Word Counts

For now this is more of a question. Do word counts really matter? When I first wrote my book my total word count on draft one was, 61487. I was a little upset that it was so short. Then draft two came along and it bumped up to 73139. I felt a little better but I was really shooting for 80000 when I originally started the book. Draft three it grew to 89362. I was very satisfied with this number. For a young adult book I felt like this was a good length. I just finished draft four and it is up to 98924. I want to know if this is now too much?

Let me add by saying that I am not trying to add words. I never was adding words just to do them. In fact on my most recent edit, I felt like I was cutting a lot out. From draft one to two I did add two chapters. I felt like the ending needed to be longer. I basically want to know when to stop.

Tomorrow, I will do some research on word counts. I wonder if certain lengths sell better than others. Maybe if someone sees a long book, it deters them from reading it. I'm not sure about it! I feel like as long as the writing is good and the pace is right, who cares the length in pages or word count. Give me some feedback. I am interested to know what everyone thinks.

I'll post tomorrow on my research findings about word count.