# How Many Words Are in a Novel? 43 Classics Counted - Feldar > How many words are in a novel: word counts by genre for a debut in 2026, plus our own count of 43 classic novels, with the data and a length reference card. - URL: https://feldar.com/guides/how-many-words-in-a-novel - Site: [Home](https://feldar.com/) · [About](https://feldar.com/about) · [Blog](https://feldar.com/blog) · [Careers](https://feldar.com/careers) · [Pricing](https://feldar.com/pricing) · [Download](https://feldar.com/download) · [Changelog](https://feldar.com/changelog) - Machine index: [llms.txt](https://feldar.com/llms.txt) · [full site content](https://feldar.com/llms-full.txt) --- On this page - The short answer - Novel, novella, short story - Word count by genre - 43 classic novels, counted - The full data - What the classics show - How we counted - How long is my book? - Planning to a length - Sources - Questions Updated November 6, 2026 · By the Feldar team ### How many words are in a novel? 9 min read What agents ask for by genre in 2026, and the real lengths of 43 classic novels we counted ourselves. #### The short answer For a debut80,000 to 100,000 words for most adult novels. Fantasy and science fiction run 90,000 to 120,000, young adult 60,000 to 80,000, middle grade 40,000 to 60,000. The minimum40,000 words. Below that, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) calls it a novella. The classicsThe 43 public domain novels we counted run from 25,642 words (Jekyll and Hyde) to 356,117 (David Copperfield). Half are shorter than 80,938. #### Novel, novella or short story? There is no law, but the bands most people cite are the ones SFWA uses for the Nebula Awards: Short storyUnder 7,500 words Novelette7,500 to 17,499 words Novella17,500 to 39,999 words Novel40,000 words or more #### Word count by genre, for a debut Agents and editors publish ranges, not rules, and the two most cited sources differ a little. Where they overlap is the safe zone. A finished book from an established author can run longer. Genre The Manuscript Academy, 2026 Writer's Digest Literary fiction80,000 to 95,00080,000 to 89,999 Commercial fiction80,000 to 100,00080,000 to 89,999 Mystery and thriller80,000 to 90,00080,000 to 89,999 Contemporary romance70,000 to 90,00080,000 to 89,999 Historical romance80,000 to 100,000No figure Fantasy90,000 to 120,000100,000 to 115,000 Science fiction90,000 to 110,000100,000 to 115,000 Romantasy90,000 to 110,000No figure HorrorNo figure80,000 to 89,999 Young adult60,000 to 80,00055,000 to 79,999 Middle grade40,000 to 60,00020,000 to 55,000 WesternNo figure50,000 to 80,000 Memoir70,000 to 90,00080,000 to 89,999 Writer's Digest calls 71,000 to 109,000 the workable range for adult fiction, and 90,000 to 124,000 probably fine for fantasy and science fiction. Harlequin's series romance lines run 50,000 to 75,000 words, each line with its own length. #### 43 classic novels, counted Lists of famous word counts are copied from site to site, rarely with a method. So we downloaded 43 public domain novels from Project Gutenberg and counted the story itself, with the same rules as our [word counter](https://feldar.com/tools/word-counter). The shaded band is what agents ask of a debut today. Under 40,000: a novella today Novel 80,000 to 100,000: a debut today - Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde25,642 - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland26,545 - A Christmas Carol28,510 - The Call of the Wild31,806 - The Time Machine32,535 - Heart of Darkness38,505 - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz39,302 - The Thirty-Nine Steps40,888 - The Turn of the Screw42,798 - A Study in Scarlet43,406 - The Great Gatsby48,407 - The Invisible Man48,716 - The Hound of the Baskervilles59,249 - The War of the Worlds60,123 - A Princess of Mars65,970 - Treasure Island68,268 - The Scarlet Letter68,692 - Phantastes68,697 - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer70,596 - Frankenstein75,076 - The Picture of Dorian Gray78,746 - The Secret Garden80,938 - Persuasion83,345 - The Age of Innocence101,882 - Anne of Green Gables102,863 - Riders of the Purple Sage105,007 - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn110,832 - Wuthering Heights116,513 - Pride and Prejudice121,970 - The Virginian128,884 - A Tale of Two Cities136,286 - Emma160,417 - Dracula161,107 - North and South182,295 - Great Expectations185,351 - Little Women186,031 - Jane Eyre186,225 - The Moonstone196,466 - Moby-Dick210,010 - The Woman in White246,866 - Vanity