Word counts
This is something rescued from the old forum and has a couple of dead links in it. I think the information is still worth a look though.
I was trying to get an idea of how many words should be in a novel and found a few articles. Copy’n’paste snippets and links are below but the short version is “it depends”.
Articles on word count:
Literary / Commercial / Women’s: 80,000 to 110,000
Crime Fiction: 90,000 to 100,000 - The page-turning demands and competitive market enforce a word count which it is advisable to comply to
Mysteries / Thrillers / Suspense: 70,000 to 90,000
http://www.litrejections.com/word-count/
“Between 80,000 and 89,999 words is a good range you should be aiming for.”
http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/word-count-for-novels-and-childrens-books-the-definitive-post
Anything above 70k but less than 115k (science fiction and fantasy tend to run up around 100k-115k words). The sweet spot for adult is about 90k.
[…]
Pro tip: Try not to completely tether yourself to word counts. Let your writing take you where you need to go. But use good intuition and follow some of the rules.
https://litreactor.com/columns/ask-the-agent-your-novel-word-count-guide-and-more
First-time or unknown authors who haven’t yet built a substantial following should stay within a 70K-100K window.
Mainstream Fiction: Mainstream fiction novels, also termed “general fiction” and “commercial fiction,” are best received when they fall within a 70K-100K word range.
[…]
Sci-fi/fantasy: Another top-selling self-published genre, science fiction and fantasy books do best with a word count between 80K-150K words. (Since supernatural books often create entire worlds, they sometimes require more words than realistic novels.)
First-time and unknown authors should keep their books shorter.
http://selfpublishingrelief.com/best-word-count-for-self-published-novel
The overall ideal word count average [for traditionally published books] is between 80,000 and 100,000 words. The industry rule of thumb is that there are roughly 200 words per written page. To put this in perspective, here are some averages on famous writers/books for their typical novel:
Stephen King: 430,000
Harry Potter: 257,000
Ernest Hemingway: 68,000
Here are the word counts for some NY Times Bestselling Fiction Books:
Fifty Shades of Grey: 105,000
Gone Girl: 86,400
The Racketeer: 70,400
An interview with Daniel Abraham (aka one half of James SA Corey, authors of the Expanse series) says this:
Any rituals, gimmicks or cheesy self-help techniques that help you write?
Oh my yes. I have a perverse fixation on word count. Part of what lets me go quickly is having the additional obstacle of a particular length I’m shooting for. So, for instance, almost all of my chapters are 3,000 words long, plus or minus a couple hundred words. When I start a book or a story, I can tell you within a couple thousand words how long the first draft is going to be. It’s an axiom. I don’t understand how people just head into a story and let it figure out its own dimensions. It’s like starting a painting without knowing what size canvas you’re on. That’s just weird.