Asking how long should a novel be is like asking how long is a piece of string. T
here is no answer. But, recently this question was posed on an e-mail loop and the answers were amazing. The answers were often very specific and ranged from 200 pages to 500 pages.
My answer was: as long as it takes to tell the story.
If you visit with a lot of writers, particularly unpublished writers, you will get a number of generalizations. A YA novel should be between 30,000 and 50,000. (However, if you think of the Harry Potter novels as being YA – and many people do not – then they can be much, much longer.) Traditional westerns are usually in the 50,000 to 60,000 word range. Yet, some westerns are twice that long. And a common notion is that first time writers should not exceed 100,000 words whatever they’re writing.
But, if you are aiming for a particular publisher or imprint, you need to check and see exactly what they accept.
If you write genre romances for some publishers, there are strict guidelines on the length. It’s not enough to check the publisher; you need to verify the requirements of the specific imprint for a publisher. For example, at Harlequin different lines have different length requirements. Harlequin Presents lists a simple 50,000 words. 
Harlequin Desire accepts 50,000 to 55,000 words, while Harlequin Blaze takes only 55,000 to 60,000. Harlequin Heart Warming wants 70,000 to 75,000, whereas Harlequin Super Romance asks for 85,000, and Harlequin Nocturne give the range of 80,000 to 85,000. And then to destroy our comment about the length of YA books, Harlequin Teen accepts a novel in the 50,000 to 100,000 words range.
What about the writer who is just writing a novel and isn’t looking at a particular publisher? Not yet, anyway. Then, the novel should be as long as the characters need to tell the story. Many writers say they start with a character or an incident or a location and just see where the story takes them. Last Friday on this blog, author Stephen Woodfin said he never knows how a story will end. That more or less implies he doesn’t know how long it will be either. But, he will know when it’s finished.
That is the key. I’ll take a cue from Stephen, who is a lawyer, and paraphrase a line from the courtroom: you should tell the story, the whole story, and nothing but the story.
You know when your piece of string is too short and it won’t do the job. You know when it’s too long and gets in the way, makes you less effective. That’s how it is with a good book. It’s long enough to tell the story effectively, and not too long to bore the reader. Don’t add in any stuffing. That’s for turkeys. Don’t leave out what’s needed to give the reader a fair and enticing read. And most of all, —
stop when you reach the end of the story.
Thanks for a well written explanation. I can relate to the string thing. Enough but not too much.
I like the part about stuffing. Nice job!
I hope you have a great day.
John Lindermuth had trouble leaving a comment, so he sent it to me directly. It is an excellent observation, so I’ve copied it and am pasting it here. Thanks, John, for an insiteful comment. Here is John’s comment:
“I’m with Eileen and you on this Jim. It isn’t the length of a book that makes it worth reading. It’s the content. Would ‘Of Mice and Men’ or ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ be better if they were longer. Would ‘War and Peace’ be better if it were shorter? Of course not. There are definitely books that should be shorter (or longer), but that’s a decision the writer must determine. As Sunny points out, there are valid cost concerns a publisher needs to consider and, thus, we have length recommendations from them.”
I agree with your initial answer, JIm: as long as it takes to tell the story. Too much stuffing or not enough meat should be obvious in the editing, but it would be wise to listen to our colleagues/editors if we don’t quite get it.
Good advice and good summation. I like the part about not adding stuffing, too. Too much really makes the book boring when it’s not really pertinent to the story.
Very good point, Jim. There’s so much advice out there for writers that it’s difficult, especially when you’re just starting out, to separate the wheat from the chaff.
That string better be elastic!
When a writer finds a publisher, the guidelines might require the book to be cut down or expanded. As acquisitions editor, I sometimes find authors digging in their heels and refusing to mess with the word count. This happened yesterday and a good manuscript got passed over.
Why is the word count so important? Well, in POD publishing, going over the limit means the price of printing increases substantially. Which means the cost of selling the book goes up. Under the limit means there is very little profit on a lean book.
Another thing authors might consider: when a publisher asks for changes, you are also being evaluated on how cooperative you are. Stubborn authors indicate they will be difficult to work with in the future. Bye bye contract.