Major Issue regarding Word Count

[Kenny]

As a debut author, approaching an agent with a 100k+ manuscript, in a genre where the minimum is 80k, is quite risky. 100k words as a debut author makes agents worry that you didn't edit your novel enough, or that you're straight up ignoring the rules and thinking you're an exception. I would say anything under 95k would be okay, as long as you have a really intriguing concept and your first pages are well-written enough to capture interest. I'm currently querying my YA Contemporary, the expected wordcount is 80k, but mine is at 91k. So far, none of the rejections I received addressed the word count, just that the story wasn't right for them in some shape or form. I also had to do a LOT of trimming with my story. It was so close to 100k, and 80k seemed so little for me, so I aimed for something in between, or at the very least, the furthest I can get from 100k.

I would also like to add that these things would vary from one agent to an other. Some might be really strict about word count, others might disregard that if your story's concept is captivating enough. A good query letter should also help pull the agent in, despite what the word count is. You should also listen to what your betas said. If they felt the pacing lag in certain sections, or if it's too slow in some areas, those are the places you want to revise most. If pacing works and there is a sense of progress with every page you read, then that's what matters most, I'd say even more than the wordcount. That said, I would definitely encourage you to aim for something lower than 100k.

Keep in mind, once you get an agent who wants to represent you, you'll be able to make edits and add a few things back if necessary. Kill your darlings now if you have to, so you might get the chance to resurrect them later.

That's just been my personal experience, others may have something else to say.

[J.R.]

Assuming this isn't an agent's website you're looking at, the word counts you see posted on the web on forums and websites are just guidelines. They may even be guesses. They aren't set in stone numbers where if you exceed them by a little bit, your book is doomed. Lit Fic is a diverse genre and books tend to run anywhere from 60K to 110K words (with a few much larger), with many coming in right around the 95-100K mark, or just below or above. Two good recent examples, the Life of Pi and Water for Elephants, come in right at the 98K-100K mark. The Kite Runner comes in at just under 110K, with 107K words.

Being guidelines, I sincerely doubt that if an agent sees "102K" they will reject the book outright for that reason, but I do agree with Kenny that being well over (or well under) the accepted word count for your genre will kill your chances. What matters more is that you have a well-crafted query, especially in lit fic. Lit fic is a very hard sell, both to the public and agents. You really, really, really need to stand out to have a chance in lit fic.

[Kenny]

I don't know if it's normal for agents to list their word count limit. That seems like such a tedious task, because they'll have to list the word count limit for each genre they represent, and perhaps even the subgenres. It just seems like a lot of unnecessary work for the agent to do. From what I saw, agents will simply list the genres they represent. Others will also include a list of the genres they don't represent (if you're an author who writes in different genres, then ideally you'll want to find an agent who represents all the genres you write for, OR whichever agent that picks up your current project, might make an exception for your other projects if they don't normally represent those genres). Some agents have a manuscript wish-list, in which they will list all the concepts/ideas they wanna see in a novel, in case your book might coincidentally match with that. They can also list the ideas they don't wanna see, either tropes/cliches and stuff they're tired of seeing, or just things they don't want to represent in general, so you know not to approach them if your work contains those elements.

Additionally, when you query an agent, they will assume that you as the author have done your work. Part of that work, aside from writing your book, is researching your genre thoroughly, and this includes being aware of the word count limits of your genre, and specifically your subgenre. This is part of your job as an author to do, not the agent's.

And again, I would assume that the word count limit would differ from one agent to another, but the best thing you can do is follow the rules the best you can, to increase your chances of getting published.