A Brief Guide to Word Counts by Book Genre
How long should a romance book be? What about fantasy or horror? Find out.
I previously wrote a post on the general word count by book type, according to industry experts and organizations. This gave you an idea of what to expect your title’s word count to be.
Today, we’re going to delve a little deeper. Average word counts can vary significantly by book genre. Certain fan bases prefer much longer, involved stories (such as fantasy and science fiction) while others like a short, sweet story (like younger audiences and western readers).
Today we’re going to see what industry experts and organizations have to say about word counts by book genre. This is more important than deciding whether your title is a novel or novella. Why?
The book genre you choose will have a substantial impact on your author brand. It will also help you understand what your target audience (i.e., your ideal readers) want to see in a book.
According to Reedsy
According to Reedsy, the general word count by genre are:
- Commercial and Literary = 80,000 to 100,000 words
- Science Fiction and Fantasy = 100,000 to 115,000 words
