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What is the Acceptable Word Count for a Manuscript Submission?

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bionov
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What is the Acceptable Word Count for a Manuscript Submission?

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My original manuscript for “The True Virus” was in “Times New Roman” font and was 265 pages. If I changed my font to “Courier New”, I came up with 356 pages. Also, if I used the old stand-by formula of 250 words times pages (Courier font), I got 89000 words. However, "Word" gave me a word count of 75000. Now my big question is: “Which word count would I use in a query letter to agents or publishers?”
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Re: What is the Acceptable Word Count for a Manuscript Submission?

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This is a tricky question that's kind of hard to answer. It will depend on what the individual publisher wants...

see too many words could make them like ''ugh.." but more words means more content, and that could be what they want. (although I'm not sure how font will change word count, you would think it would be the same anyway.)

I know for blog posts people like small word counts because they need quick reads, but this is a book.

I would say that you should worry less about the word count itself, and more about what font looks best. You don't want to go with an ugly font, that will be a turn off. Your book is your book, so just pick the font that makes it look best.
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Re: What is the Acceptable Word Count for a Manuscript Submission?

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For the self publishing world, if you decide to go that route, 100 pages is the magic number. A book any thinner than 100 pages will not be thick enough for the title and authors name to be printed on the spine, and you really want them there, assuming you are interested in selling your books in stores. It looks like you are in good shape no matter which font you use. You may find that the publisher asks that you use a specific font or suggests a font based on the theme of your book and the interior design elements.
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Re: What is the Acceptable Word Count for a Manuscript Submission?

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Since my novel, “The True Virus”, is a thriller and most publishers want at least 80,000 words for that genre, I decided to use the word’s count from Word. I now have my count at that target and feel confident that they will now accept it on the word count criteria.
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Re: What is the Acceptable Word Count for a Manuscript Submission?

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I don't believe in "acceptable word count" anymore.

I mean, yes, paperback novels are usually of a certain length, but on the other hand, look at Politically Correct Bedtime Stories by James Finn Garner.
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Re: What is the Acceptable Word Count for a Manuscript Submission?

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I'm so excited to have found this community! This is the exact question I was looking to have answered, though my problem is that my novel at this point only has 150 formatted pages. My word count is ~30,000.
I'm concerned because I've heard that the magic number of words is 50,000.

I am fairly close to wrapping things up, but obviously still have editing left to do.

I have my own teensy publishing company which I used to publish an earlier book (a niche work) and am planning on using for this one.

I feel like the novel will fill out a little more as I go back and edit for flow, but I'm concerned that I won't ever crack 200 pages. At the same time, I don't want to add words simply for the sake of upping my page count.

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Re: What is the Acceptable Word Count for a Manuscript Submission?

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Here's an article on acceptable word counts for publishers and agents. However, if you're self publishing, you can use these rules as guidelines. As a reader, I myself shy away from novels over 500 pages.
http://scwc.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/wo ... -by-genre/
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Re: What is the Acceptable Word Count for a Manuscript Submission?

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For a fiction thriller, most publishers want to see at least 80,000 words. I'll accept less only if I feel the book is worth it.
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