I've seen people ask about word counts here once in a while, so I thought I'd link to this article where the stats are laid out, kind of.
Here's the semi-interesting bit:
"Animal Farm"
29,966 words (75% of books have more words)
"Ethan Frome"
30,191 words (75% of books have more words)
"The Crying of Lot 49"
46,573 words (64% of books have more words)
"Slaughterhouse-Five"
47,192 words (64% of books have more words)
"We Have Always Lived in the Castle"
53,510 words (58% of books have more words)
"Lord of the Flies"
62,481 words (51% of books have more words)
"Brave New World"
64,531 words (50% of books have more words)
"The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
70,570 words (45% of books have more words)
"Portnoy’s Complaint"
78,535 words (41% of books have more words)
"Lolita"
112,473 words (21% of books have more words)
"Madame Bovary"
117,963 words (18% of books have more words)
"Mansfield Park"
159, 344 words (9% of books have more words)
"Moby-Dick"
209,117 words (4% of books have more words)
"East of Eden"
226,741 words (3% of books have more words)
"Ulysses"
262,869 words (2% of books have more words)
"Middlemarch"
310,593 words (2% of books have more words)
"War and Peace"
544,406 words (0% of books have more words)
People get really fixated on word count. I kow a writer who constantly tells me that she wants the finished product of her book to be 90k. Which is fine, but in the process of writing a book, it seems like the least important goal to shoot for.
Editors and publishers get pretty picky about word count. It's something practical to keep at the back of your mind, especially when submitting your first novel.
I've heard that, but always wondered...what do you do when your novel is finished and it's only, I don't know, 65k and the world wants it to be 80k? That bothers me.
I agree Avery and that's a good post Phil. A story's as long as it needs to be - from a three line joke in a pub to a three hundred thousand word monster that someone spends his entire life writing.
I keep hearing things like "The novella is dead" or "It's really hard trying to shop around a short story collection." It's bullshit. If a story's good enough it will make its mark no matter how long it is.
I think that's more in terms of marketing that short story collections don't sell well. Novellas, maybe it's just me but it seems like I keep seeing more and more of them in the past couple years. I've always preferred books that were under 50k, those are the fun books I like to read.
Avery:
Let me put it this way. In terms of the integrity of the piece — word count should, theoretically, be irrelevant. While I like reading long novels of the 1000 page variety, what I write usually ends up being no more than 50,000 words. Which amounts to a book of about 160 pages or thereabouts. What do I do? I can either fluff it up and add all the padding the editor asks for in a simple "WE ONLY LOOK AT MANUSCRIPTS BETWEEN 60K AND 80K WORDS LONG" or I can look for another editor.
Practically speaking, I've found some editors to be far more anal and picky than others. When I finished Praise of Motherhood (which is just under 45k) I showed it to the editor of a journal that I work for as deputy editor, and his advice was not to stretch it to any greater length just to please a publisher. If I could make it longer for its own sake, great. If not, look for a publisher who was into short books.
It was good advice, and I've heard this guy give the same advice to other people since. What strikes me now is that he's putting his very successful career as a poet (where very different rules seem to apply, length-wise) on hold to write a novel — which, he says, will be in the "90k to 95k word" range. How the hell can he know? I have no clue. But he's getting there, and he hasn't changed his mind. 90k is what he's aiming for.
And because he's been very widely published, he'll get a deal for it, no problem. He could make it half that length, or twice that length. It wouldn't be an issue. It's getting through the door that matters for most of us — getting that first novel published is really tricky, because not only do you have to please a publisher enough for them to take the book on, but you also have a lot less control on how you are allowed to please people. And word count is one of those things that matters less the more you've accomplished.
I think 50K is acceptable. Thats usually the minimal for publishers I've found when stalking publishing houses. What I like about the Bizarro genre is their chance to publish novellas. However, when places lie, you order a book under the guise of a novel and it's 90 pages, it's like cheers. I don't think I'd ever write that long a book.
Phil - Thanks for that. It makes sense. "How the hell can he know?" That is what has always bothered me. I like to hear myself talk, but there comes a point where even I realize there isn't any point to it.
Shit, I've never hit that point. Where is it, Avery?
For me? It was probably 1000 posts ago...
Is over 100K too long?
