[ems Posts: 12 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

I saw online that the word count range for early middle grade is 15,000-25,000 words. I have the chance to pitch an editor and agent before I finish my manuscript. Should I a) state the above word count range or b) only put the higher amount? But what if my manuscript ends up being fewer words than anticipated? Thank you.

[David Wright Posts: 942 Status: Offline Tell me that again.]

Hi Ems

My uninformed opinion follows

I wouldn't do (a). The editor/agent obviously knows the range. I find that after my first draft I have a general idea what my word count might be. I would expect that being off by one or two thousand words isn't an issue.

If you're still developing the basic story, then I'm not sure. But I'd suggest aiming for 15, 20 or 25. And if it's fantasy, then aim for the higher side.

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 6,833 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

If your manuscript is incomplete, state the current word count and how much you have left to finish. (I'm assuming this is a personal pitch, not in writing, at an event where you are working on pitches.) If it's complete, which it needs to be if you are pitching with the hopes of being picked up by an agent or having the book picked up by an editor, than you give the actual approximate word count to the thousand words.