Novel how long

NOTE: A printed paperback may have as many as words per page, depending upon font size and book dimensions. Length matters in a book that has a spine to which pages must be attached. Print publishers rarely accept books that are excessively short or excessively long.

Digital publishing, on the other hand, is not constrained by size. Novelists who publish digitally can help readers find what they are looking for by categorizing their works according to length:. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Orson Scott Card wrote an interesting bit on short stories versus novels.

He had written many short stories and was trying his hand at a novel. After writing pages or so, he turned it over to his editor for a quick look. The pacing of a short story is very different from that of a novel, and THIS is a much more important criterion in determining what defines a novel or a short story. As an analog, a comedian who normally does a two-minute stand-up routine must alter his pacing quite a bit when performing an hour-long show.

But before you celebrate and race to send your manuscript off to the presses as a novel, there's something else that you should consider. Whether a word count is "enough" for a novel depends on one thing and one thing only: its genre. Or if you're more a fan of short fiction, click here to find out how long is a short story?

You should be aware that word count standards differ vastly by genre. Could you, as a first-time novelist , get an agent or publisher to bite at your k-word YA epic? Maybe — but it would be tough. And if you'd just like the quick and dirty answer, take this second quiz to check how long your novel should be, given your specific genre.

Find out what word count the industry expects for your genre — it takes 15 seconds! Commercial and literary novels are generally 80, to , words.

Fantasy and science fiction novels are known to be lengthier than other books. Fantasy, in particular, takes the cake: some books in a fantasy series end up exceeding , words. That said, the average word count for science fiction and fantasy novels generally lies between , and , Romance novels tend to be shorter, lying between 80, and , words.

However, since romance has many sub-genres, this figure may vary. For instance, regency romances and paranormal romances must be above 40, words. We recommend researching the niche and checking specific imprints before you start writing your romance book. Middle-grade novels are generally 20, to 55, words. Chapter books will come in at the lower end of the spectrum, while middle-grade books meant for older readers may even slightly exceed 55, words.

For more information on word counts for children's book, check out this post. Of course, there will be books that smash these "rules. And The Fellowship of the Ring sits at , words. This is not to say that epic novels are a form of storytelling reserved only for bestselling writers. While writing this article, we became curious about how the length of manuscripts submitted to editors through Reedsy compared to industry standards.

This is what we found:. Overall, manuscripts received by Reedsy editors seem to fall squarely within the industry averages, with a few minor outliers. Most of the time, an overly long word count is a symptom of major plot or pacing problems in a novel — issues that need to be solved during the revision process. Of course, hiring a professional editor does come with a price tag, and most freelancers calculate their costs based on the number of words.

In light of this, several Reedsy editors have been kind enough to offer tips for authors who are in the revision process and looking to cut down on word count. The rule of thumb is that you shouldn't worry about word count when you're writing your first draft — and it should be even less of a concern in the outlining phase. If you'd like to learn more about that topic, we write extensively about how to outline a novel here. However, if you're done with your first draft and you're shocked by the amount of words in it, it might be time to cut down.

I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil. Rid your manuscript of the most common writing mistakes with this day online course. Get started now. With a little distance, you'll be able to see where there are superfluous scenes or unnecessary purple prose.

This is a tough habit to break. In order to create a world of verisimilitude, the writer has to research all of this information, and so it's difficult for them to believe the reader doesn't need to know it, too.

I recommend curtailing historical information to those tidbits that further the plot or help to develop a main character. This can be applied to any genre, however: if a detail doesn't serve a purpose, it's extraneous and should be cut. One of the best ways to accelerate the writing process is to set word count goals. Like training intervals, setting up word count goals will pace how many words to write a day.

First you have to understand how many words in a novel for your genre. Once you know this, you can work backward to figure out how much you have to write each day in order to reach your deadline. By establishing these parameters for your own success, not only will you be more likely to accomplish these goals, but you will also notice improvements to your writing.

We recommend writing down your daily, weekly, and monthly word count goals to not only show your current progress, but to keep you motivated until you reach the end. A supportive partner can be a great soundboard, a first pair of eyes, and a protector of your sanity.

They can also be the extrinsic motivation you need to meet your own deadlines and word counts. When you have an accountability partner backing you up, it makes it harder to procrastinate because they expect great results from you! At Self-Publishing School, we believe in the accountability system and encourage our students to pair up with other like-minded students to encourage one another and hold each other accountable for reaching goals and deadlines.

This is done through our Mastermind Community, so everyone has the same goal in mind: start writing a book and finish by self-publishing a book. Following the same routine can get old quickly especially for something lengthy like writing the first draft of your book. To combat the fear of boredom and add more spark to your writing project, we encourage you to set challenges for yourself! If you ever dream of becoming a self-published author, now is the time to finally make it a reality. By following these guidelines on how to develop a robust writing process, you will have your first book ready to self-publish in no time.

Disclosure: Some of the links above may contain affiliate partnerships, meaning, at no additional cost to you, Self-Publishing School may earn a commission if you click through to make a purchase. We help you save time, money, and headaches through the book, writing, marketing, and publishing process by giving you the proven, step-by-step process and accountability to publish successfully. All while allowing you to maintain control of your book—and its royalties.

Learn to publish a book to grow your impact, income, or business! Drop a comment with your own tips, advice, or thoughts on this blog post — we may even update the post with your ideas!

Blake Atwood is an editor, author and ghostwriter in Dallas, where he buys far more books than he has time to read. I really need some help in the writing world. I am a newbie having written word literary fiction manuscript. Is enough or should I add some content? I have already finalized the work. One of the hardest writing tasks in the world is adding content to a novel when you have already said everything you thought you needed to say and the story feels complete as written.

I suggest that instead of embarking on this difficult task, you enjoy your first book as what it is, your first completed manuscript. Most people who dream of writing a novel never begin, and most who begin never finish. Go ahead with whatever publication plans you have for your book, whether self-publication, seeking a commercial publisher, or soliciting literary agents for representation. Realize as you do so that its length at the lower end of the range may handicap it somewhat.

As a result, your first novel may not be your first bestseller. It will still be your firstborn forever. In the meantime, nudge your heart toward your next book, making use of all the things you learned by writing the first one. One of those lessons can be to start with a slightly more complex story so that the length is likely to end up a bit longer, but naturally. All of this is very good information. And yes, I do believe having super long manuscripts published as novels is the exception and not the rule.

My current manuscript, a family drama with a bit of murder, attempted rape, blackmail, domestic violence, underage sex, illicit drug use etc.

Any opinions? Hard to say. Neither can we know what every aspiring writer thinks, but, online anyway, most do not give that impression. Most writers who blog and comment seem determined NOT to be an exception, and strive to find out and conform to all sorts of rules and commands and advice. This article and our comments contain examples of such caution. Writers and people in general fear the exceptional, in themselves and others.

Thank you for all these lovely comments that allowed me to procrastinate for a few more minutes from actually writing. This is a fair beginners number guide. All this is excellent information to keep for reference, but I am wondering about short stories in an anthology.

How many words in an anthology might be economically publishable? How many stories included? How many words in an average story included in an anthology?

Thanx for your time and trouble. The thing you have to keep in mind is the cost of production. You may enjoy an page story just as much as a page story, but when you get to the checkout, do you want to have two stories for your money, or one?

Uh, no. Word count is negotiable. If the publisher has a convincing argument for cutting a passage or two, the book will be shorter. If it has areas that need further explanation the word count will go up. Keep an open mind and make your case.