How many words in a novel?

Do you know how many words you are supposed to write in a novel?

Mysteries & Thrillers: The average length of an article is expected to range from 60,000 to 100,000 words.

Usually, mystery and thrillers are among the shortest novel genres, with an approximate word count of 60,000 to 100,000 words. However, major releases in this genre can be longer, up to several hours of gameplay that can be divided into separate episodes. For instance, Dan Brown’s mystery thriller The Lost Symbol contains 138,032 words of reading material.

Romance Novels: The number of words can range from 75,000 to 110,000, depending on the topic and specific requirements.

Romance is generally a novel-length genre, with novels standard in the range of 75K-110K words. But they can be of short duration or prolonged. Although there is a variation in word count depending on the publishers, it is notable that the category romances, like the ones from Harlequin, usually do not exceed the word count of 75000. At the same time, the subgenres, such as historical, may go over 120000. Two authors, the legendary Nora Roberts and Danielle Steel, wrote average pen novels between 100,000 and 120,000 words.

Science Fiction & Fantasy: It is prescribed that viral genes range from 90,000 to 175,000 words.

Science fiction and fantasy novels are longer than most other kinds of commercial novels, and the difference in length could be attributed to several reasons. The average Therapeutic indication length ranges typically from 90000 to 175000 words. Popular book series such as the one that includes A Song of Ice and Fire, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings series has books with instalments over 200,000 words. There isn’t anything wrong with it, as perhaps the most glorious epic fantasy or science fiction can run to 250,000+ words when all the books in the series are to be included.

Literary Fiction: The number of words can vary from 60,000 to 110,000.

As the type of literature, particular novels printed in the literary fiction category are known to have more minor word counts, with most averaging around 60000-110000 words. The novella distinction can also categorise shorter literary works as those with lengths between twenty thousand to forty thousand words. At the upper end of the range, literary novels that have won the Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer can be almost 120000 words long. Still, most contemporary fictional works published today are significantly shorter than that.

Mainstream Fiction: The practical use of text in document production could involve 90,000 to 120,000 words.

Standard commercial prose in formulaic tales that will sell millions under a publisher like Penguin Random House will probably fall in the 90,000 to 120,000-word bracket. For instance, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is approximately 110000 words, and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman is approximately a thousand words.

Debut Novels: The duration can be estimated to be between 50,000 and 120,000 words.

Still, it should be noted that novels by first-time authors could be longer or shorter compared to each other, irrespective of whether the given book belongs to the literary fiction genre or a techno-thriller. New writers writing their first novel tend to have manuscripts ranging between fifty thousand words, the bare minimum, and up to one hundred and twenty thousand words, which may be extended. Most first books of fiction will fall within the range of between seventy thousand and ninety thousand words.

Middle-Grade Novels: The discussion section should be 20,000 to 60,000 words long.

The first type of books is middle-grade books that are usually meant for young people with an average age of 8-12 years, and they don’t have strict length requirements for the books as is the case with adult fiction books. These novels fall into the range of emerging chapter books between twenty thousand and sixty thousand words and upper middle-grade adventures. The length of most middle-grade classics is usually from 30,000 to 50,000 words.

Young Adult Novels: He recommended a word range between 60,000 and 100,000 words.

YA novels are generally longer than mg but shorter than the average adult genre fiction novel for adult readers. Typically, most YA books are usually between 60000 to 100000 words long. Top-rated young adult series such as Twilight often have individual volumes exceeding 120,000 words, but those are not the rule.
As to why novel word counts do matter, there are several reasons which include the following;

Original lengths tend to conform to certain traditional concepts and norms regarding the specific genre of the novel. Most science fiction novels published by distinguished publishers such as Tor are usually thicker, while commercial women’s fiction releases remain smaller. Notably, many literary fiction awards go to books with a limited number of pages. Knowing what norms are typical for one's category can be useful in planning and revisions.

Document to publisher submission guidelines

In the manuscript submission process, the publisher usually has guidelines that can include the word limit they are interested in publishing. If these guidelines envelop them, it shows professionalism. One should avoid going too far either way; this creates the impression that the author does not know the market and may discourage editors from asking for the entire manuscript.

Reader expectations impact engagement

Precise expectations of length When it comes to genres and contexts, the readers have certain expectations about the scope and size of the content. A novel under 200,000 words in the epic fantasy genre guarantees a reader to be taken through an elaborate journey, while a romance novel under 50,000 words indicates that the read will be short and not so intense. These potential issues can be associated with dramatic disregard for conventional writing norms without proper justification for doing that to the readers.

Determines print layout specifications

As soon as the manuscript is bought, specific measurements in terms of words decide things like the sizes of the printed cover and the specifications on how the book will be bound. It is easy to guess the page counts from the word numbers which in turn affect the shape of the cover flat and the final format of the page.

Sets digital formatting needs

Digital editions employ word count to decide the best format to present the reading content and the accessibility measures. Text density, which references the density and size of the text, as well as line spacing for ebooks and e-readers, are set according to total word length advisories.
It helps in planning the time frame for production and the amount of money that will be used to market the product.

From a publisher, the limits to the amount of money allocated for editing and marketing and the time when the publisher intends to release the book are made based on some presumed word counts. A first-time author delivering a manuscript with 250,000 words while the expectation was 100,000 words implies that the manuscript would require additional time and effort to edit during production.

The following are tips on how to estimate the length of your novel:

• Search for similar books in your genre. Is your book going to be an epic series or a fictional story meant for a vacation? These questions also help determine the length to aim for in a book similar to the one a person is writing.
• Capture each scene and sequence – Before writing a novel, approaching it as a ‘pantser,’ envisioning the scope to meet the desired word count aids in mapping.
• Daily word count aim—Writing 500 words daily amounts to nearly 180 thousand words annually. When one writes 1,000 words daily, the word count exceeds 350,000 words. Track progress.
• Caption Track Tool during the writing process - One of the tools is the Word Counter, which enables you to see the length of your manuscript while drafting.
• Save 10% for deletions and omissions—The latter writing rule is curious. Still, nearly every published author has experienced having to shave off at least 10% of the words used in the initial draft upon editing.

Knowing the averages of how many words per book is written in a particular genre will be beneficial when making goals during the writing process for those wishing to see their book in stores or those who want to finish writing their first novel. Though the length is not a precise science, achieving a length within a standard range gives you a sense of what readers want and a direction toward the potential public.