idea of how much space the work will take up on the page or on the shelf. Tracking your word count allows you to:
Pace your writing – if you want to write an 80,000 word novel, but you have spent 40,000 words just getting the story set up, you will need to reevaluate your story’s structure. Knowing where a scene is in relation to the overall length of your novel gives you greater control over the pace of your story.
Compare against others in your genre – if your sweet contemporary romance is looking a little more like Anna Karenina (349,736 words), you may want to reconsider how your book is written or if it should be split into a series.
Submit like a professional – when pitching to an agent or editor, you want to show them that you know what you’re talking about. Since word count is the industry standard, use it to sound like a professional. If you are submitting a shorter piece to a journal, they will specify the word count range that they are looking for. If you submit outside that range, you will be rejected unread, or worse, blacklisted.
Know about pricing – journals and anthologies often pay for short stories by the word. Editing services are also priced per word. A little quick math can let you know the value of your story or the cost of a service.
Still curious how many pages your book will be? Or maybe a friend wants to know, but doesn’t understand word count? Divide your word count by 275 to get an approximate number. 275 is the average number of words on a page for a trade paperback book.
Novel, Novella, Novelette? What’s the difference?
You have probably heard of a novella, or maybe even a novelette, but what exactly is the difference? Types of fiction are categorized by how long they are.
However! Individual publishers and journals will have their own criteria for submissions, so make sure to always follow their instructions. If they are looking for flash fiction less than 1,000 words, keep your word count within their limit. Even if a 10,000 word story is technically a novelette, you can still submit it as a short story, if that is what the editor wants. And while 40,000 words is technically a novel, most publishers won’t consider manuscripts that short for publication.
What word count is right for your genre?
The typical length of a novel depends largely on what genre you’re writing in. Some genres are longer than others by nature. Take a look at the chart below for the expected word count range by genre.
Young Adult – Written for a teenaged audience, young adult books have traditionally been shorter than those written for adults. This is assuming a less experienced readership. However, that benchmark is shifting as the genre has exploded in popularity. Especially for science fiction and fantasy young adult novels, you can stretch the word count higher.
Adult Literary – The range of word counts for the literary genre is large because the genre encompasses so many types of stories. Since the genre is difficult to define, the word count expectations are also hard to pin down.
Horror – Horror stories can be short or very long, but debut authors should err on the smaller side of the range. Horror doesn’t need to explain the unnatural terrors lurking at every turn, making for a short, scary read. Slow burn horror also has its place.
Romance – romance novels are typically a bit shorter than other fiction genres. Because the story focuses intensely on two characters and their relationship with each other, the scope is smaller. Too long of a story runs the risk of losing the reader’s attention.
Mystery and Thriller – Mysteries and thrillers are fast paced, intrigue filled novels. Fitting plenty of action into the story while avoiding giving away too much means that these novels fall into the middle range of wordcounts. If the story drags on too long, you may provide too many clues and risk your reader figuring out the mystery too soon.
Historical Fiction – Depending on what period of history your novel depicts, you may need to spend significant amount of text in explaining the society, events, or day-to-day tasks that your characters participate in. This means that historical novels can be on the longer side.
Fantasy and Science Fiction - Fantasy and science fiction both involve extensive world building that ultimately leads to longer lengths. There are potentially many new concepts to explain. Imagine if you had to explain what a cell phone is or the political structure of the setting and you can begin to understand why science fiction and fantasy allow for longer word counts.
Why should you follow recommended word count?
When it comes to writing, size matters. Whether you’re dealing with publishers, award panels, or readers themselves, your word count makes all the difference. If you are considering deviating from the recommended genre word count range, take the following into account:
Marketability – agents and publishers are unlikely to take a chance on a new author if their book is outside the typical word count for their genre. If your word count is too low, they may suspect that you don’t know your genre or audience. The story may not be complete or satisfying. However, if a manuscript is too long, it suggests that the author doesn’t know how to edit themselves. More often than not, the story will lag. With a pile of books in the slush pile to sort through, some agents and editors may reject manuscripts outside the suggested range without even considering them.
