---
title: "Novel word count by genre — is your book the right length?"
description: "The word count ranges agents and publishers expect by genre, and where your own manuscript sits against them. Free, no sign-up."
source: https://usegalley.com/resources/novel-word-count-by-genre
---
[Home](https://usegalley.com/) [Resources](https://usegalley.com/resources) Word count by genre

# Novel word count by genre

What agents and publishers expect a book in your genre to weigh, and where yours sits against it. These are conventions rather than rules, and conventions are worth knowing before you break one.

Genre

Your word count

Writer

Verdict

In range 80,000 to 100,000 words

0200,000

- **Typical range**: 80,000 to 100,000

- **Sweet spot**: 90,000

- **Printed at 6 × 9 in**: about 290 pages

- **Hours to read**: 5h 46m

This runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, and
there is no account to make.

## Where the ranges come from

The ranges are the ones agents and editors quote in submission guidelines and
have done for years. They are conventions rather than science, so treat
them as what the market is used to.

Two things move them. A **debut** is held to the narrower end,
because nobody has bought your last book. And **fantasy and science
fiction** run long because a reader is paying for a world as well as a
story, which is why 120,000 words is unremarkable there and alarming in a
crime novel.

The page count uses the same model as
[words to printed pages](https://usegalley.com/resources/word-count-to-page-count), and
the reading time uses 260 words a minute, the figure from the
[reading time calculator](https://usegalley.com/resources/reading-time-calculator).

Galley counts as you write, per chapter and per book, and holds a target
beside it. What it will not do is tell you the number is wrong. See
[revision](https://usegalley.com/docs/revision).

**For working things out, not for signing anything.** Printers
and retailers set their own rates and specifications, change them without
notice, and none of them is affiliated with me or with Galley.
I last checked this page in August 2026. Confirm on the official page before you commit money to a price, a
print run or a contract.

## Questions

How long should a novel be? Between 70,000 and 100,000 words for most adult fiction. Under 60,000 an agent will call it a novella and struggle to sell it. Over 120,000 the printing cost rises and a debut becomes a harder yes. Fantasy and science fiction are the exceptions and run longer.

Is a first novel judged more harshly on length? Yes. An established author can turn in 160,000 words because the sales history carries the risk. A debut at that length reads as a manuscript nobody has cut yet, and it is the cheapest reason to reject something.

Does word count matter if I am self-publishing? Differently. No agent is counting, but the reader is, and so is the printer. Page count sets your minimum price, so a 150,000 word paperback has to be expensive. Readers also carry genre expectations about length whether or not anyone told them to.

How do I cut 20,000 words? Not by trimming adverbs, which gets you about 2%. It comes from scenes: the ones that repeat information, the ones where nothing changes, and the second half of scenes that ended a page before you stopped writing them.

## Next

[Writing pace calculatorGetting from where you are to that number.](https://usegalley.com/resources/writing-pace-calculator) [Words to printed pagesWhat the length becomes as an object.](https://usegalley.com/resources/word-count-to-page-count) [Reading time calculatorWhat the length costs a reader.](https://usegalley.com/resources/reading-time-calculator) [Kindle Unlimited earningsWhere length is paid for by the page.](https://usegalley.com/resources/kindle-unlimited-kenp-calculator) [Query letter formatterWhere that number ends up being read.](https://usegalley.com/resources/query-letter-formatter)

More at [the resources index](https://usegalley.com/resources).

Put all this into practice when you write your novel in Galley.

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