Hello! There is not a word limit but I do try my best to advise writers to keep their read under 13 minutes because those will do the best on Medium. You’re more than welcome to keep it longer but when I look it over I may suggest some cuts or if I think it may work better as two/three articles instead of one. Ultimately though it is your call, as I see my job as just getting your work out to an audience. The only thing I have a hard line on is if a big chunk of that 5,000 is plot explanation, I will request that to be cut down. Pure plot explanation shouldn’t be more than a few paragraphs (ideally 3ish). Embedded and exploratory plot points are fine but pure synopsis will turn readers away after a few paragraphs. Hope that helped!