Cost – longer books cost more to print. This is a consideration not just for self-publishers, but for traditional publishing as well. If a publisher doesn’t know how well a new author will sell, they won’t risk the investment of a large book.
Reader Expectations – Ultimately, readers are the ones you want to please. Once your novel is in front of them, you want them to enjoy the experience from start to finish. If your story is much shorter than similar books in the genre, the reader may feel that they didn’t get their money’s worth. If your novel is much longer, they may balk at the size or never finish reading it. You want to leave your readers feeling satisfied with your story and the length of your book is part of that.
Bending the rules
“But, Daphne!” you cry, “George R. R. Martin/James Patterson/Brandon Sanderson wrote huge books and they were still successful!”
That’s true, but they certainly didn’t start out that way. Most authors, including your favorites, published earlier novels that conformed to industry word count standards (Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie, was only 60,000 words). Later, after success, fame, and fortune, editors became more relaxed about novel length. After all, a Stephen King novel will sell, even if it’s 500,000 words (The Stand, 1978).
For the majority of the writing world, however, that sort of marketability simply isn’t a reality. As you are just breaking into the publishing world, you want your novel to fall safely in the word count range that readers are familiar with.
What to do if your novel is too long
If you already have a draft and you know that it’s too long for your genre, what can you do? There are a few ways to trim excess words from a manuscript.
Remove unnecessary scenes – I know, this can be hard, but it’s the best way to remove large chunks of words. If a scene doesn’t progress the plot of your novel, consider removing it entirely. You may even go so far as to remove an entire subplot, if it can be taken out without affecting the main action of your story.
Divide and conquer – if you have a goal of how many words you would like to trim, divide that by the number of chapters in your manuscript. This makes the overall task more manageable. Picking off a few words per page adds up over the length of a novel.
Create a series – for the very long novels, you may not be able to pare down the word count without losing something important to the story. When this is the case, consider breaking your manuscript into two or even three books. You could even consider publishing your book as serialized fiction. The market for serials is expanding with services like Kindle Vella. If your book has natural break points, this option is even more attractive.
What to do if your novel is too short
A draft that is underwritten presents different difficulties than one that is too long. Don’t worry! There are many ways to beef up your word count.
Expand your descriptions – Character appearances, setting descriptions, and action within a scene are all places where your story may have room to grow. Take stock of your weaknesses as an author. Do you forget to describe background characters? Do your settings fade into the scenery? Are you using all the senses in your descriptions? Give your manuscript another pass wit these things in mind. You may find there are plenty of places to expand.
Add complexity – What are your novel’s themes? Have you explored the various ways these themes appear in relation to your protagonists? Your book could benefit from weaving in a subplot to better bring out these aspects of the narrative. However, resist the temptation to expand your word count by adding fluff. If you story is tightly written and well-paced, adding filler can actually weaken your overall novel.
Don’t panic – Does this story really need to be a full novel? Or can it be considered a novella? There are plenty of markets for shorter works of fiction. Amazon has special categories for novellas and short works. Readers looking for smaller stories are excited about these offerings.
Asking for feedback
Whether your book is too long or too short, you can benefit from an outside perspective on where to trim or expand. As an author, you may have a hard time stepping back from your work and seeing it objectively. Readers can provide helpful insight. You can get this feedback without publishing by making use of beta readers. These early readers can help you to identify the weaknesses in your manuscript and allow you to make changes before submitting to editors, publishers, agents, or readers.
Do you find yourself stuck? Not sure the best way to modify your manuscript to better fit between the suggested word count range? Tomeworks can help you to explore the options. A Manuscript Evaluation can help identify the strengths and weaknesses in your novel, including parts that can be expanded or removed.