From picture books to ya information to get you started at. 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 grandfather of modern christian fiction, in his steps by charles m. As you can see, you need to know your word count, not the number of pages your word processor produces.
How many words should be in an adult nonfiction book. A good way to gauge appropriate length is to check out similar books for comparison. 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. When talking about book length, its common to talk about word count rather than page count. When you write nonfiction, practically anything goes and this is something to embrace, not to lose sleep over. If you stick to these when youre writing your nonfiction book, youll be fine. 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. Most memoirs need to be in the 70,000 to 100,000word range. Deconstructing five spooky picture books with spoilers and word counts. When i started writing three years ago, the mg word count i kept hearing was no more than 30,000 words.
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. When it gets closer to 1,000, editors and agents may shy away. 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. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for non fiction books. Mar 20, 2020 an ebook could be 3,000 words or as long as a full length book. It takes the question of length completely off the table as an issue. As for non fiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. According to chuck sambuchino see below for word count. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. Shorter isnt necessarily better, but it can be an important consideration. The di vinci code 2003 by dan brown is 8,380 words christian book word count. 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. To help you cast this vision, let me tell you that most standard 192page paperback books are about 40,000 to 50,000 words.
Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. Coyne uses the nanowrimo word count length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. Book writing and publishing faq how long should my. First of all, find your word count in word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility. 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. 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. Then consider writing a manuscript of similar length.
When converting character counts to words, a measure of 5 or 6 characters to a word is generally used for english. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a nonfiction book. Only if youre a major celebrity can you blow right through that word count and just keep going. If you are an author of a book or know of a books accurate wordcount, contact me. Id guesstimate that nonfiction books generally yes, this is very. A recommended wordcount might be 15002000 words but, more. If youre working on a novellength book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least but its better to aim for 90,000. 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 man, people love to point out exceptionsand they always will. That should give you about 200250 pages in a final manuscript. Once you know your word count, follow one of our two methods below to estimate your page count. Therefore, the word count of a novel is crucial if you want your book to be fit for publication.
How long should your selfpublished book be best word count and book size for kindle publishing duration. 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. By 2017, however, that number has dropped to 273 pages. 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. While word count will certainly play a factor in value, it also wont be a makeorbreak factor when pricing your ebook. Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book. That doesnt mean you can submit a manuscript twice the length a publisher recommends. I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an e book at a short length at least for nonfiction. With digital as well as print books available, the length of books varies. So 50,000 words is the minimum for a nonfiction book. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility calculates it at 80,7. The most important thing here is to realize that there are always exceptions to these rules. 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. Sep 06, 2016 some of the other answers are idiosyncratic.
Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing stack. 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. Jenkins started strongly but weakened, along with the. It should be enough to communicate your message effectively. The only thing i care is whether or not the book would solve my problems. This may particularly be the case in academia, legal proceedings, journalism and advertising. 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. Add screenshots or other graphics and youve got a nicesized ebook. Surely when writing the important thing is to get words on the page even if theyre in pink comic sans. Can be publisher specific, ranging from 3,000 to absolute max 5,000. Your chapter structure needs to be in proportion to the overall length of the. 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. So if you write a 35,000 word manuscript, your formatted book will likely be around 140 pages.
Step 4 is measure your manuscript in word count, not pages. For example, memoirs are generally 80,000 to 90,00 words. I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an e book at a short length at least for non fiction. Jan 08, 2018 calculate book page count using your word count. Average nonfiction word counts biographies and memoirs. That said, each manuscript should be long enough to adequately tell its story or. If your book falls within the standard preferred wordcount range, its one less reason for it to be rejected. Ford, glen book length average length of a non fiction book. If youre writing a nonfiction book, be sure to look up that category to find the length of similar books. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures. Word count estimates are not guaranteed to be accurate. Of course, when youre writing the first draft of your story, you want to just get your words out on paper. 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.
As a nonfiction writer myself, i know this is tough. Depending on your genre, having too many or too little can not only hurt your book sales, but also cause fewer 5star. 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. 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. Sep 06, 2014 according to chuck sambuchino see below for word count. When writing a longer book that is aimed at 12yearolds and could maybe be considered tween, using the term upper middle grade is advisable. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. 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. Youll use the word count in your word document to calculate book page count. 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. Word counting may be needed when a text is required to stay within certain numbers of words. 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. It is the responsibility of the author to cast the vision for the book and project a word count and finished length.
Calculate book page count using word count for book design. A word count that is much higher than the average range tells the agent or editor your work probably needs to be tightened. Jul 23, 2012 so 50,000 words is the minimum for a non fiction book. So should i stay with this word count, or try to bring the word count down. Coyne uses the nanowrimo wordcount length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. Apr 07, 2014 if youre concerned about the final page count for your book, you should know that the average 6. 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.
Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. 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. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. Generally speaking, traditional publishers expect completed nonfiction book manuscripts to be between. But rules are made to be broken, and the most successful publishing phenomenon in history did just that. 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. 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. Search for word count totals in books word counters. Recently an author proposed a 30,000 word book to a publisher.
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. 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. Counting chickens a few words about word counts at hope vestergaards site. Word count is not the beall and endall of your book.
I advise authors to ignore word counts when writing. Is that a good length for your reader on this topic. 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. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures of readability and to measure typing and reading speeds usually in words per minute.
The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000word range. A reasonable word count for a nonfiction book would be between 30,000 to 50,000 words. Im not sure if im pushing the word count over, been trying cut back the word count. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. Jun 07, 2017 when talking about book length, its common to talk about word count rather than page count. There is no definitive word count guide for nonfiction books due to the many subgenres. I remember reading some westerns in high school and, if i. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. As a kindle book buyer and reader myself, i dont care about the length whenever i am looking to buy a book. But chapter word count is something that you want to keep in. Apr 04, 2020 how long should your selfpublished book be best word count and book size for kindle publishing duration. The word count is the number of words in a document or passage of text.
Im curious about your advice compose the novel in the standard format from the start rather than changing it later why does this matter. But for mainstream ya it is always best to stick to under 80k. An ebook could be 3,000 words or as long as a fulllength book. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000 word range. But the word count of a chapter matters if you want your story to flow right. 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. The left behind series original books, not including the prequel, 19952007 by tim lahaye and jerry b. Unfortunately, they dont offer word count so ive created an algorithm based on the number of pages, genre, and the dimensions of the book.
Now the decisions can be made based on your writing and. Word count for novels and childrens books at the guide to literary agents blog. You would be wise to come close to these suggested manuscript lengths. In 2011, the average length of a bestselling nonfiction book was 467 pages, but that dropped to 273 pages in 2017. 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. In fact, the majority of printed books are turned into ebooks. 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 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. 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 the first place. Realize it over the maximum word count for erotic, science fictionfantasy genre. For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. What is the ideal word count for a nonfiction book in the. The actual word count for the hunger games is 99,750 and my utility calculates 94,743 words.