Word count ranges in Chick Lit?

I'm looking at ending up around 100K, give or take. I'm wondering what the publisher-preferred wc for Chick Lit is? I know I could probably look this up in my Writer's Market, but it's all the way at home and I'm too lazy. :)

It depends. I think the general word count for chick lit/women's fiction is around 70K to 90K, depending on the type of story. I was at a writer's retreat facilitated by an agent back in March and she said that if you write chick lit a la Lindsey Kelk, then it's around 65 to 75K. If you're going for more Emily Giffin, then it's going to be closer to 90-100K.

Thanks for that, Kim. I had a similar question.

You're welcome. :) I was at a writer's conference back in September and the editors gave us the lowdown on what they expect for word count and when they will accept a higher word count. One editor said if the word count was higher than 150K, make it a series. She didn't want chick lit/women's fiction over 100K even if it was literary chick lit.

I posted this elsewhere a while back. Could be useful:

To do a rough manual word count, first average the number of words in three consecutive lines on a page. Multiply that average by the number of lines per page. Multiply that by the number of pages of text, and you'll have the word count.

A book I had next to me: averaged 11 words per line X 40 lines per page X 249 pages of story = 110,000 words approx.

Thanks, that is really helpful.

I've read 100k is ideal. That gives you about 300 pages. I think mine is going to end up at the 75k mark. Don't know if I'll need to introduce more plot twists to get me to 100 or just leave it at that and try to get it published.

Edit: After more research, its looking like anything between 60-100k is acceptable, but the 70-80k word range is ideal.

I have a 170,000 word count, is that acceptable?