Submitting to Publishers: Word Count

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When submitting manuscripts to publishers, authors often overlook word count requirements. When you are writing your book, word count might not even be on your mind. But publishers do care about word count. The genre of your book also impacts what length a publisher might expect. The industry standard for a novel is a minimum of 50,000 words; but for genres like fantasy, the word count is often over 100,000. Look up average word counts for your genre and see how your book compares.

When getting ready to submit your manuscript to publishers it is a good idea to check their guidelines. In addition to formatting, content, and whether to include your full manuscript, a publisher might stipulate their expectations for word count. For example, Baen's preferred length is 100,000 to 130,000 words for science fiction and fantasy novels.

Publishers care about word count for several reasons. The most important is that readers in specific genres have different expectations. Fantasy readers generally want a longer book, which means publishers look for longer books. A publisher is going to pick the books they think they can sell, which means they pay attention to their customers.

There is also the price of producing the book. Longer books cost more to edit, print, ship, and store. So if a publisher feels a book is too long, then they are even less likely to accept it because of these extra costs.

So what should you do? First, look at books within your genre to get a better understanding of reader's expectations. If your book is too short you'll need to revise and add some more content. But make sure that content makes sense--readers won't like a book that is longer just for the sake of being longer. If your book is too long, cut some content. Or edit the language. If you tend to write longer sentences, you can tighten your language to reduce word count. 

Next, research publishers who accept submissions. Don't waste your time sending submissions to publishers who don't accept them. They won't open your submission, no matter how great your book is.

Submit to publishers who are looking for or publish in your genre. You'll have a better chance when publishers are interested in your genre. Pay attention to their submission guidelines and follow them. If you don't, you risk your book being passed over.