Saturday, April 19, 2014

How Many....


Words in a young adult novel?

Depends. Anywhere from 50,000 to over 100,000.

How many pages in a middle grade book?

Depends. Anywhere from 60 to 200.

The right 'quantity' of words, pages, or chapters for a book vary. Some people write shorter novels, some longer. Some have their agents/editors cut/expand them.

I've been on both sides: too long, too short. I'm just as confused about how long my story should be so I simply write it. I don't worry that it's too short, because someone will say "I need more backstory about how these characters met..." or whatever. Or that someone in power will say "It's too long, cut out chapters 6-8..." or whatever.

In publishing, it's always hard to quantify the right quantity.

Char