Story Length: Do NOT trust Wikipedia!

[Michael K. Eidson]

^That podcast also mentioned the breakdown of story lengths. If I recall correctly, they placed novels at 40K+, and novelettes at 7500 - 17K. The 17K break-point differs slightly from the 17.5K used for the Nebula awards, but it was mentioned that 17K is the limit for submissions to the Writers of the Future contest.

 

[Aurora]

^ Novels at 40k? That's 10k free, baby!

 

[Michael K. Eidson]

^ Yeah, and I thought 50K seemed short for a novel....

 

[Aurora]

^ Yeah, and I thought 50K seemed short for a novel....

Right, and especially one in the scifi/fantasy genre where the novels are longer due to worldbuilding. It's a shock to see that but I suppose it could make all our jobs a little easier.

 

[FifthView]

^ Yeah, and I thought 50K seemed short for a novel....

I think middle grade novels tend to fall around that length, with books for the slightly younger crowd lower than 50K and books for upper middle grade ranging as high as 60K or a tad more. I don't write them, so I'm only going with random info from various blog posts and articles.

 

[Heliotrope]

20,000-80,000 is normal for middle grades (which is the age bracket I write for).

Matilda by Rold Dahl is 40,000 words.

The Giver by Lois Lowry is 43,600 words.

Holes by Lois Sachar is 47,079 words.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle is 49,900 words.

The first few Harry Potters come it at aroun 70-80,000 and the Percy Jackson books are around 80-90.

 

[Heliotrope]

If you write for lower middle grades you can get away with less.

The Tale of Despereaux is around 30,000 and James and the Giant Peach is 23,000. Both fantasy. Both with lots of world building.