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. 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. If you still want to write your nonfiction book before you retain an agent or publisher, word count can vary greatly, but a good target for a business nonfiction book is 70,00080,000 words. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a nonfiction book. Mar 17, 2010 over time, the word count diminished and volume 8 the mark contained only 85,341 words, and the last volume, number 16 kingdom come, dwindled to 77,776 words. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. Then consider writing a manuscript of similar length. Sure, i may get attracted by its beautiful cover like i always do, or the sizzling title, or the irresistible book description and eventually buy the book. 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. Ford, glen book length average length of a non fiction book. Coyne uses the nanowrimo wordcount length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. But rules are made to be broken, and the most successful publishing phenomenon in history did just that. As long as you have said everything you want to say, and nothing that you dont, then your nonfiction book is already the perfect length. Average nonfiction word counts biographies and memoirs.
Sep 06, 2014 according to chuck sambuchino see below for word count. As a nonfiction writer myself, i know this is tough. 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. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a non fiction book. An ebook could be 3,000 words or as long as a fulllength book. If you are an author of a book or know of a books accurate wordcount, contact me. And man, people love to point out exceptionsand they always will. 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. That should give you about 200250 pages in a final manuscript.
May 11, 2009 in contrast, word count is finite and usually i can calculate book length with about 99% accuracy in part because also included in any calculation is a count of figures, tables, etc. That was the formula in the good old days when courier was the only typeface and typewriters were king. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books. It should be enough to communicate your message effectively. Im not sure if im pushing the word count over, been trying cut back the word count. First of all, find your word count in word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen. With digital as well as print books available, the length of books varies. Jan 08, 2018 calculate book page count using your word count. So 50,000 words is the minimum for a nonfiction book. How many words should be in an adult nonfiction book. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for non fiction books. I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an e book at a short length at least for nonfiction. So should i stay with this word count, or try to bring the word count down. As for non fiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels.
The only thing i care is whether or not the book would solve my problems. As you can see, you need to know your word count, not the number of pages your word processor produces. Mar 20, 2020 an ebook could be 3,000 words or as long as a full length book. Coyne uses the nanowrimo word count length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. Counting chickens a few words about word counts at hope vestergaards site. Most memoirs need to be in the 70,000 to 100,000word range.
If youre working on a novellength book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least but its better to aim for 90,000. When talking about book length, its common to talk about word count rather than page count. To help you cast this vision, let me tell you that most standard 192page paperback books are about 40,000 to 50,000 words. If i were to ask you how long your book is, and you answer that it is 225 manuscript pages, i am still not clear. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. When it gets closer to 1,000, editors and agents may shy away. Surely when writing the important thing is to get words on the page even if theyre in pink comic sans. 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 reasonable word count for a nonfiction book would be between 30,000 to 50,000 words. A word count that is much higher than the average range tells the agent or editor your work probably needs to be tightened. The popular book the noticer 2009 by andy andrews barely breaks the novel barrier at 40,454 words without the readers guide that was added to pad the book. Add screenshots or other graphics and youve got a nicesized ebook. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. 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.
Id guesstimate that nonfiction books generally yes, this is very. Therefore, the word count of a novel is crucial if you want your book to be fit for publication. Word count estimates are not guaranteed to be accurate. Jun 07, 2017 when talking about book length, its common to talk about word count rather than page count. The word count is the number of words in a document or passage of text. If your book falls within the standard preferred wordcount range, its one less reason for it to be rejected. If youre writing a nonfiction book, be sure to look up that category to find the length of similar books. But the word count of a chapter matters if you want your story to flow right.
For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. If the content is stepbystep and high quality, 15 pages is enough for a 99 cent kindle book or a freebie used for lead generation. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility calculates it at 80,7. For example, memoirs are generally 80,000 to 90,00 words. When writing a longer book that is aimed at 12yearolds and could maybe be considered tween, using the term upper middle grade is advisable. 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. Word count for novels and childrens books at the guide to literary agents blog. I remember reading some westerns in high school and, if i. Youll use the word count in your word document to calculate book page count. Shorter isnt necessarily better, but it can be an important consideration. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility. Depending on your genre, having too many or too little can not only hurt your book sales, but also cause fewer 5star. A novelist of my acquaintance insists that the only way to estimate the number of words in a book is to multiply the number of pages by 250. The di vinci code 2003 by dan brown is 8,380 words christian book word count.
