u/HunterEwellAuthor

Hello everyone,

My name is Hunter, and I have recently finished writing what I hope will be the first book in a new fantasy series. The book is titled The Young Heroes (TYH).

In its current form, after my first round of edits, TYH is 231,710 words in length.

The few people whom I know personally and can talk to about writing have all commented on how high a word count I have. Of those few, one is a published writer herself, another is a re-tired NY Times editor. These are people whose opinions are anchored in actual real-world experience. Still, neither of them is a fantasy reader. When I pointed out to them that 237k words is not unusual in fantasy, especially not in books which are a part of a series with an epic, far-reaching plot (that features many character-driven smaller plots, all woven together), each told me, roughly, "That may be true. I don't know enough about the genre to really speak on it. I'm just warning you that it will be a red flag for most agents and publishers that you submit to, and it could keep them from even looking at it."

I have searched online and have seen comments from fantasy readers that mention how they love long (and well-written) books. I know that when I am looking to discover a new fantasy series, I view a high word count as a positive (and am actually wary/turned away from low word counts).

Of course, word counts high or low matter little if the writing is subpar, but in order to keep this discussion focused on word count, let's assume that both the writing's quality and its con-tents justify its length. If that is the case, as readers of fantasy, what are your thoughts on high word counts? Have I dug myself into a hole here or am I right in thinking 231k words is not an issue given the genre.

For reference, TYH is shorter in length to any of Martin's A Song of Ice & Fire books, and shorter than all but one of Jordan's Wheel of Time books.

It might also be useful to know that TYH is written for a mature audience. It's not Adults Only, but it's also not Y/A material. Anyone familiar with Martin's work or Joe Abercrombie's non-Y/A fantasy novels wouldn't find anything in TYH to raise an eyebrow over.

I would appreciate anyone's thoughts on the matter, especially anyone who has firsthand experience with shopping a long fantasy manuscript to agents and publishers.

One last point that I would love advice on is beta readers. That, in my opinion, is what TYH needs next. Unfortunately, it's also the one area where I could clearly see a 231k word count causing a problem. Whereas I don't think fantasy readers would balk at the notion of picking up a book TYH's size if they saw it on a shelf in a bookstore or on Amazon with glowing reviews to back it up, I can understand the same readers being reluctant to commit to 231k words from an author with only one recently released book to his name.

Any suggestions about how/where to find readers who would be interested in beta reading TYH would be invaluable.

And feel free to contact me if you have any other writing-related subjects to discuss.

Thank you and have a great day!

--Hunter

Hello everyone,

The Young Heroes (TYH)is the first book of a planned multi-book fantasy series, written for a mature audience(the violence, language, and sexual situations are on par with Martin's Game of Thrones).

The Young Heroes is character-driven fantasy set in Telrun, a world rich in history and lore.

As evidence of a dark conspiracy unfolding across Telrun begins to emerge, TYH follows Crown Prince Sturvel Oc'Leod, his younger brother Prince Obion, and their adopted brother, Donnic, as Sturvel undertakes the Pilgrimage of the Savior’s Light. The pilgrimage has both historic and secular significance. Its completion marks Sturvel's transition into manhood and is necessary to earn the title of Anointed, an heir judged worthy by the Church of the Savior's Light to one day wear the Crown of Kings.

TYH covers the first leg of Sturvel’s pilgrimage, during which new friends are made, dangers faced, and events which occurred in Telrun’s ancient past begin to echo in its present. Echoes that could eventually tear the world apart.

What I am looking for:

What would help me the most would be observations on where I may have drifted too far into worldbuilding to where a reader begins to lose interest. Also, if or when those sections occur, thoughts on what seemed valuable and what felt unnecessary would be helpful. Also, if at any point you felt as if something needed better explaining, that too would help.

Any feedback is welcome. As far as a time frame is concerned, I do not have a deadline or anything like that to worry over. And I recognize that 238k words is not a small undertaking. As of today (8-17-2026), I have completed my own read through/evaluation/edits of the manuscript. But before I do a final polish, I want to hear some opinions other than my own. Ideally, I would like to be able to get started on that as soon as possible. To that end, I am open to working with anyone who is interested in whatever manner works best for them. I wouldn’t expect anyone to commit blindly to reading a 238k word manuscript. Therefore, I think going chapter by chapter would likely be best for both me and the reader. That said, if you are interested, I am open to however you’d like to proceed. I am new to this process as well and open to any advice on how best to go about it.

If you are interested in beta reading TYH, or if you have any questions, please contact me and let me know and we can proceed from there. I would be open to doing a critique swap with the caveats that I am a slow reader and if I get multiple requests I could only do one at a time.

Thank you,

--Hunter