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[supersecret]

So I landed a book contract with my favorite press, and I am in the process of doing revisions.  My contract calls for 80,000 words (which is the number I estimated it would be once I took into account all of my revisions).  Now that I am working through them, it is starting to look like I might go over by 2 or 3 thousand words--maybe more, I think I am bad at estimating this.  Anyway, is this a big deal?  Or do presses usually figure that the word counts will fluctuate by a few thousand words.

Once I am more sure of what the actual word count is, I will run it by my editor.  Obviously if I have to, I will trim to make it work.

[larryc]

This is a question for that editor. If I were you I would turn in the most polished MS I can, even if it is a few thousand words over, and see if they object.

[qrypt]

More pages means more expense for the publisher.  You can't assume that if the book is more expensive to produce, they can simply charge more for it -- books have "price points" and longer doesn't translate into a higher price, it might just translate into more expense and thus less income for the publisher (who is no doubt already working on very thin margins). 

So, don't be surprised if they tell you no -- though there shouldn't be any harm in asking. 

[bwwm1]

I had this question with my book, and discovered there's a fair variety in how word processors count words. So it's not a rigid as it may seem. In addition, there are ways to reduce the word count without removing any material. Just some rearranging of references or reformating of notes, etc. So I suppose I'm like an undergrad cheating word counts on an essay, but with a bit of creativity, you may be able to get the word count you want if you're within 2,000 or so of the imposed limit. My word count went down by thousands with these methods. 

[seniorscholar]

In my experience, consolidating endnotes (one per paragraph, instead of one per fact) and getting rid of all the ones that say "for more information, see . . ." often helps shorten a manuscript. This may, however, be because I want to know everything about how I got each idea in a footnote at the bottom of the page until the manuscript is finished (after which I do the "change footnotes to endnotes" move, and then cut a lot of them).

[janewales]

For my first book, the press really, really meant it; I can remember the lengths to which I went in order to lose the last 2000 words. I got rid of most of the qualifying phrases, and I think that made the book sound less like the dissertation it used to be: turns out I used "perhaps" an awful lot, and if you cut "it is possible that," you lose 4 words and sound a lot less like a waffling weenie...

[sugaree]

It has been my (limited) experience that presses are pretty serious about word count limits, mostly due to the rising costs of publication. Definitely check with the editor, but I think that 2000-3000 words over (or more!) is way too much at this stage. You should be thinking about fewer than 1000 words over for your manuscript, if you must go over the count at all.

When I submitted my 100,000 word manuscript, it went over by only a few words (not a few thousand, not a few hundred, but a few - like less than a dozen). After a few further revisions and the copy-edits and including an acknowledgments, I am certain it is now perhaps a few thousand words over. So in that initial submission, be as ruthless as you can with your editing.

[octave]

If I were your editor, I'd say don't think twice and send the thing in.  A few thousand words is nothing, and since prices and page counts won't be announced until after the manuscript is in, it won't require any special work.  (Changes in length after prices are announced require more effort, but even then, we sometimes allow them.)

Then again, it seems from this thread that other presses are more, well, I'll leave that adjective out, and simply suggest that some people like to exercise power any time they can.

I think this is one of those times when you ask for forgiveness, not permission.

[supersecret]

Thanks for all the replies--the varied responses makes me think that an issue like this is very situational.  I'm going to wait until I have a firm grasp of what the actual word count is (since I seem to be bad at estimating), then, if I am over, contact my editor to see if there is any flexibility, and then start trimming accordingly, particularly taking into account the advice to trim endnotes and wordiness. 

[tenured_feminist]

1. Do a word search for every variation on "there is" and "there are."
2. Rewrite about 90% of the sentences in which these formulations occur to eliminate the formulation.
3. Your manuscript will automatically be shorter and better written.