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How Many Words Is an Average Novel?

An average adult novel is 80,000 to 100,000 words. The industry standard for an unsold debut adult novel sits in this range almost regardless of genre, with most acquiring editors expecting submissions inside it. Genre conventions vary substantially: thrillers and mysteries often run 70,000 to 90,000; literary fiction frequently extends to 100,000 to 120,000; epic fantasy and historical fiction routinely exceed 120,000.

How we calculated it

For a debut author, agents and editors are unforgiving on length. A 150,000-word debut adult novel is statistically very unlikely to find traditional representation, even if the writing is strong, simply because the production economics for a longer book require an established sales record to justify. Established authors get more latitude — Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series routinely exceeds 300,000 words per volume.

Genre-specific industry guidelines as published by major writers' associations: adult literary fiction 80,000 to 100,000; mystery and suspense 70,000 to 90,000; romance 50,000 to 90,000 (category romance much shorter, single-title much longer); science fiction and fantasy 90,000 to 120,000 for adult, with epic fantasy stretching to 200,000+; young adult 50,000 to 80,000; middle grade 30,000 to 50,000; children's chapter books 5,000 to 10,000.

For self-published authors the constraint relaxes substantially because production cost per page is lower in ebook and print-on-demand formats. Successful self-published novels routinely range from 60,000 to 150,000 words. Reader expectations still shape what works in market — a 60,000-word epic fantasy reads as truncated, while a 200,000-word romance is exhausting regardless of how well-written it is.

A worked example: querying a debut novel

Suppose you have finished a debut adult literary novel. You have written 137,000 words. You think it is good. You are about to query agents. Before sending the first email, you have to decide whether to send the manuscript at its current length or cut it back.

The industry data is unforgiving on this question. Roughly 80 to 100 percent of debut adult literary fiction sold to traditional publishing in any given year falls between 75,000 and 110,000 words. Submissions over 120,000 words are increasingly rejected at the query stage on length alone, regardless of writing quality, because the production economics of a longer debut do not pencil out for the publisher.

A 137,000-word debut almost certainly needs to come down to 100,000 to 110,000 before querying. The hard cut typically requires removing one or two subplots rather than tightening sentence by sentence — sentence-level editing rarely removes 30,000 words from a novel. Most debut authors who make this cut report that the leaner version is structurally better, not just shorter.

Why genre conventions are so length-specific

Novel-length conventions exist because retail shelves, paperback economics, and reader expectations have stabilized around specific page counts for each genre. Mass-market paperback mystery is 70,000 to 90,000 because that is the length that fits a $7.99 paperback at the trim size readers expect. Epic fantasy is 120,000 to 200,000 because the genre evolved through doorstop-format hardcovers and readers learned to expect that scope.

For first-time authors, sticking to genre conventions is not gatekeeping — it is signal. An agent reading a 95,000-word mystery query knows you have read enough mysteries to understand the form. A 200,000-word mystery query signals the opposite, regardless of the actual writing quality.

How self-publishing changes the calculus

Self-publishing relaxes the length constraint substantially because production cost per page is far lower in ebook and print-on-demand. Successful self-published novels routinely run 60,000 to 150,000 words and authors can experiment with formats that traditional publishing rarely buys (novellas, serials, doorstop fantasy debuts).

Reader expectations still constrain what works in market. A 60,000-word self-published epic fantasy reads as truncated even though it would have been a respectable mid-list novel in 1980. A 200,000-word self-published romance is exhausting regardless of how well-written it is. Genre conventions still apply; only the publisher-side constraints relax.

Common pitfalls to avoid

  • Counting characters instead of words. Submission guidelines specify word count, but some manuscript-tracking software reports both. Use the word count — agents and editors mean exactly what the guideline says. Submitting a 120,000-character document and calling it 120,000 words is a fast way to get a no-response query.
  • Inflating the count with front matter. Dedications, acknowledgments, glossaries, and maps are not part of the manuscript word count for query purposes. Word count means the running text of the novel itself.

Count your own words

Paste your draft into the free word counter to see exactly how many words you have written, plus character count, reading time, and speaking time. The tool runs entirely in your browser — your text is never uploaded.

Frequently asked questions

How many pages is a 90,000-word novel?
Roughly 300 to 360 published pages, depending on font size, line spacing, and trim size. Mass-market paperback at 12-point font: about 250 words per page. Trade paperback: 300 to 400. Manuscript double-spaced in 12-point Times: 250 words per page (so 360 manuscript pages).
What word count makes a book a novella, not a novel?
The Hugo and Nebula awards use a hard cutoff: 17,500 to 40,000 words is a novella; 40,000 to 50,000 is a novelette-novella boundary that varies by award; above 50,000 is a novel. Most trade publishers use roughly 40,000 to 50,000 as the floor for a "novel."
How many pages is a 90,000-word novel?
Roughly 300 to 360 published pages, depending on font size, line spacing, and trim size. A typical mass-market paperback at 12-point font fits around 250 words per page; a trade paperback fits 300 to 400.
Can a novel be under 50,000 words?
Yes. The 50,000-word mark is the threshold the Hugo Awards and most industry definitions use to distinguish novel from novella. Novels of 50,000 to 70,000 words exist but are unusual outside of YA and romance.
How long is the average bestseller?
New York Times bestselling adult novels average around 90,000 to 110,000 words. Bestselling authors often run longer because their readership is willing to commit to a longer book on the author's reputation.

Related word counts

More in Written Formats

Conventional word-count ranges for novels, short fiction, essays, and longform articles.

Last reviewed: May 2026. Word-count guidelines are based on the standard 130 wpm speaking pace, 150 wpm narration pace, and 250 wpm silent reading pace; adjust to your own delivery for best accuracy.