Average book length in words fiction

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 books 50% of books have fewer words and 50% of books have more words. Novelist jane smiley suggests that length is an important quality of the novel. The first alone has sold more than 120 million copies, and the rest have sold at least 65 million each. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. In terms of adult mainstream fiction, that length would be considered a novella. On one level, you could argue that word count, or length, is probably the last thing a fiction writer should worry about. So 50,000 words is the minimum for a nonfiction book. Personally, i recommend at least 10,000 words for nonfiction, unless you can do it justice in less. Most agree that under 1,000 words would be rather short and that over 5,000 might be rather too long. Some will tell you 2,500 words is the average, while others will say that 3,000 to 5,000 word chapters are more likely to be the norm. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 to 75,000 words, but this can vary depending upon category. What do most writers see as a good average chapter length. However, many authors, frustrated with the low price of ebooks, have taken to writing ebooks that are between 40,000 and 50,000. The targets average chapter contains 1,600 words while the goldfinchs average chapter contains 25,000 words.

The exact number of words often is not a strict requirement, thus the variation is acceptable. However, it will be on the short side, as the average length of a novel hovers around 50,00070,000 words. Literary agent danielle zigner takes a look at typical novel lengths and what. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a non fiction book. Anything above 70k but less than 115k science fiction and fantasy tend to run up around 100k115k words. Long book length at the other end of the spectrum a book of 80,000 to 100,000 words has significant heft, 320400 pages. Romance novels often run between 50,000 and 90,000 words on average. 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. The average length of the novels we publish varies, but is almost never fewer than 80,000 words. I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an ebook at a short length at least for nonfiction. However, it will be on the short side, as the average length of a novel hovers.

Knowing how many words in a novel is the first step toward writing a book. A story that is over 40,000 words is generally considered a novel. I tend to average about 1,500 words per scene which works out to five or six pages in a tradefiction sized book. 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. But while the length of a novel is to a large extent up to its writer. Sep 18, 2017 in comparison, the database gives an average length of 89,000 words for adult fiction excluding fantasy, smack in the middle of the commonlycited range of 80,000100,000. All book publishers and book designers have a standard they go by to estimate page length. There are plenty of books that purposefully play with the word counts of their chapters. While 50,000 words is a fairly firm minimum, plenty of ya books reach up to 100,000 words, with a sweet spot at 75,00080,000. A young adult novel will run between 20,000 and 40,000 words. Oct 18, 2017 as with everything else when it comes to writing a book, these are only guidelinesnot rules. A word count guide for 18 book genres, including fiction. Why does the length of a typical novel fall in the 80100,000 range. If the average length is 300 pages, youre looking at a 75,000 word manuscript approximately one reason its harder for a new author to sell a 140,000 word manuscript is the size of the book.

If you are writing a standard length novel, aim for 80,000 to 95,000 words. My current historical fiction novel of the sea ended up at 85,000 words after nine revisions. It doesnt have to be exact, but its there to guide writers. You may wonder when to use a short scene versus a long scene. Word count and book length getting published was indeed a good blog post. I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an e book at a short length at least for non fiction. The question of fiction and nonfiction was not introduced into the story so that brings another question as to the length of nonfiction v fiction and whether there should be a separate category for nonfiction ebooks so that we can remove these ebooks from the general population for data assessment purposes or simply provide another set. For fiction, i recommend 5,000 words or more for short stories. The total page count excluding appendices and index is 204 pages, thus about 93,000 words. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. Publishers ultimately decide what length is proper for a particular book.

But for mainstream ya it is always best to stick to under 80k. The first answer, because its novella length, not novel length were talking adult fiction, not chapter books and novellas are hard to sell. Before diving into the specifics of genrebased word counts, lets look at the broader picture of average book length. For a compilation of short stories, i would shoot for at least 30,000 words. One of the benefits of writing in scene form is that the ending of a scene provides a place for the reader to comfortably take a pause. This video explains why word count is important and the. According to amazons great text stats feature, the median length for all books is about 64,000 words. For a compilation of short stories, i would shoot for at. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words.