Your chapter structure needs to be in proportion to the overall length of the. A publisher with a production department that knows what theyre doing can estimate book length from a manuscript formatted in courier 12point, 1 margins, 25 lines per page. You would be wise to come close to these suggested manuscript lengths. 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. I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an e book at a short length at least for non fiction. While word count will certainly play a factor in value, it also wont be a makeorbreak factor when pricing your ebook. The grandfather of modern christian fiction, in his steps by charles m. Generally speaking, traditional publishers expect completed nonfiction book manuscripts to be between. When i started writing three years ago, the mg word count i kept hearing was no more than 30,000 words.
In fact, the majority of printed books are turned into ebooks. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. Now the decisions can be made based on your writing and. From picture books to ya information to get you started at. In contrast, word count is finite and usually i can calculate book length with about 99% accuracy in part because also included in any calculation. Apr 04, 2020 how long should your selfpublished book be best word count and book size for kindle publishing duration. 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. The actual word count for the hunger games is 99,750 and my utility calculates 94,743 words. Deconstructing five spooky picture books with spoilers and word counts.
I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an ebook at a short length at least for nonfiction. When converting character counts to words, a measure of 5 or 6 characters to a word is generally used for english. Rowlings recordbreaking series began with two titles on the high end of that spectrum and finished with five that left the guidelines in the dust. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures of readability and to measure typing and reading speeds usually in words per minute. Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book.
Once you know your word count, follow one of our two methods below to estimate your page count. How long should your selfpublished book be best word count and book size for kindle publishing duration. Book length varies according to genre, but a print nonfiction book length averages 50,000 words and commercial fiction averages 80,000 110,000 words. Many beginning writers are hesitant to give such a number because theyve never written a long book. When you write nonfiction, practically anything goes and this is something to embrace, not to lose sleep over. According to chuck sambuchino see below for word count. Recently an author proposed a 30,000 word book to a publisher. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. 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. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures. There is no definitive word count guide for nonfiction books due to the many subgenres. Word count is not the beall and endall of your book.
Apr 07, 2014 if youre concerned about the final page count for your book, you should know that the average 6. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000word range. Search for word count totals in books word counters. Word counting may be needed when a text is required to stay within certain numbers of words.
Especially if your book is nonfiction and educates the reader such a book would be of higher value already, based on the return the reader would get from having read your book in. I advise authors to ignore word counts when writing. Jul 23, 2012 so 50,000 words is the minimum for a non fiction book. When talking about book length, its common to talk about word count. 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. Is that a good length for your reader on this topic. 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. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000 word range. The left behind series original books, not including the prequel, 19952007 by tim lahaye and jerry b. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. That said, each manuscript should be long enough to adequately tell its story or.
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. Im curious about your advice compose the novel in the standard format from the start rather than changing it later why does this matter. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. Can be publisher specific, ranging from 3,000 to absolute max 5,000.
This may particularly be the case in academia, legal proceedings, journalism and advertising. So if you write a 35,000 word manuscript, your formatted book will likely be around 140 pages. Jenkins started strongly but weakened, along with the. A good way to gauge appropriate length is to check out similar books for comparison. It takes the question of length completely off the table as an issue. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. Realize it over the maximum word count for erotic, science fictionfantasy genre. But for mainstream ya it is always best to stick to under 80k. But chapter word count is something that you want to keep in. In 2011, the average length of a bestselling nonfiction book was 467 pages, but that dropped to 273 pages in 2017. A recommended wordcount might be 15002000 words but, more. 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. 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.
Unfortunately, they dont offer word count so ive created an algorithm based on the number of pages, genre, and the dimensions of the book. 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. If you stick to these when youre writing your nonfiction book, youll be fine. Word count is commonly used by translators to determine the price of a translation job. Only if youre a major celebrity can you blow right through that word count and just keep going.
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