Novel Word Count Guide (YA, Fantasy, Thriller, Romance & more)

How long should your novel be? What's the difference between a novella and novel? How long is TOO long to query as a debut author? George R.R. Martin writes 500K fantasy novels, so why can't I? Why is a novel over 100K a red flag for agents? I'm covering ALL your novel word count questions!

First, why adhering to contemporary word count conventions for your category/genre is important as a debut... and literally why shorter books are smart business. Why looking to famous authors and older books won't help you determine realistic word counts. And then of course I'll share target word counts AND some recent examples.

TIMESTAMPS
Why you can't look at word counts for famous/classic novels/authors 01:20

Why debut books should be under 100K (practically speaking) 04:20

Minimum word count to call something a novel 08:42

How long is too long for a novel? 10:27

Why super high/low word counts are red flags for agents 11:21

Kidlit vs. Adult market word count ceilings 14:30

Word Count Guide by Genre 15:52

MG & YA Word Count Guide: 17:36

Word Count Examples for YA SFF, Adult Fantasy, Adult Romance, and Thrillers (YA & adult) 19:56

Why editing your book down to 100K or under is a good idea 22:28

RESOURCES

Nathan Bransford's 2018 post on word counts: https://nathanbransford.com/blog/2018...

Jennifer Laughran's 2011 post on Kidlit word counts: http://literaticat.blogspot.com/2011/...

ReadingLength.com for estimating novel word counts: https://www.readinglength.com/



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