How Many Words Is a Novel? A Genre-by-Genre Breakdown
Publishing has informal but fairly consistent length expectations by genre, and knowing them helps you set a realistic target before you start drafting.
Literary and general fiction
Typically 80,000-100,000 words. Debut literary novels that run much longer can be a harder sell to agents.
Genre fiction (thriller, romance, sci-fi/fantasy)
Thrillers and romance usually land in the 70,000-90,000 word range. Fantasy and sci-fi run longer, often 90,000-120,000 words, since world-building takes more space.
Young adult and middle grade
YA novels are typically 50,000-80,000 words; middle grade is shorter still, often 30,000-55,000 words.
These aren't hard rules, but agents and editors do use them as a first filter — a manuscript wildly outside genre norms may need a stronger justification to get a serious read. Tracking your progress against a target with a word-count goal keeps a long draft from feeling shapeless.
Key takeaways
- Literary and general fiction: roughly 80,000-100,000 words.
- Fantasy and sci-fi typically run longer, often 90,000-120,000 words.
- YA and middle grade are shorter — 50,000-80,000 and 30,000-55,000 words respectively.
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