If the draft is outside the range

Cut a subplot, a point of view, or a stretch of travel and explanation before you query a long manuscript. A fantasy debut at 108,000 is a conversation. A contemporary romance at 130,000 is a pass. A 55,000-word adult mystery is usually a draft that has not found its middle. Add pressure and consequence, not description. Picture books are the mirror case: if you are over 800, cut.

Exceptions exist and are a poor plan. A prize-winning literary novel can be 56,000 words. A thriller with a film attached can be 145,000. Those books were bought for reasons other than length. Query inside the band, and state it exactly: “complete at 84,000 words”. Self-publishing is looser, because there is no print run to underwrite, but category browsers and reviews still punish a book that feels short for its promise or long for its pace.