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Content corner: How long is ‘too long’ in fantasy wordcounts?
Usually in adult fiction, novels fall between 75,000 – 100,000 words (with a few exceptions either side). But the fantasy genre can usually carry a larger wordcount. So how long is too long?
I was chatting to a writer this week who has just completed a fantasy novel at 220,000 words. As someone who struggles to write anything over 60,000, I take my hat off. Unfortunately though, there are only so many pages a printed book can bind. The more paper your printed book has, the more cost that carries, and the higher the RRP. Even in the case of digital-only publishing, it’s often difficult to sustain tension over that many words.
My advice to this writer was to cut their book into two books of 120,000. Not only does this make it easier for your publisher and your reader, but it also gives you the beginning of a series. And generally, series sells in fantasy.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. A Game of Thrones is 298,000 words. If George can do it, why can’t you? And yes – there will always be exceptions to this rule. But if there’s anything you can do to make it easier for an agent, publisher or reader to say ‘yes’ to buying your book – then it’s usually a good idea to do it.
How long is your fantasy novel? Share your numbers below!
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6 Replies
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Which one? The series I’m currently working on is four books, each weighing in at 150k… though the rewrite that’s demanded by feedback could push the first up to 180k, and the others might follow suit. On the other hand, the YA portal fantasy I wrote a year ago weighs in at a mere 80k.
A short story I knocked out a few month back is 17k words – edits may get it down to the originally-intended 15k.
As to maintaining tension over such a length, that’s easy: multiple threads and planning. (A series may be multiple books, and have semi-natural pauses between them, but it is still a single story that needs to maintain its tension throughout. As, for that matter, can be said for a good show running over several seasons. Well-planned, with the right rhythm to the beats, there’s no reason a good yarn couldn’t run a few million words…)
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I have reached almost 100k so far. I awoke one day with the basis of a story in my head which seemed to persist. Writing this story was really only for fun, and the thing just seemed to write itself, especially to begin with. Unfortunately, during a conversation, where someone said I should write a book and my reply was that I had already done so, for some reason it became harder to write and the people who found out what to read the thing. I’m still on the first draft, although I have corrected, deleted and re-arranged most of it already. My ambition is to complete the first book by the end of this year, but we shall see. As I said, it writes itself (for the most part), so even I am in the dark as to what will really happen next.
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Hi. My first novel had a 75, 000 word count before the chop. My copy editor brought it down to 68,000 which by all accounts is OK for a Y/A fantasy book 1. I’m self published and on Amazon, like so many others. I too would struggle to keep tension and interest going for 100,000 plus words. I also think my computer might have a digital seizure if I even hinted at a single document that long.
Thanks for the email and it has been great reading through the responses.
Steven Barr.
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I say this not in anger: stop with the unexplained acronyms. What’s an “RRP”?
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RRP: Recommended retail price
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Mine is, after lots of editing, about 99k. I think the issue with high fantasy is that when you’re creating a completely new world, a lot of the word count goes into worldbuilding, which can make books very fat indeed.
