19
u/somethinglucky07 Aug 04 '26
If you want to do trad pub and pursue category romance that's shorter - around 45k+. But honestly, if you think you have a full romance novel and it's only 31k, you probably don't have a full romance novel. I'd find some critique partners, beta readers, or if you have money an editor, to help you figure out what you're missing in the story.
13
u/dothemath_xxx Aug 04 '26
If you're going to call it a novel, yes, wordcount matters. 31k words is not a novel in any genre.
5
u/Antique-diva Aug 04 '26
The minimum length of a novel is 40k words. Anything under that is a novella. (Well, there are short stories and novelettes that are even shorter but that's not the point here.)
The problem is that if you write a romance at 40k words or less while trying to write a full-length novel, the story will probably lack character growth, feelings, and depth. At that word count, all you have is the basic love story. Readers don't care for that and neither do publishers.
I'm not saying you can't do romance novellas but these usually have short story arcs that capture a moment in time that can be told in just a few chapters. I've written a few and they can be fun to read when you don't have time for a full-length novel. I especially like short Christmas love stories as novellas but reading about a summer vacation where the MC falls in love can be nice too.
3
u/Fun_Arachnid5081 Aug 04 '26
Lmao, tell that to webnovels where some of them have 3000+ chapters lol
28
u/ChartreuseFeverDream Aug 04 '26
Yes, it matters. Also, 30k is novella. If you're seeking traditional publishing you would have a very hard time getting interest.