Querying: Word Count

Knowing the "proper" word count for your story is important. This can often make or break your query. If your word count is way too short for the intended audience, then it's probably not going to sell. (Agents can only do so much with a short story or a novella.) If your word count is way too long for your genre, then no one will want to read it (including potential agents).

• Learn the expected word count. Research articles about the average word count for manuscripts (this article from Writer's Digest is a great starting point). Read books within your genre (which hopefully you're doing anyway) and note how long they are. Does your manuscript fit within these numbers?

• Have a set word count in mind. If you pick a number somewhere in the middle of what your research has shown and use it as a goal, your story will be prepared for edits (adding and deleting scenes as necessary). You'll also be able to ease your mind when querying because you'll know that your manuscript's word count fits reasonably within expectations.

• Include the word count in your query. The word count of your manuscript is a crucial element of your query. Don't include the number of pages. I see this too often and it means absolutely nothing. Page numbers change with the click of a mouse (font size, font style, paragraph spacing, etc.). Word count is static.

All of this being said, the guidelines for an expected word count are flexible. Manuscripts change a lot as they go through the editing process. It's okay if your book doesn't fit exactly into the guidelines, but the number of words in your manuscript should make sense for the story, the genre, and the intended audience. (A word count of over 300,000 doesn't usually make much sense. Just so we're clear.)