In other words no pun intended, tell your story in as many words as. Dont submit an outline for a book that contains less than 9 chapters. I asked agents elizabeth pomada and michael larsen of larsen pomada literary agency to add their thoughts to the subject. Publishers ultimately decide what length is proper for a particular book. A fulllength nonfiction book usually contains 9 to 15 chapters of average length. Nonfiction wordcounts sit between 70,000120,000 words. Count up the total number of words on 10 random full lines from different places and divide by 10 to get the average wordsperline. Personally, i recommend at least 10,000 words for nonfiction, unless you can do it justice in less. 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. And dont forget to calculate what your word count will be. Although science fiction and some other kinds were now invasive and can exceed 400 pages 200,000 words.
According to amazons great text stats feature, the median length for all books is about 64,000 words. In 2011, the lists average length peaked at 467 pages. While this number of words would be very common when pitching a nonfiction text, such a length reminds me of tennis lessons in my youth. In terms of adult mainstream fiction, that length would be considered a novella. And no agents or publishers would even look past that number. In fiction, a book about between 50,000 and 80,000 words about 200 to 300 pages in paperback. Virtually every book i try to shop by a debut author thats any longer than thatregardless of categoryreceives the same response from editors. The average fiction book is about 80,000 to 100,000 words, which is about 246 to 307 ebook pages.
If your manuscript is on the short side, make this clear when pitching to a publisher and give solid. In fact, the average nonfiction book on amazon is 10,000 words, which translates to 80 pages. If you take the advice on book length, then a 50,000 word book might. Average word count ranges from 70,000 to 100,000 words, although biographies of major celebrities or public figures can support a higher number. Make sure you have enough material and time to fulfill this obligation before you propose it. For childrens fiction, the general rule is the younger the audience the shorter the book, and for ya novels the average is 50,00070,000 words. Generally speaking, traditional publishers expect completed nonfiction book manuscripts to be between 50,000 to 75,000 words. You wont get exact, but youre wondering whether 35k is reasonable, so you dont need exact. Calculate the number of pages using your current word count and the appropriate formula below, calculate the number of pages you can expect in your finished book. The science fiction and fantasy writers of america specifies word lengths for each category of its nebula award categories. For a compilation of short stories, i would shoot for at. Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. Perkins agency in new york says its much easier to market a firsttime novelists book if the word count falls between 80,000 and 100,000 words, or roughly 300 doublespaced, typed pagesthe average novel length. Harry potter and the halfblood prince 168,000 words.
If you analyse the contents of a typical bookshelf in an academic library, you will notice that many of the books are between 272 and 320 pages in length. This translates into just 20,000 to 25,000 words for a 100 page book, 30,000 to 42,500 words for a 150page book, perhaps just 40,000 words for a 200page book. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. At a writers conference i recently attended, publishing veteran jane friedman said 80,000 words is good for most fiction, below 60,000 isnt novel length territory, and above 120,000 is likely too much. That should give you about 200250 pages in a final manuscript. One of my biggest problems as a publisher is having authors deliver more than was agreed to. The length of your book will depend on a number of considerations. The golden extent for many publishers is 288 pages about 90 100,000 words without tables or figures. But, most nonfiction publishers want to be sold the concept, and therefore be able to discuss the direction of the project, before you write the book.
Standard nonfiction business, political science, psychology, history, etc. The perennial favorite by gary chapman, the five love languages 1995, comes in at only 46,145 words. Onethird of the novels that come into the agency are rejected because theyre too long or short, perkins says. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. On average there are 233 words per page for a nonfiction book and 280 words per page for a fiction book on amazon. With digital as well as print books available, the length of books varies. I just popped into my office and pulled a few books off the shelf. Estimate your page count book designer linda parke. He wrote, the number of ebook singles any ebook between 5,000 and 30,000 words in length published in the third quarter increased a whopping 27 percent compared to the second quarter of 20. Now that you know the average number of words per page in your book, you can calculate the page count with a little arithmetic. The figure was found through looking at a number of books text stats, until brave new worlds 64,531 word count landed in the exact center of all books50% of books have fewer words and 50% of books have more words. And man, people love to point out exceptionsand they always will. For fiction, i recommend 5,000 words or more for short stories. A young adult novel will run between 20,000 and 40,000 words.
