Does Size Matter?

Unfortunately, I think it does.  Different genres have general length guidelines that professionals in the industry seem to pay attention to.  I don’t think they function as set rules, but rules of thumb.  Still, for a new author, violation of a rule of thumb probably lands his or her query at the bottom of a long pile of queries that wobbles precariously in the corner of an electronic file cabinet, never to be given serious consideration.  

One publisher lists preferred word counts as follows: Children’s Picture Books: 400-2,000,
Lower Grade Chapter Books: 10,000-18,000 (12-15k ideal),
Middle Grade: 30,000-70,000 (40-50k ideal),
Romance/Erotica: 50,000-100,000 (60-70k ideal),
Young Adult: 55,000+ (65-75k ideal),
Others: 65,000+ (ideals vary by genre).  Usually a standard page is considered to be 250 words.

So, what does this mean?  I look at these guidelines less as word counts but story arc restrictions.  If you pick a very long story arc for a young adult novel that lands you in 140K words, you’ve probably made it very difficult to publish that manuscript.  If you want a commercial project, think about changing the story arc and dividing the manuscript into more than one part.  Words don’t bleed so feel free to cut them!

By Jeff Altabef, author of the dystopian political thriller Fourteenth Colony.  Half of the author’s proceeds goes to the Covenant House who help homeless youth aged 16 to 21. http://www.amazon.com/Fourteenth-Colony-Jeff-Altabef-ebook/dp/B00C2D97OS/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encod...