Book Length Categorization
and Genre Guidelines (i.e. 'guidelines,' not rules)

Image Created by: Keith D Commiskey | https://keithdc.com @2020

Where does your story fit? Novel, Novella, Novellette, Modern Short Story, Short Story, Short-Short Prose, Flash Fiction?

The book length classification and word count tool provides aggregated insights distinguishing the differences between a Short Story, Novella, Novel, etc. ...

Before diving into word counts, ...

Before diving into word counts, because writing categorizations can be subjective—made by humans, for humans—and are only meant as a guiding measure for keeping things organized, I highly recommend a quick read through the words of David Kadavy, paying close attention to:

A book does not have to be a certain length.
A book can be short and to the point.
Each book is a learning experience.

David's article is titled "24 things I learned self publishing 3 books in only 6 months" and is available on the Writing Cooperative | David Kadavy | Jun 5, 2018

Open Word Count Tool

After researching dozens of sources, a variety of resources were considered representative of word count data.

Differences Between a Short Story, Novella, Novel ...

Differences Between a Short Story, Novelette, Novella, & a Novel | Owlcation | Updated on June 3, 2016 (with commenter input from 2020)

^^^ Visit their page to vote and view the results of their reading poll.

Commenter Input: Larry Rankin [Oklahoma] - Suggested "Short-Short, Prose," and was a secondary source of the short story length.

Commenter Quote: Deltachord [United States] - "Good article. It is hard to say which type I like the most...a good story in any of the forms is fun to read."

Word Length:	Short	Average	Long
Flash Fiction:	53		1,000
	Exteme brevity; used to be referred to as "short short stories."
	Short, short stories, micro fiction, or postcard fiction.
Short-Short, Prose	300		1,800
Short Stories:		3,500	7,500
Modern Short Stories (Commenter Input):	1,800		7,500
	Most common; a single event, a single episode, or a tale of one particular character.
	Basically fictional prose, written in a narrative style (written in first person or third).
Novellettes:	7,500		17,000
	Also a narrative fictional prose; rarely used; rarely published singly.
Novellas:	17,000		40,000
	Can be an awkward length; Sometimes called a long short story or a short novel.
	Usually not divided into chapters.
	Like short stories, often meant to be read in one sitting.
Novels:	40,000	80,000	120,000 - 240,000+
	Often involves multiple major characters, sub-plots, conflicts, points of view, and twists.
	Due to its considerable length, a novel is meant to be read over a period of days.

Different genres have different requirements. However, a novel is usually no shorter than 40,000 words.
For modern publication, editors often consider a novel one which is spread over 80,000 – 120,000 words.
Romance novels, however, can be shorter than that.
On the other hand, a fantasy, horror, and science fiction usually see works of greater lengths.
The word count for fantasy novels often touch the 240,000 mark. Some famous books, like the Lord of the Rings series, are famous for containing so many words. The Harry Potter series has 1,084,170 words; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix itself has 257,045 words.

How Long Should Your Novel Be?

^^^ Visit their page to learn "How to Stick to Word Count Guidelines" and "What Should My Word Count Be?"

Genre Breakdowns for Novels:

Fiction	Commercial and literary novels are generally 80,000 to 110,000 words.
Fantasy	Science fiction and fantasy novels generally lie between 100,000 and 115,000.
Romance	Tend to be shorter, lying between 80,000 and 100,000 words.
Young adult	55,000 – 70,000
Mystery	75,000 – 100,000
Thriller	90,000 – 100,000
Memoir	80,000 – 90,000
Western	45,000 – 75,000

Word Count

^^^ Visit their page to learn why "a writer should never give a literary agent or publisher an easy option to reject them."