The art of the nonfiction book proposal writers relief. The most important thing here is to realize that there are always exceptions to these rules. To help you cast this vision, let me tell you that most standard 192page paperback books are about 40,000 to 50,000 words. Novels intended for the adult market will be longer than those targeted at children and young adults. My picture books have ranged from 147 words to 1,400 words. 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. Specifically, an accessible nonfiction book might be anything between about 30,000 words and 50,000 words. Picture book word count, and other rules that are meant to. It is feasible to count the number of words in a published chapter. For most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. If youre working on a novellength book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least. In fiction, a short book is between 50,000 to 80,000 words roughly 200 300 pages in paperback. This is a story that is between 10,000 and 40,000 words. Conversely, when we write epiclength chapters 10,000 words long, theres nowhere to pause.
Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing stack. Many of the misconceptions on the ideal booklength are leftover from outdated publishing industry standards. Nonfiction picture book 3,000 words max, but closer to 1,000 to 2,000 words. By 2017, however, that number has dropped to 273 pages. However, here are some guidelines you will find helpful. However sometimes, like today, the reverse happens. I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an ebook at a short length at least for nonfiction. When talking about book length, its common to talk about word count rather than page count. You dont want to overwrite and be forced to use a teeny font. Nonfiction book 25,000 150,000 words fiction novella 18,00040,000. Chapter book this varies widely, depending on grade and reader level, usually starting at 4,000 words and 15,000 words max. This trim size is good for only 200 to 250 words per printed book page.
A type of popular business book runs from 25,000 to 75,000 words. 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. For a novel, i would recommend at least 50,000 words in length. No more than 90,000 words seems to be the editors mantra these days. 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. Kindle publishing faq tck publishing book publisher. Count up the total number of words on 10 random full lines from different. Book writing and publishing faq how long should my. According to chuck sambuchino see below for word count. This latter tends to be priced at the 100 page mark so preferred lengths tend to come in. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 words. My coach would tell me to stand at the back line to volley or approach the net, but never to float in between the areas, because.
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. Your chapter structure needs to be in proportion to the overall length of the book. The first alone has sold more than 120 million copies, and the rest have sold at least 65 million each. In years past, a thick book spine was the advertisement for the title on a bookstore shelf. And, keeping your chapters short creates a good balance between content and action, and fits with this model of short actionable content. Number of words should be visible in amazon for books details. Although science fiction and some other genres have been creeping up and can now exceed 400 pages 200,000 words.
The average number of words in a nonfiction book is around 50,00070,000 words, and the average number of chapters in a nonfiction book are about 1020. As always, be sure to keep it interesting so you can justify the word length. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. The average wordcount for adult fiction is between 70,000 to 120,000 words. You would be wise to come close to these suggested manuscript lengths. If you stick to these when youre writing your nonfiction book, youll be fine. Elizabeth said, for nonfiction books, it depends on the kind of book. This is a list of the novels over 500,000 words published through a mainstream publisher. Obviously, my point is not that you should submit a first book of anywhere near. How many words should be in an adult nonfiction book. It is the responsibility of the author to cast the vision for the book and project a word count and finished length.
In my experience, individual short stories dont tend to sell well on kindle compared to novels. Look at the books that sell well, and are in competition with yours. With this logic, the number of words in a nonfiction book chapter is about 3,500 words to 5,000 words. The estimated length is calculated using the number of page turns on a kindle, using settings to closely represent a physical book. Simply divide the total word count from your word document by the number of words per page. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. How to write a book chapter in 7 simple steps for your. Harry potter and the deathly hallows 198,000 words. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. Count the number of lines on each page to get the linesperpage. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. So 50,000 words is the minimum for a nonfiction book. Like novels, these books fall into the 70,000 to 120,000word range.
Right now, when it comes to novellength word count, its all about 90,000 words. There is no reliable data from 2012 to make a viable yeartoyear comparison. Check that the book actually starts on page 1 sometimes the stuff before it starts is counted then go to the last page before any. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic. A nonfiction book attractive to publishers of bestsellers starts at around 75,000 words. A good way to gauge appropriate length is to check out similar books for comparison. What is the ideal word count for a nonfiction book in the.
You want 50,000 to 85,000 words for a fulllength selfhelp book, half that for a selfpublished ebook. 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 length can vary greatly between genres, though. Thats the level where publishers may suggest dividing a story into multiple volumes. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. Classification word count novel over 40,000 words novella 17,500 to 40,000 words novelette 7,500 to 17,500 words short story under 7,500 words. By most peoples standards, 40,000 words would be pretty short for a novel. Sketch out your outline, make sure your structure works, and then start coming up with more clever titles for the chapters and parts, if you use those. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 to 75,000 words, but this can vary depending upon category. Under 500 words can be described as flash fiction between and 8000 words is a short story also, most short story competitions will stipulate their required word length for entry between 5000 and 10,000 words is a long short story. 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.
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