Fair303,373 - Middlemarch318,274 - David Copperfield356,117 0100k200k300k Words in 43 public domain novels, shortest first. Counted November 6, 2026 from Project Gutenberg texts. #### The full data Years are first publication in book form, or the year the serial finished. Genres are the shelf a bookshop would put them on today. Title Author Year Genre Words Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeRobert Louis Stevenson1886Horror25,642 Alice's Adventures in WonderlandLewis Carroll1865Children's fantasy26,545 A Christmas CarolCharles Dickens1843Ghost story28,510 The Call of the WildJack London1903Adventure31,806 The Time MachineH. G. Wells1895Science fiction32,535 Heart of DarknessJoseph Conrad1899Literary38,505 The Wonderful Wizard of OzL. Frank Baum1900Children's fantasy39,302 The Thirty-Nine StepsJohn Buchan1915Thriller40,888 The Turn of the ScrewHenry James1898Horror42,798 A Study in ScarletArthur Conan Doyle1887Mystery43,406 The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald1925Literary48,407 The Invisible ManH. G. Wells1897Science fiction48,716 The Hound of the BaskervillesArthur Conan Doyle1902Mystery59,249 The War of the WorldsH. G. Wells1898Science fiction60,123 A Princess of MarsEdgar Rice Burroughs1912Science fantasy65,970 Treasure IslandRobert Louis Stevenson1883Adventure68,268 The Scarlet LetterNathaniel Hawthorne1850Literary68,692 PhantastesGeorge MacDonald1858Fantasy68,697 The Adventures of Tom SawyerMark Twain1876Adventure70,596 FrankensteinMary Shelley1818Gothic, science fiction75,076 The Picture of Dorian GrayOscar Wilde1891Gothic78,746 The Secret GardenFrances Hodgson Burnett1911Children's80,938 PersuasionJane Austen1817Romance83,345 The Age of InnocenceEdith Wharton1920Literary101,882 Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery1908Coming of age102,863 Riders of the Purple SageZane Grey1912Western105,007 Adventures of Huckleberry FinnMark Twain1884Adventure110,832 Wuthering HeightsEmily Brontë1847Gothic romance116,513 Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen1813Romance121,970 The VirginianOwen Wister1902Western128,884 A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens1859Historical136,286 EmmaJane Austen1815Romance160,417 DraculaBram Stoker1897Horror161,107 North and SouthElizabeth Gaskell1855Romance182,295 Great ExpectationsCharles Dickens1861Literary185,351 Little WomenLouisa May Alcott1869Coming of age186,031 Jane EyreCharlotte Brontë1847Gothic romance186,225 The MoonstoneWilkie Collins1868Mystery196,466 Moby-DickHerman Melville1851Adventure210,010 The Woman in WhiteWilkie Collins1860Mystery246,866 Vanity FairWilliam Makepeace Thackeray1848Satire303,373 MiddlemarchGeorge Eliot1872Literary318,274 David CopperfieldCharles Dickens1850Literary356,117 Download the counts with links to each Gutenberg edition as a [CSV file](https://feldar.com/assets/data/novel-word-counts.csv), and check any of them yourself in the word counter. #### What the classics show - Only two of the 43, The Secret Garden (80,938) and Persuasion (83,345), land inside today's 80,000 to 100,000 debut window. - Seven are under 40,000 words, so by SFWA's bands they are novellas: Jekyll and Hyde, Alice, A Christmas Carol, The Call of the Wild, The Time Machine, Heart of Darkness and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. - Twelve are over 150,000. Most of the longest first came out in parts: in magazines, in monthly numbers, or in three volumes. - Old genre books ran short. Wells's science fiction is 32,535 to 60,123 words, and the two Sherlock Holmes novels 43,406 and 59,249, against 80,000 to 110,000 asked for today. - The Great Gatsby is 48,407 words. A great novel can be short; a debut that short would be a harder sell now. The lesson isn't to write like 1850 or to hit a number exactly. It is that length follows the story and the market of its day. Today's market sets the range; the story decides where in it you land. #### How we counted - We downloaded the plain text of each book from Project Gutenberg on November 6, 2026. - We kept only the text between Gutenberg's start and end lines, so the licence and catalogue notes are gone. - We counted from the first line of the story to its last. Title pages, contents, dedications and prefaces are out, including the author's own. An opening letter, prologue or prelude that is part of the story stays in, as do epilogues. - We removed illustration captions, transcriber's notes, and anything after a closing "THE END", such as publishers' notes. - We counted