One of the biggest issues many writers have when going to start their first draft is the idea of word count. One of the biggest questions I often see as a writer is “how many words should my novel have?” The answer is a little less clear than you may think, as it really depends greatly on the genre, the target audience, the age range, and more. At the end of the day, books written for children won’t have the same word count as books written for fans of epic grimdark fantasy. So, today’s post will cover how many words a novel should have on average depending on a multitude of factors, including genre and age, to help you figure out what your writing goal should be for your next book.
Why Does Word Count Even Matter?
You might be thinking: Why does the word count of my book matter? If I can tell my story in X words, isn’t that more than enough? And while your question definitely has validity, there are still reasons why the idea of the word count matters for readers.
Firstly, genres that you may be writing in–at this point–have pretty solidified word count standards. A lot of the readers of these genres and subgenres tend to have expectations about that particular genre and may be a bit off-put if you aren’t meeting them by a long margin.
Second, the idea of the word count generally will impact the pacing and the plot of your story. While you can structure a very extensive, intricate and detailed plot, you may find that it can get complicated to achieve that in a relatively shorter word count. Meanwhile, a plot of that standard would probably fit right in with epic fantasy readers.
Third, the idea of the established word count has also been based pretty heavily on the publishing industry’s standards and figures. Many publishers have sort of established a gold standard for most genres, which is why you see that a lot of books in the book store tend to be of the same length.
Finally, word count can affect and impact the quality of the story and the way readers engage with it. A novel that has too many words in a genre that isn’t really accustomed to that, may find that there are some issues getting readers to engage with the material. Meanwhile, a novel in a genre that is accustomed to longer word counts may be put off by a book with a shorter word count.
Word Count Standards by Genre
Across the many different major genres in literature out there, there are pretty much set standards for the word count. Remember, there are going to always be exceptions to the rule, but if you’re looking to understand the rule itself, here are some big genres and their standard word count figures. The average novel does tend to range from 50,000 words to 100,000 words, greatly depending on the genre you’ve selected. 50,000 tends to be less accepted nowadays however.
Science Fiction and Fantasy
Speculative fiction in general tends to run higher on the word count scale and science-fiction and fantasy both tend to have relatively similar figures. An average novel under the sci-fi/fantasy banner runs from 90,000 to 120,000 words. You’ll want to aim for at least 100,000 words if you can, as that tends to be the more acceptable figure.
However, there is a bit more under the fantasy banner. Fantasy novels that fall under epic fantasy will likely require above 120,000 words. You’ll find that epic fantasy novels even exceed 150,000 words and some of the longest epic fantasy novels can range in the 300,000 word scale or more. Now, this isn’t the norm and not every writer will achieve this sort of word count, but epic fantasy readers are more lenient because of the fact that fantasy novels require world building and world building requires a lot of page time.
For context, my series, The Fallen Age Saga, has these approximate word counts:
The word count for Chaos Eve (Book 3) is still a WIP, so I don’t have an exact figure, but I estimate it may be significantly longer than its predecessor.
Romance
Romance is a bit out there because there are some romances that fall under different genres, such as romantasy. However, romance novels in the contemporary romance section tend to range from 70,000 to 90,000 words, with there being exceptions of course.
Historical romance may require more because of the fact that you have a historical backdrop to your story and it may need a word count above 90,000 words. It really just depends on how intricate the historical setting is to your story, but you’ll want to ensure that your research pays off and that you’re writing the setting accurately because people will notice.
Romantasy, which is romance fantasy, can range well above 100,000 words like standard fantasy, but it tends not to because most romantasy stories focus more on the romance than the world building (though I think this is a mistake that many romantasy books make because it’s still fantasy).
Mystery, Thriller, Horror
Mystery and thriller novels typically fall from 70,000 to 100,000 words since you’ve got a narrative that requires a lot of plot twists, you have to play around with the pacing a lot, and you’ve got a lot of things like character development and building suspense up in your story.
Horror, although different from mystery and thriller, can sometimes fall under the thriller genre as well. However, horror novels tend to have a similar word count requirement.
Young Adult (YA)
YA, or young adult novels, can be of any genre, but for the most part, the readers in this group are younger. This means that it can be a bit harder to sell to a younger reader the idea of a super long book–though that doesn’t mean you can’t write a long book.
