Average Word-count Ranges by Genre

by August Isley

Here are the average word-count ranges by genre in today’s publishing market, as derived from analysis done by Writer’s Digest and other publications:

General Fiction

• Flash Fiction: 300–1500 words
• Short Story: 1500–30,000 words
• Novellas: 30,000–50,000 words
• Novels: 50,000–110,000 words

Fiction Genres

• Mainstream Romance: 70,000–100,000 words
• Subgenre Romance: 40,000–100,000 words
• Science Fiction / Fantasy: 90,000–120,000 (and sometimes 150,000) words
• Historical Fiction: 80,000–100,000
• Thrillers / Horror / Mysteries / Crime: 70,000–90,000 words
• Young Adult: 50,000–80,000

Children’s Books

• Picture Books: 300–800 words
• Early Readers: 200–3500 words
• Chapter Books: 4000–10,000 words
• Middle Grade: 25,000–40,000 words

Nonfiction

• Standard Nonfiction: 70,000–80,000 words
• Memoir: 80,000–100,000 words
• Biography: 80,000–200,000 words
• How-to / Self-Help: 40,000–50,000 words