I sold my first book via rwas golden heart contest. With that in mind, ive tried to put together the definitive post on word count for fiction novels, young adult, middle grade, childrens books and even memoir. Its just this is what im being told by my agent, and publishers. Reading length is a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to and affiliated sites. Coyne uses the nanowrimo wordcount length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. Generally speaking, traditional publishers expect completed nonfiction book manuscripts to be between. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction.
Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. Apr 05, 2015 generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. Jun 07, 2017 to answer the immediate question, lets look at some numbers. It takes the question of length completely off the table as an issue. Length of a book is typically associated with its sizespecifically page countleading many to assume the largest and thickest book equates to its length. I am still confused about exactly what word count i use and just how i arrive at that number. The average fiction book is about 80,000 to 100,000 words, which is about 246 to 307 ebook pages. The best thing that you can do is look over comparable books and try to judge word count by their size, average wordspage, and illustration content. If your book falls within the standard preferred wordcount range, its one less reason for it to be rejected. If you are an author of a book or know of a book s accurate wordcount, contact me. Your chapter length has to work well with the overall word count of the book short chapters create an even distribution of both content and action. While average word length is 50,000 to 80,000 words, this genre has so much variety that word count depends on the book and its intended audience. The graph shows the average length of the top 100 bestsellers in each of the 30 main amazon kindle categories, measured in terms of the number of. With digital as well as print books available, the length of books varies.
The 1 thing you need to do to write a new york times best. When writing a longer book that is aimed at 12yearolds and could maybe be considered tween, using the term upper middle grade is advisable. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a non fiction book. Only if youre a major celebrity can you blow right through that word count and just keep going. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. Do i include the title page, dedication, credits, and table of contents in the word count.
Word counts may also be used to calculate measures of readability and to measure typing and reading speeds usually in words per minute. As you can see, a smaller trim size will produce more pages for the same word count, and a larger trim size will produce less. As a nonfiction writer myself, i know this is tough. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 words. You dont want to overwrite and end up with a 100,000word book when all you wanted was a 20,000word book. Jul 24, 2009 im not posting this to start a huge discussion over word count, and im posting anon. Novel 50,000 110,000 most print publishers prefer a minimum word count of around 70,000 words for a first novel, and some even hesitate for any work shorter than 80,000. As for non fiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. The most important thing here is to realize that there are always exceptions to these rules.
Jul 17, 2017 the average length of a non fiction book is 50,000 words, with some books falling at around 3540,000 words, and others running as long as 70,000. If this is only a trend, and word count will continue to remain standard, ill find out soon enough. But it seems that word counts are shrinking these days, especially with all the epublishers. Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. Middle grade is from 20,000 55,000, depending on the subject matter and age range, and the word count of these books has been trending up in recent years. Most memoirs need to be in the 70,000 to 100,000word range.
In my opinion, if your nonfiction book is fewer than about 30,000 words 120 pages, it does not feel substantial enough to be real book. Sep 06, 2014 according to chuck sambuchino see below for word count. Mar 20, 2020 an ebook could be 3,000 words or as long as a full length book. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a nonfiction book. But rules are made to be broken, and the most successful publishing phenomenon in history did just that.
That means your manuscript must be at least 3540,000 words long. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility calculates it at 80,7. Plus, shorter attention spans and eyestrain from luminous screens mean readers stay with a book for abbreviated periods. The 1 thing you need to do to write a new york times. Long book length at the other end of the spectrum a book of 80,000 to 100,000 words has significant heft, 320400 pages. Depending on your genre, having too many or too little can not only hurt your book sales, but also cause fewer 5star. A word count that is much higher than the average range tells the agent or editor your work probably needs to be tightened.
Then, more importantly, lets talk strategy and consider some case studies. Now the decisions can be made based on your writing and whether your book is a fit for that publishing house. However sometimes, like today, the reverse happens. A word count guide for 18 book genres, including fiction. A reasonable word count for a nonfiction book would be between 30,000 to 50,000 words. I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an e book at a short length at least for non fiction.
Or should the word count be only the base story without any of the trimmings included. I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an ebook at a short length at least for nonfiction. But for mainstream ya it is always best to stick to under 80k. If yours is too short, restructure it and add more tightly written stuff. And man, people love to point out exceptionsand they always will. If youre writing a young adult fantasy novel, you should keep your word count below 90,000 words or 300 book pages. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books. I advise authors to ignore word counts when writing. Jul 23, 2012 so 50,000 words is the minimum for a non fiction book.
Sep 19, 2010 do i include the title page, dedication, credits, and table of contents in the word count. When talking about book length, its common to talk about word count rather than page count. Estimate your page count book designer fiona raven. That number actually lines up pretty well with the data we have on this, but again, that number should neither be a goal, nor a constraint. Alternatively, this is an acceptable length for a short work of non fiction. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for non fiction books. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common.
Book size is often based on how thick the spine will be and how it will stand out in a bookstore although things are changing. If youre working on a novel length book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least but its better to aim for 90,000. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. This is due to the audience youre reaching preferring that length.
The length can vary greatly between genres, though. This is a general list of age categories and word counts for childrens books. Your chapter structure needs to be in proportion to the overall length of the. Id guesstimate that nonfiction books generally yes, this is very.