Commercial / Literary / Women's	80,000	110,000
	There are few exceptions of published debut novels not falling between these strict markers. A literary agent will always look more favourable on these genre submissions being around the 100k mark. See website for more details.
Crime Fiction	90,000	100,000
	The page-turning demands and competitive market enforce a word count which it is advisable to comply to.
Mysteries / Thrillers / Suspense	70,000	90,000
	The variation covers Cozy Mysteries which can clock in at just 70-75k, to noir and historical which are often published at 80-90k.
Romance	40,000	100,000
	Since it has many sub-genres this genre can vary greatly depending on the story. Mainstream romance novels are between 70K and 100K. Regency Romance, Inspirational Romance, Romantic Suspense and Paranormal Romance all have a minimum of 40k. See website for more details.
Fantasy	90,000	100,000
	One of the few genres with some leeway in first approach submissions. See website for more details.
Paranormal	75,000	95,000
	Although commonly entwined with other genres, standalone fiction in this genre is best when it is concise. See website for more details.
Horror	80,000	100,000
	A writer must be as ruthless with their words, as their antagonist is with the lives within the story. Never go beyond the 100k limit without first checking with a freelance editor for revisions. See website for more details.
Science-Fiction	90,000	125,000
	Encompassing many sub-genres results in a flexibility across the genre that is not often given to the others. Many publishers will accept works in the higher bracket and even beyond. Literary agents are open to submissions far below 90K, with caveats. See website for more details.
Historical	100,000	120,000
	A genre rich with historical events means writers are afforded the luxury of an extended word count. However, writers who edit down to a 100k submission increase their chances of being read beyond the partials.
Young Adult Fiction (YA)	50,000	80,000
	This particular genre has become one of the hardest for writers to grasp when deciding on their own word count. For mainstream YA it is always best to stick to under 80K. See website for more details.
New Adult Fiction	60,000	85,000
	Going above 85K still happens, but for those who do, they are giving a literary agent an easy reason to reject them.
Middle Grade	25,000	40,000
	Such a tight restraint can be beneficial to a writer because it allows them to demonstrate their ability to edit accordingly. For debut books in this field the average word count tends to be 35K and it has therefore become the marker many industry professionals look for in queries from new writers.
Picture Books	500	700
	When this is applied it equates to one or two lines per page, for a 30 page book. The one main advantage this genre has over every other is that literary agents and publishers will accept the full text with the initial query. There is no need for partials.
Novella	20,000	50,000
	A story can be written in any of the other genres, but if its word count falls within these parameters it is usually classified as a novella.
Non-Fiction	70,000	110,000
	Covering a broad range of topics still sees little variation in the size of published books. Although there is not a requirement for the work to be complete before an initial query, this is the word count literary agents want projected and delivered.
Short Stories	1000	8,000
	Many contests will advise on their own maximum word count, sometimes as high as 20K. But those requests are extremely rare, as the majority will set a limit of 8K.
Flash Fiction	100	500
	There is no flexibility to this as the word count determines if it is Flash Fiction.

How long is a word? I would welcome an authoritative source on the matter; I've found publishers consider a word to be 5 characters and a space. Please contact me if you know the source to the secret sauce.

Primary types of writing ...

Primary types of writing:

expository	The author intends to inform, explain, describe or define their subject to you
descriptive
persuasive
narrative
technical
creative (poetic)

Sources:

Teacher Guide to Different Types of Writing © Copyright Owned By- Teachnology, Inc - All Rights Reserved
The 6 Genres of Copy Writing for Selling and Telling [Part 1] © 2008–2019 The Copywriting in Action School. All Rights Reserved.
Author's Purpose: Definition & Examples | © copyright 2003-2020 Study.com. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.

What is Creative Writing?

^^^ ACS Distance Education offers a range of writing courses, including Creative Writing.

Creative Writing Genres

Children’s Writing
	Age	All work should be age-appropriate.
	Genre	Genres are similar to adult literature.
Fantasy Writing; a sub-genre of speculative fiction
	fairytales
	folklore
	mythology
	witchcraft
	mediaeval themes
	new worlds
	science fiction
	supernatural fiction
	horror
	apocalyptic fiction
Crime Fiction
	Detective fiction
	Courtroom drama
	Legal fiction
	Hardboiled fiction
Poetry
	Prose poetry	a mixture of prose and poetry
	Dramatic poetry	a drama written in verse
	Speculative poetry	fantasy poetry
	Epic poetry	lengthy poems with a continuous narrative (e.g. Homer's 'Iliad')
	Narrative poetry	tells a story; like epic but shorter
	Satirical poetry	based on satire; often political
	Elegy	a mournful poem
	Lyric poetry	personal poetry; generally contemplative
	Verse fable	ancient verse with a moral message

Creative Writing: Definition, Types & Examples

^^^ Visit their page to see "Examples of Creative Writing."

Defining Creative Writing—Types of creative writing include:

Fiction (novels, novellas, and short stories)
Poetry
Plays
Movie and television scripts
Songs
Speeches
Memoirs
Personal essays

Three Types of Common Core Writing

Then there are The Three Types of Common Core Writing Defined - November 07, 2016 by Teach.com

As explained in the USC Rossier infographic, There are three writing capacities:

writing to persuade
writing to explain
writing to convey real or imagined experiences

These three types of writing are usually called:

argument
informative
narrative writing

For Informational Purposes Only

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I am not an authority on writing. I am a humble human being researching and sharing thoughts across a shared network based on guided eletricity. If you find something that is incorrect, I would welcome the shared knowledge. Sharing is the key here; let's energize each other by sharing productive thoughts. I just had fun putting the web page together :D and I look forward to creating a utility based on the collected information.

Keith D Commiskey
https://keithdc.com
Tuesday, 01/14/2020 3:48:15 AM