How Many Words in a Novel? Word Counts by Genre, From the Guides

Ask how many words are in a novel and you'll get a different number depending on who's counting: an awards body, an agent, or a writing platform. The useful answer is a set of ranges by genre, and the sources behind them. Every range below comes from a named source, listed at the end. Where the sources disagree, both figures are shown.

The minimum: what counts as a novel

The clearest line comes from the Hugo Awards, which define their fiction categories by length:

• Novel: 40,000 words or more
• Novella: 17,500 to 40,000 words
• Novelette: 7,500 to 17,500 words
• Short story: under 7,500 words

Reedsy's guide uses the same thresholds and notes that the Nebula Awards also use 40,000 words for a novel. By Reedsy's counts, some famous "novels" fall short of that line: Animal Farm is listed at 29,966 words and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at 38,421.

So 40,000 words makes a book a novel by definition. Whether it's long enough to sell in a given genre is a different question.

Word counts by genre

The two publishing guides checked here largely agree. Writer's Digest's 2016 guide is written for debut authors pitching literary agents. Reedsy's guide was updated for 2026.

For children's books, Reedsy gives picture books at typically 400 to 800 words, board books at around 300 and early readers closer to 2,000.

The ranges are soft. Reedsy's own examples include The Hunger Games (young adult) at 99,750 words and Gone Girl (thriller) at 145,719, both well above their genre bands, and the debut novel Outlander at around 305,000.

Where they disagree

• The top end for adult fiction. Writer's Digest calls 110,000 words or more "too long" for a writer querying agents, and notes that passing 100,000 words makes a book more expensive to produce. Reedsy says a novel's maximum can reach around 140,000 depending on genre.
• The bottom end. Writer's Digest calls anything below 70,000 too short for adult fiction. Reedsy's general range starts at 70,000, but it also notes that literary fiction can go as low as 60,000.
• The sweet spot. Writer's Digest's "100% safe" band (80,000 to 89,999) is narrower than Reedsy's 70,000 to 100,000.

The gap mostly reflects audience. Writer's Digest is advising first-time authors trying to get past an agent; Reedsy describes the wider market, where established authors routinely run longer.

Why there's no honest single average

"Average book length" is one of the most searched questions about books, and there's no trustworthy single answer. Word counts vary by genre, by era and by how established the author is. Reedsy points out that the longest best-sellers come from authors with large existing audiences. It lists A Storm of Swords at 424,000 words, for example, far outside any debut range.

So treat any one "average novel length" figure with suspicion unless it says what it counted. The genre ranges above are more useful than any single number.

If you're writing rather than reading, the Writer's Digest guide makes a sharper point: you can't count on being the exception, so plan to be the rule. It also warns that a very high word count usually signals a draft that still needs cutting, not a story that needs the space.

What those word counts mean in pages

Using the common assumption of 250 words per double-spaced manuscript page (the arithmetic is in how many words per page):

Printed page counts vary more, because trim size, font and dialogue change the words per page. A dense hardback can fit an 80,000-word novel into far fewer pages than a mass-market paperback set in larger type, which is why page count is a poor way to compare book lengths. Word count is the honest measure.

How long a novel takes to read

A 2019 meta-analysis by Marc Brysbaert put the average adult's silent reading speed at about 260 words per minute for fiction (more on the average reading speed page). At that speed:

• 40,000 words: about 2 h 34 min
• 80,000 words: about 5 h 08 min
• 90,000 words: about 5 h 46 min
• 100,000 words: about 6 h 25 min
• 115,000 words: about 7 h 22 min

Your speed will differ. Take the reading speed test, then use the How Long to Read calculator for any book.

How many words in a chapter?

Neither guide sets a standard chapter length, and chapter lengths vary widely between authors and genres. If you're planning a book, divide your target word count by the number of chapters you have in mind, and let the story move it from there.

Sources

• Word Count for Novels and Children's Books: The Definitive Post, Writer's Digest, 2016
• How Many Words in a Novel?, Reedsy, updated for 2026
• Hugo Award Categories, The Hugo Awards

FAQ

How many words is a novel?

At least 40,000 words by the Hugo Awards definition. Most adult novels sold to publishers fall between about 70,000 and 110,000 words, depending on genre.

Is 50,000 words a novel?

Yes: it's above the 40,000-word threshold. For adult fiction it's short by the publishing guides' standards (Writer's Digest calls under 70,000 too short). It sits within the middle grade range (20,000 to 55,000) and just under the young adult range, which both guides start at 55,000.

How many pages is 80,000 words?

About 320 double-spaced manuscript pages at 250 words a page. A printed book of 80,000 words can come out shorter or longer depending on its format.

How long is a novella?

Between 17,500 and 40,000 words by the Hugo Awards definition. Between 7,500 and 17,500 is a novelette.

How many words is a short story?

Under 7,500 words by the Hugo Awards definition, which Reedsy's guide uses too.

What is the average length of a novel?

There's no reliable single average. The guides above put most adult fiction between roughly 70,000 and 110,000 words, with fantasy and science fiction longer and children's fiction shorter.

How many will you get through?

Word counts turn into a sharper question once you add your pace: how many novels you'll actually read. The Lifetime Reading Calculator works it out for your age and reading habit.

To turn a word count into reading time, start from the average reading speed.