I know fiction works on average come in at 60,000 but i really had no idea about non fiction. Youll probably be familiar with these premium formats. A single novel can be longer, but once the length is above 110,000 words publishers may look at cutting it back, unless it is a particular kind of book books over the 110k word count are usually considered epics. The average length of a nonfiction book is 50,000 words, with some books falling at around 3540,000 words, and others running as long as 70,000. For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. Jenkins started strongly but weakened, along with the plots. Then consider writing a manuscript of similar length. If youre working on a novellength book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least but its better to aim for 90,000. The left behind series original books, not including the prequel, 19952007 by tim lahaye and jerry b. In 2011, the average length of a bestselling nonfiction book was 467 pages, but that dropped to 273 pages in 2017. A word count that is much lower than the acceptable range alerts the agent or editor that your novel or nonfiction book probably hasnt been adequately developed. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000word range.
Some authors believe the word count is irrelevantwhether it takes 20,000 words or 200,000 words, the book will be done when youve finished telling your story. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic. So 50,000 words is the minimum for a nonfiction book. Im curious about your advice compose the novel in the standard format from the start rather than changing it later why does this matter. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a word count guideline.
A good way to gauge appropriate length is to check out similar books for comparison. Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. With that in mind, ive tried to put together the definitive post on word count for fiction novels, young adult, middle grade, childrens. If yes, then most publishers still work on specific word count lengths for books so youll probably be aiming for around 60,00080,000 words for nonfiction. Alternatively, this is an acceptable length for a short work of nonfiction. That doesnt mean you can submit a manuscript twice the length a publisher recommends. Sep 20, 2019 how many words in a novel vary depending on genre, audience, and the story itself but in general, the average words in a novel is between 60,000 and 90,000 words for most genres. If you are currently working on your manuscript, youve probably wondered how long your book should be or what the word count of your manuscript should be. Our word count guide answers these questions and more.
Mar 17, 2010 i am working on a book about my experience with losing a 9 year old cat to lymphoma. But if marketability matters to you, its not that simple. Id guesstimate that non fiction books generally yes, this is very rough run perhaps 150450 pages, and at about 350 wdpage that works out to something like 50150k words. If you are an author of a book or know of a books accurate wordcount, contact me. Word count estimates are not guaranteed to be accurate. The best word count for your selfpublished novel self.
I have often looked this up and got different results, which makes it very confusing. If youd like some guidelines, you can assume that the average nonfiction book is 50k words, and that they have 12 chapters, so around 4k words would be an average chapter length. Coyne uses the nanowrimo word count length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. Id guesstimate that nonfiction books generally yes, this is very rough run perhaps 150450 pages, and at about 350 wdpage that works out to something like 50150k words. A word count guide for 18 book genres, including fiction and. An ebook could be 3,000 words or as long as a fulllength book. Technically, in fiction, most publishers and awards consider anything over 40,000 words to be a novel, but many publishers wont look at anything under 60,000. That said, each manuscript should be long enough to adequately tell its story or. Determine the approximate length of your finished book. How many words should be in an adult nonfiction book.
For traditional publishing or selfpublishing, youll have the best odds of success. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing stack. Word count is commonly used by translators to determine the price of a translation job. A word count guide for 18 book genres, including fiction and nonfiction. You would be wise to come close to these suggested manuscript lengths. When it comes to selfpublished booksdoes size matter. The grandfather of modern christian fiction, in his steps by charles m. It should be enough to communicate your message effectively. It makes quite a difference whether you want to publish a childrens picture book, a 50recipe smoothie book, a science fiction novel or a technical encyclopedia.
In fact, the majority of printed books are turned into ebooks. A recommended wordcount might be 15002000 words but, more. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. Sep 06, 2016 some of the other answers are idiosyncratic.
I guess 50,000 is a short novel and some early novels before goes as low as 40,000 which can be considered to be a novella. Im going to write about my experience and not worry too much about the word count. Thats the level where publishers may suggest dividing a story into multiple volumes. This information is important whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction. I have therefore made some averages, based on what ive heard from publishers and agents at childrens book events, and from research and reading. According to chuck sambuchino see below for word count. One of my biggest problems as a publisher is having authors deliver more than was agreed to. By 2017, however, that number has dropped to 273 pages.
In todays market, this is the goto paperback size range for many novels, memoirs, and nonfiction books. Of course, rules are made to be broken, especially in literature. Discover what size your book should be and if thats comparable to the standard book sizes in publishing. And remember, keeping to word counts is important, but what makes or breaks your chances with a publisher is the quality of your manuscript. Search for word count totals in books word counters. Another thing about word countif an editor sees something they love in a manuscript thats not at the right word count, he or she may just have you fix it. Surely when writing the important thing is to get words on the page even if theyre in pink comic sans. If you stick to these when youre writing your nonfiction book, youll be fine. Less than 100 pages and it becomes difficult for a printer to print the title of the book on the spine. May 11, 2009 ive completed a small book 34,000 words. This is due in large part to the variety of subgenres within it and the trend for a book series with an ever greater word count. Generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. Word count for novels and books is something i dont think about too often until i travel to a writers conference, and then someone asks a simple, innocent question.
Never pad your manuscript just to meet a wordcount guideline. When converting character counts to words, a measure of 5 or 6 characters to a word is generally used for english. Aug 05, 2019 coyne uses the nanowrimo wordcount length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. Since 2011, the average length of a bestseller has dropped steadily from year to year. Compiling a list of longest novels yields different results depending on whether pages, words or characters are counted. If youre writing an adult fantasy novel or an epic fantasy novel like game of thrones, your word count can skew higher at 90,000 200,000 words. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. Its good to have a word count in mind when you start.