Why Word Count Is So Important When Submitting

Word Count, we’ve all heard the term but what exactly does it mean for you and your novel when it comes to the querying process. The answer is a lot. The query letter for your YA (Young Adult)Fantasy novel is absolutely immaculate, hits all the right points, conveys all the right tones and for all that , “perfection” you receive rejection after rejection. Clearly something is wrong, but what? For me it was because my manuscript word count was 130,000 words. So where did I go wrong? The answer is simple; my word count was WAY too high. Well to better understand the word count dilemma I’m going break it down.

YA is my age genre and it has specification all on its own for word count at somewhere between 55,000 on the low end and 80,000 on the high end. But wait my book is also Fantasy! Fantasy word count runs at approximately 90,000 words on the low end to about 120,000 on the high end. Whoa what a difference! So even if I pitched off the Fantasy word count my novel still exceeded the recommended bench mark. So now I was faced with a problem. WHICH word count was the right one for my book since it fit both categories?

In a situation like this you have to ask yourself a few questions about your manuscript and realize that you are going to need to go back to the editing table no matter which word count is chosen. That means the querying should come to a stop, because clearly your manuscript is no longer, “polished” not polished = not ready.

Question One: Is this book absolutely a YA, or does it have the potential to be NA (New Adult)? If you are absolutely sure the story is YA with issues and voice appropriate to that genre then you need to keep the word count in the age bracket of your target audience. If you are not adamant about being YA and feel it might be better as a NA then that makes it a whole different ball game because by choosing NA you just crossed the line into the adult realm of reading.  NA bottoms at approximately 65,000 and tops at about 95,000, however your sub-genre will weigh in as well where word count is concerned. My book was most definitely YA with my protagonist being only 16. We’ll just say cutting 50,000 words was no easy feat, but I did it and in the process grew immensely as a writer. I received an offer for publication  from a small press after I edited my manuscript down. So in the end my rule of thumb is set your range for your intended readership age if your book is classified as children’s literature (Picture Books – PB, Middle Grade – MG, and YA).

So why are agents and editors so touchy on word counts anyway! Well believe it or not they are just as bound by them as the writers are. The publishing companies pretty much set the standard for word count. They know what will sell and what won’t, so there is a science to the madness. I know what you are thinking, what about people who have exceeded the ramifications for word count and were successful. I’m looking at you Harry Potter! Truth be told, J.K. Rowling’s first novel…her debut novel, did in fact adhere to the set forth guidelines at only seventy some odd thousand words if memory serves and I can assure you it does. Yes she had some seriously high word counts after that but when you establish a readership empire like hers, well you can pretty much do whatever you want!

There are exceptions to the rule but remember the rule will almost always out weigh the exception. Rejection is a hard pill to swallow but as we walk this journey we learn a little more with every decline, especially the detailed ones, which are few and far in between. Agents are busy and if you get a form letter or even no response at all don’t take it personal. As writers we are looking for our perfect agent and likewise agents are looking for their perfect clients. Unfortunately for both sides, “Perfection is in the eye of the beholder.

The website below has been invaluable in my journey towards publication and I highly recommend it. Here’s the link!

http://www.litrejections.com/word-count/