# How Many Words in a Novel?

> Most adult novels run 70,000 to 100,000 words. Novellas and young-adult books are shorter, while epic fantasy and historical fiction can pass 120,000. Publishers and agents use word count as a practical gauge of fit and cost.

- URL: https://wordcounter.pk/guides/how-many-words-in-a-novel/
- Type: Guide
- Updated: 2026-10-15

**Short answer:** A typical novel is 70,000 to 100,000 words; many publishers prefer debut novels at 80,000 to 90,000. A novella is about 17,500 to 40,000 words.

## Fiction length categories

| Form | Words |
| --- | --- |
| Flash fiction | Under 1,000 |
| Short story | 1,000–7,500 |
| Novelette | 7,500–17,500 |
| Novella | 17,500–40,000 |
| Novel | 40,000 and above |

The novelette and novella ranges follow the long-standing conventions used by speculative-fiction awards; other bodies draw the lines slightly differently.

## Typical novel length by genre

| Genre | Typical words |
| --- | --- |
| Literary and general fiction | 70,000–100,000 |
| Thriller and crime | 70,000–95,000 |
| Romance | 50,000–90,000 |
| Young adult | 50,000–80,000 |
| Middle grade | 25,000–55,000 |
| Science fiction and fantasy | 90,000–120,000 |
| Epic fantasy | 100,000–150,000 |
| Memoir and non-fiction | 60,000–90,000 |

Editors often accept a range around these figures but reject manuscripts far outside them because of printing costs and market expectations. A first novel above 120,000 words is a harder sell.

## What that means in pages and hours

At 250 to 350 words per printed page, an 80,000-word novel runs about 230 to 320 pages; see [How Many Words per Page?](https://wordcounter.pk/guides/how-many-words-per-page/). As an audiobook at 155 words per minute it lasts about 8 hours 36 minutes; use [Words to Audiobook Hours Converter](https://wordcounter.pk/words-to-audiobook-hours/) to calculate. A reader at 238 words per minute finishes it in around 5 hours 36 minutes of reading.

## Tracking a draft

Many novelists set a daily word target, such as 500 or 1,000 words, and track the running total. Paste each chapter into the [Word Counter](https://wordcounter.pk/) and add them up, or keep one document and count a selection. At 1,000 words a day, an 80,000-word first draft takes 80 days. Typing speed is rarely the limit; see [Average Typing Speed](https://wordcounter.pk/guides/average-typing-speed/).

## Frequently asked questions

### How many words is a short novel?

About 40,000 to 60,000 words.

### How many words is a typical novel?

70,000 to 100,000.

### How many words is a novella?

17,500 to 40,000.

### How many pages is 80,000 words?

About 230 to 320 printed pages.

## Related

- [How Many Words per Page?](https://wordcounter.pk/guides/how-many-words-per-page/index.md): Words per page by font and spacing, plus conversion tables.
- [Average Reading Speed](https://wordcounter.pk/guides/average-reading-speed/index.md): Average silent, aloud and skimming reading speeds in words per minute.
- [Words to Audiobook Hours Converter](https://wordcounter.pk/words-to-audiobook-hours/index.md): Convert a manuscript word count to audiobook hours.
- [Words to Pages Converter](https://wordcounter.pk/words-to-pages/index.md): Convert a word count to pages at single, 1.5 or double spacing.
- [Word Counter](https://wordcounter.pk/index.md): The main free word counter for English, Urdu and Roman Urdu.
- [What Is a Word Counter?](https://wordcounter.pk/guides/what-is-a-word-counter/index.md): Definition, how a word counter works and the units it measures.
- [How Word Count Is Calculated](https://wordcounter.pk/guides/how-word-count-is-calculated/index.md): The step-by-step logic behind word counts, with edge-case examples.
- [What Counts as One Word](https://wordcounter.pk/guides/what-counts-as-one-word/index.md): Quick-reference rules for contractions, hyphens, numbers, URLs and symbols.

## Images

- ![How Many Words in a Novel?: Novel word counts by form and genre, with pages and audiobook hours. (WordCounter.pk cover graphic)](https://wordcounter.pk/img/how-many-words-in-a-novel/how-many-words-in-a-novel-cover-1200.webp)
- ![What this guide covers: Fiction length categories; Typical novel length by genre; What that means in pages and hours](https://wordcounter.pk/img/how-many-words-in-a-novel/how-many-words-in-a-novel-how-it-works-1200.webp)
- ![Fiction length categories: How Many Words in a Novel?: reference table with columns Form, Words](https://wordcounter.pk/img/how-many-words-in-a-novel/how-many-words-in-a-novel-reference-1200.webp)
- ![Map showing how How Many Words in a Novel? connects to Writing Guides, How Many Words per Page?, Average Reading Speed, Words to Audiobook Hours Converter and more on WordCounter.pk](https://wordcounter.pk/img/how-many-words-in-a-novel/how-many-words-in-a-novel-related-tools-map-1200.webp)
- ![Quick answer card: How many words is a short novel? About 40,000 to 60,000 words.](https://wordcounter.pk/img/how-many-words-in-a-novel/how-many-words-in-a-novel-quick-answer-1200.webp)