Hi.
Can anyone tell me the average word count required for a YA Fantasy Fiction?
I have read conflicting data regards to this, and I would like to know, so I can see if I need to chop or add before I start re-writing.
Any ideas?
Hi.
Can anyone tell me the average word count required for a YA Fantasy Fiction?
I have read conflicting data regards to this, and I would like to know, so I can see if I need to chop or add before I start re-writing.
Any ideas?
Hi Sarah,
When I completed my second draft, I was concerned that my word count was too low. I went on Amazon and had a look at books in my genre and found many classics that contained less prose than mine. That made me feel better.
I suppose the answer is that your book will be the length that it is, once you have redrafted it a few times. Length of a novel is obviously one of the considered factors in an acquisition meeting, but so is the quality of the storytelling. The word count guidelines are to ensure that your prose is succinct, as well as being geared towards a particular age group.
If you can honestly say that you have cut your novel so that every word is important and demands to be there, then stand by it and submit it as it is. Just be prepared to fight for your book.
Don't worry about cutting a prescribed number of words. Start by looking at a couple of chapters and you'll soon get a feel for what can be cut or altered. You'll feel great afterwards, seeing all those words on the cutting room floor and having a leaner, meaner more focussed book in front of you; I know that i did.
Oh, and don't worry about word count until you've finished your first draft. Let it all out and when you read it as a whole you'll have a better idea of what can be cut/edited/made supremely better.
Good luck with finishing your book!
Thanks Moussa,
at the moment I have 86,500 words, with another 35,000 roughly still to be typed up. Looks as though I might have over-stepped the mark for my first attempt, oh dear.
But I don't think I can cut that many words, I'm in a bit of a dilemma now.
Thanks for your help however.
Sarah.
Word Count for first time novelist:
Adult fiction: 80,000-100,000 words.
Young Adult fiction: 40,000-60,000 words
Source: http://www.agentquery.com/format_tips.aspx
But that's one point of view.
Some publishers in Canada won't look at anything less than 60,000 words, that is, if you even get to that point.