Words for the sake of words...

77,000 should be fine.

In your query letter, write down that it is 80,000 words.

The "only way" they'll know that you exaggerated a wee bit is when they finish the last page.
(Well, true, they could know by seeing the last page number, or by feeling by weight or thickness, that the manuscript is 10 pages short.)

And if they've read the last page, then they're probably interested. The agent/editor is in the business of telling, err, requesting, the writer to chop down or add pages or modify stuff.

So don't worry about being a bit short in the word count now. It sounds like you're about to be introduced to the "revision stage"; and often, as part of that stage, the writer writes a lot more new scenes. . . . and new opening scenes . . . I think, imo, maybe.

Just my 2 cents.

LOL, what method did you count by? For a good, high number that is also (from what I hear) the most 'accurate' when you consider how much actual space your text will take up, try this:

1.Count the number of characters in an average, mid-paragraph line (BTW, this all assumes a monospaced font. If you're using a proportional font, the number of characters can vary immensely, throwing off the numbers and word count).

2.Divide by six. This is the number of words per line.

3.Count the number of lines on a page. (This includes any # for blank lines.)

4.Multiply #2 by #3 to get the number of words per page.

5.Multiply by the number of full pages (plus any fractional pages), to get the total number of words.

6.Round the number to the nearest hundred. Authors tend to round up; editors round down. This is the number you put on the front page of the manuscript.


That should give you a number closer to 80,000. Then round up.

ETA: SilverKing gave the link for this method in another thread. Here it is:
http://www.sfwa.org/writing/wordcount.htm

The method I use is Courier 12pt font, double-spaced, widows/orphans switched off, 25 lines per page, number of pages multiplied by 250 words = word count.

Doesn't anyone else just click on Word Count?

No. That's the simple way of doing it. The Path of the Baldies.

I'm not bald but I prefer simplicity, and that means using Word Count rounded up.

Anyway, if you are snappy dialogue-heavy, pages x 250 is going to throw you waaaaay out.

Depending on the genre and quality -77,000 may be okay.

scarletpeaches said:

No. That's the simple way of doing it. The Path of the Baldies.

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Cheeky cow.

Moo!

I have used word count throughout (articles, mostly) with not a single objection. I have found 250 words per page a good guide.

colbymarshall1 said:

Hello, all!

Well, I've finished all major writing on my new manuscript, and now just have polishing left to do.

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Not sure what you mean by this. Is this the first draft you've finished and now you are in the editing phase?

Because I've found that I often add 10 to 15000 words as I edit through about 6 or more drafts.

Or do you mean you've finished the first draft, gone through several subsequent and significant drafts of editing and are now going to "polish" it?

Err... I thought "the mark" was 70-100. Was I off? It's now 80-100?

Either way I think 77k is fine.

You can round up to 80K if you like the number better, but I doubt you'll get a form rejection based on 77K rather than 80. Agents are looking to weed out manuscripts that are way above and way below the accepted length in the genre.

But yeah I don't think 70K is particularly short?? 60's pushing it...

That is one complicated monkey.
'Word Count' in the Tool menu works just fine.
;-)

I would say just leave it. An editor will take a shorter work over a longer work if the shorter one is tight. They don't like padding.

But, it is, of course, up to you.

seun said:

Doesn't anyone else just click on Word Count?

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Yes, I use Word Count. In any case, your word count seems fine. You'll gain or lose during editing anyway. My editor and I agreed to scrap my last chapter and I wound up writing three more chapters, changing my word count significantly.
Linnea

Your word count is fine. Do your best job to tell the story you want to tell, and fudgeabouttherest.

My novel is 75,000-word, published.

colbymarshall1 said:

Hello, all!

Well, I've finished all major writing on my new manuscript, and now just have polishing left to do. Here's the thing: I came out at a little over 77,000 words. My first draft was about 70k, so in my respective drafts I fleshed out a good bit. I have heard a lot of chatter about 80,000-100,000 being the "mark", so I'm trying to figure out where this puts me. I feel like I have told my story, my conflicts are fleshed out, my characters convincing...in other words, I feel good about where it is. That said, is my word count going to get me "too short" rejections? I don't want to put words in for the sake of more words, but I also don't want to get the too short responses. I'd like to think if I have a good story that those 3,000 words won't kill me, but I wanted to ask for all of your wonderful expertise. Thanks in advance!

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Different publishing companies have different word limits, but as far as I've heard, 50,000 through 100,000 words is accepted as a novel. I've always written about 75,000 words per novel, and I don't see a problem with it.

-Feathers

Though I do have hair, and lots of it, I also just click on word count. Don't worry about your count...worry about your quality. 3,000 words is nothing. If you said 25,000 words or 35,000 words I would have said you had a problem...but you're in the ballpark.