Hi, what'd be an usual wordcount for a novel? I'm nearly finished with a work with about 25,000 words done. I'd like it to be called a novel instead of a short story. More words needed?
Hi, what'd be an usual wordcount for a novel? I'm nearly finished with a work with about 25,000 words done. I'd like it to be called a novel instead of a short story. More words needed?
Definitely a novella.
25,000 words sounds like a novella, which isn't listed above. You needn't add words just for the sake of a word count... write as many words as your story needs. Maybe 25,000 is as high as that particular story will go?
Novel Word Count Genre Guidelines
Picture Books -200-500 words
Early Readers - 500-2000 words
Chapter Books - 5,000-10,000 words
Middle Grade - 25,000-45,000 words, most averaging 35k.
Young adult - 55,000-90,000 words
- YA contemporary tends to be on the shorter side, 60-70k
- YA fantasy, sci-fi, and paranormal tends to fall on the longer side due to world building, 70-90k
Adult - 70,000-115,000 words
- Romance - 85,000-100,000 words
- Cozy Mysteries - 70,000-85,000 words
- Mysteries, Horror, Crime - 75,000-95,000 words, most averaging 90k
- Sci-fi and Fantasy - 80,000-120,000 words, most averaging 100k-115k
- Literary and Women's Fiction - 80,000-100,000 words
I hope that helps.
Good luck.