By The Numbers... Average Genre Word Counts

December 2019

It seems that not a week goes by when someone asks me about word counts.  "How many words should my book be?"  Well, according to Writer's Digest Magazine, here are the average word counts by genre.  Keep in mind that each publishing company, agent, and editor will have their own specific expectations for word counts.  These are benchmarks to be aware of - but not necessarily rules written in stone.

Non-Fiction: average 50,000, depending on topic

Fiction:

Short story: any fictional work under 7,500 words

Novelette: between 7,500 and 17,500 words

Novella: between 17,500 and 40,000 words

Novel: anything over 40,000

Adult & New Adult Novels: Commercial & Literary:

• 80,000 – 89,999:       Totally cool

• 90,000 – 99,999:       Generally safe

• 70,000 – 79,999:       Might be too short; probably all right

• 100,000 – 109,999:      Might be too long; probably all right

• Below 70,000:         Too short

• 110,000 or above       Too long

 Science-Fiction & Fantasy:

• 100,000 - 115,000

 Western & Romance:

• 50,000 - 80,000

 Memoir:

• 80,000 - 89,999

 Young Adult:

• 55,000 - 69,999

 Middle Grade or Tween Novels:

• 30,000 - 55,000

 Chapter Books

• 6,000 - 10,000

 Early Readers:

• under 3,500

 Picture Books: (about 24-32 pages)

• 500-60