words with our word counter's rules: a word is a run of letters or digits; don't, mother-in-law and 1,000 count once; dashes and slashes separate words. Some editions differ. Gutenberg's Frankenstein is the revised 1831 text, Little Women includes both parts, The Scarlet Letter starts at chapter I without the introductory sketch "The Custom-House", and Moby-Dick starts at chapter 1 without the Etymology and Extracts. Another counter or edition may differ from ours by a fraction of a percent. #### How long is my book? A reference card The story categories, the genre ranges and the sums for pages, reading time and audiobook length on one card, with space for your own numbers. Copy it, or download it as a Markdown file. MY BOOK Genre: Target range for the genre: Words so far: Words a day: WORDS TO PAGES AND HOURS Manuscript pages: words / 250 Paperback pages: words / 350 to words / 250 Reading time: words / 260 minutes Copy template [Download .md](https://feldar.com/assets/templates/novel-length-reference.md) Words Manuscript pages Paperback pages Reading time Audiobook 50,000200143 to 2003 hr 12 min5 hr 23 min 80,000320229 to 3205 hr 8 min8 hr 36 min 100,000400286 to 4006 hr 25 min10 hr 45 min 120,000480343 to 4807 hr 42 min12 hr 54 min #### Planning a book to a length A target is easier to hit in pieces. Divide it by the chapters you expect, then by the scenes in a chapter. An 85,000 word novel in 28 chapters is about 3,000 words a chapter; at three scenes a chapter, about 1,000 words a scene. Paste a draft into our [word counter](https://feldar.com/tools/word-counter) to see where it stands against your genre, and use the [character counter](https://feldar.com/tools/character-counter) when a query form, pitch or synopsis box has a character limit. In [Feldar](https://feldar.com/features/scenes), you plan each chapter as an Outline of scenes and set Target words in the Generation settings. For the whole path from idea to draft, read [how to write a book](https://feldar.com/guides/how-to-write-a-book). #### Sources All checked November 6, 2026. Categories[SFWA Nebula Awards rules](https://nebulas.sfwa.org/about-the-nebulas/nebula-rules/), effective for the 2026 award year By genre[The Manuscript Academy, with literary agent Noelle Falcis Math](https://manuscriptacademy.com/word-count-by-genre-literary-agents-2026); [Writer's Digest, Chuck Sambuchino](https://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/word-count-for-novels-and-childrens-books-the-definitive-post) Series romance[Write for Harlequin](https://www.writeforharlequin.com/what-is-harlequin-series/) Texts[Project Gutenberg](https://www.gutenberg.org/) plain text editions; eBook numbers are in [our CSV](https://feldar.com/assets/data/novel-word-counts.csv) Pages and timeOur assumptions: 250 words a manuscript page, 250 to 350 a paperback page, reading at 260 words a minute, narration at 155 #### Questions How many words are in an average novel? For a debut adult novel today, agents expect about 80,000 to 100,000 words. Across the 43 classics we counted, the median is 80,938 words and the average 112,640, pulled up by a few very long Victorian books. Is 50,000 words a novel? By SFWA's definition, yes: a novel is 40,000 words or more. For most adult genres in traditional publishing it is short; for middle grade it is in range. How many words is a 300 page book? About 75,000 to 105,000 words for a paperback, at 250 to 350 words a page. As a manuscript at 250 words a page, 75,000. Can a first novel be over 100,000 words? In fantasy and science fiction, often. In most other genres, a debut over 100,000 words is harder to sell, and both of our sources advise cutting before you query. How many words should a chapter be? There is no standard. Many novels use chapters of 2,000 to 5,000 words. Divide your target by the chapters you plan and keep the rhythm that suits the story. Why do your counts differ from other lists? Most lists don't say what they counted. We count only the story, from first line to last, with front matter removed. Including prefaces or using another edition changes the total. #### Keep reading [Free tool Word counter for writers Counts, pages and how your length compares by genre.](https://feldar.com/tools/word-counter) [Guide How to write a book From idea to finished draft, with a one-page plan.](https://feldar.com/guides/how-to-write-a-book) [Guide How to outline a novel A worked example, scene by scene, and a free template.](https://feldar.com/guides/how-to-outline-a-novel)