However, I’ve been reading a bit of YA lately since I’ve seen some titles trending online and I’ve noticed that the books under YA tend to be faster reads (I can sit down and read it in one day kind of thing). So, the YA novels out there typically go from 50,000 to 90,000 words. Most fall on the higher end of the spectrum, but more than 100,000 words is typically a tough sell.
Middle Grade
Middle Grade novels are made for readers in the range of 8-12 years old typically. These novels range from 20,000 to 50,000 words. Since the readers are still young and developing, you’ll find that they have shorter word counts and simpler diction than a YA novel will have.
Memoirs
A memoir depends pretty much on the life of the person who is writing their own story. A memoir is a very personal book and it really is affected and impacted by what that person wants to tell people about their life story. Most memoirs tend to range from 45,000 words to 80,000 words.
What Influences the Word Count Exactly?
There may be industry standards, but what will push your novel to the upper or lower end of a word count range in the first place?
Well, first, there is the complexity of your book. If your story has many subplots, lots of world building, tons of research, a lot of characters and more, you’re going to have to push your word count higher. This is why fantasy books tend to run so large and why readers don’t mind that–the higher word count tends to indicate that the author put effort into the story and the world building. A more linear story will require less words. It just depends.
World building tends to be the number one reason why a book has a very high word count. Yes, there are other factors, but pick up super long books and you tend to find that they are very extensive in their world building work. Brandon Sanderson, for example, has books that are VERY long but every page makes sense to exist in his story because he’s basically built an entire world from the ground-up and that takes a lot of time to flesh out and make believable.
Pacing is also a big deal. I’ve read some very long books that felt like a breeze to read and other short books that took me ages to read through. That’s because it depends on your writing style and the ability you have to create proper pacing. A higher word count does not mean your book is slow, but you want to balance your pacing around the word count.
Traditional Publishing vs Self-Publishing
Now, another big part of the word count figure is the method you are using to publish your book. I’ve talked about the difference between traditional and self-publishing before on my blog, but there is also an impact on the word count figures.
Traditional publishers tend to have expectations and standards that they require of an author. Most debut authors don’t publish books in the higher figures and they tend to have a debut novel around 100,000 words, possibly pushing that figure up by 10,000 words.
Meanwhile, self-published authors don’t have that sort of restriction to worry about. You can write a Sanderson-style novel in terms of length for your first book and just have to market it properly to readers instead of worrying about what a publisher expects of you. I find that self-publishing just offers up that liberty more than traditional publishing, which is a reason why I like it so much.
If you want to learn how to self-publish your own eBook on Amazon, check this post out.
Also, if you want to learn how to self-publish a book in general, check out these resources:
- How to Self-Publish a Book: A Full Guide
- Top Ten BEST Self-Publishing Companies in 2024!
- Should You Self-Publish Your Book or is it too Risky?
Either way though, you’ll want to take a look at what the readers of your genre want, like, and desire. Too short of a novel in the epic fantasy genre is not going to cut it, and too long of a novel in the YA range is going to be a hard sell.
How Many Words is a Book that Has 300 Pages?
A book that has 300 pages tends to be around 90,000 words, but it can depend more on the word size and the page formatting. A 300-paged book can even be 100,000 words, but it tends not to be. Still, if you pick up a book on your shelf right now that is 300 pages, chances are, it falls in the 90,000 – 100,000 word count range.
How Many Words Should be in a Chapter?
A book’s individual chapter tends to have at least 2,000 words. It can have more or less depending on the style of your novel, but if we average around 2,000 words per chapter, a book that is 100,000 words will have a chapter count of 50.
Conclusion
Figuring out how many words your novel should have takes a few factors into account beyond just the genre of your story, but the genre is certainly a major factor in this process. You want to consider other factors like the age and audience you’re targeting, how complex your story is expected to be, as well as how many words you actually need to deliver your story. You want to focus on the quality of your story more than just the word count, but you want to keep the word count in the back of your mind as you’re writing.
Before you head on out, be sure to check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga, and also sign up for my newsletter so you can get updates on my latest WIPs, book releases, posts and more!