[hippokrene]

I'm having an tricky time finding information on the the min/avg/max word count for urban fantasy novels.

Most of the suggested word counts for fantasy seem to suggest 100k/130k/180k, which strikes me as reflecting epic fantasy or sword and sorcery. Modern-day mystery and romance tend to be 65k-80k, but they tend to be slimmer than urban fantasy.

Does anyone have information about word count for this (sub) genre?

[Hobbit]

Not really, but most that I've read are about 300 pages. With a (very) rough guess of about 300 words on a page, that makes it 90 000 words or so.


But it is a rough guide. I wouldn't say there was an exact maximum or minimum as such, although the Hugo Awards (http://www.thehugoawards.org/?page_id=3) define a novel as 'something that is 40000 words or more'. In the UK books tend to have to be over 100 000 words, as a guide. I think in the US it is slightly less.

But surely what's important is the quality of the words, not the number of words it takes? A lot of those will get pruned and reshaped in the editing process anyway?

Mark

[KatG]

There aren't any minimums or maximums, unless a particular publisher has production restrictions. The "average" urban fantasy runs about 100,000 words, but can be anything from 70,000 to really, really big. Presses like Subtarranean may put out novellas as novels that are shorter.

[hippokrene]

Hobbit,
I understand that there’s no exact minimum or maximum. I picked up a mystery book by JD Robb the other day that was about thirty pages long.
Still, I’ve noticed that most urban fantasy books tend to be larger than most romance or mystery books and smaller than many sword and sorcery tales. 90,000 words sounds about right. I didn’t know books were larger in the UK.

I agree that quality is more important than quantity, but I still find the quantity interesting.


There aren't any minimums or maximums, unless a particular publisher has production restrictions. The "average" urban fantasy runs about 100,000 words, but can be anything from 70,000 to really, really big. Presses like Subtarranean may put out novellas as novels that are shorter.


I've never seen a really, really big urban fantasy.

[KatG]

A lot of them are bigger than you think. They just use small print. Also, try Charles de Lint. Just because you haven't seen one yet doesn't mean they don't exist.

[hippokrene]

A lot of them are bigger than you think. They just use small print. Also, try Charles de Lint. Just because you haven't seen one yet doesn't mean they don't exist.

I've read a number of deLint's books.

I never said they didn't exist; I said I hadn't seen one.

[KatG]

Point taken, hippokrene, and apologies. :)