Everything you need to know about word count and book length for books and. As with everything else when it comes to writing a book, these are only guidelinesnot rules. Smiley lists novels as typically being between 100,000 and 175,000 words, while national novel writing month requires its novels to be at least 50,000. Lets talk about an issue thats sure to rise up in your mind. The length can vary greatly between genres, though. Different kinds of books should be a different length. A good way to gauge appropriate length is to check out similar books for comparison. Jun 07, 2017 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. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. 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.

At a writers conference i recently attended, publishing veteran jane friedman said 80,000 words is good for most fiction, below. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. For most publishers, a book is novel length when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. And this ebook page length differs significantly depending on the book genre. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words.

One rule of thumb is you can get 60 percent of a manuscript page into one typeset page said manuscript being in 12point type, doublespaced, preferably times new roman, with oneinch margins on an 8. 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. For that reason, writing a long, lengthy book just about their. If the average length is 300 pages, youre looking at a 75,000 word manuscript approximately. Heres an article which breaks down by genre the typical length. Ive heard and read several reasons for this, including.

Although the length of fiction is genredependent to an extent fantasy novels, for example, tend to be on the thicker side, sticking to the ideal novel length is still the best advice. Romance is a unique genre because the plot is all about two characters and their adventure with one another. Jul 23, 2012 so 50,000 words is the minimum for a non fiction book. Classification by length includes shortshort stories, short stories and booklength. While many agents say they wont reject a book solely based on length, many also say they take word count into consideration.

In most cases, industry standard preferred length is 250 words per page. I was scared that agents would reject my book simply because i had got the length wrong. Nonfiction books tend to be shorter, around 45,000 words on average, and novels ten to be longer, around 80,000 words on average. A manuscript over 40,000 words is considered to be a novel. Nonfiction wordcounts sit between 70,000120,000 words.

If you want to see what size book is selling in your genre, take a look on the shelves. That said, of course the books couldnt be more different. Classification by length includes shortshort stories, short stories and book length. It was really interesting to read your publisher tips as well and the expectations of the authorities. 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.

Harry potter and the deathly hallows 198,000 words. In comparison, the database gives an average length of 89,000 words for adult fiction excluding fantasy, smack in the middle of the commonlycited range of 80,000100,000. A word count guide for 18 book genres, including fiction and. Put simply, anything less than 70,000 words or over 110,000 might make publishers think twice before accepting it. The perennial favorite by gary chapman, the five love languages 1995, comes in at only 46,145 words. Just completed my first book a fiction and i wondered if 37000 words was enough. While 50,000 words is a fairly firm minimum, plenty of ya books reach up to 100,000 words, with a. I will rarely put in something around 700 to 1,000 words i used this more with the grandmothers viewpoint scenes in the matchmakers series and in ransomes quest in which i had six. Harry potter and the halfblood prince 168,000 words. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a nonfiction book. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. As explained earlier, different word counting programs may give varying results, depending on the text segmentation rule details. 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.

Obviously, my point is not that you should submit a first book of anywhere near. May 14, 2018 literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. Because its hard to justify the price point for such a short work, and the spine on such a short printed book would be too slim to accommodate the title. For most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. 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. Though the average word count of a chapter is around 2,000 5,000 words, it all depends on your story. Oct 27, 2018 chapter length matters more than you think. The average wordcount for adult fiction is between 70,000 to 120,000 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.

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. If you set yourself a target of 85,000 words, youll know that if you fall short of that average figure, your story is either. Classification of fiction by length school for champions. Apr 05, 2015 this article was really useful, thank you.

This makes me wonder if publishers choose book sizes based on average scene length, to create the illusion of a certain pace. Aug 05, 2019 before diving into the specifics of genrebased word counts, lets look at the broader picture of average book length. By 2017, however, that number has dropped to 273 pages. T he indie author chris fox coined the term potato chip chapters for easilydigestible book chapters of a certain size. In fiction, a short book is between 50,000 to 80,000 words roughly 200 300 pages in paperback.

Chances are your cozy mystery or literary novel is not an epic. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. Your job is to write a good story, and that means including all the detail needed to to make it good, and to leave out anything extraneous. May 11, 2009 word count and book length getting published was indeed a good blog post. However, here are some guidelines you will find helpful. My experience is that a book reaches its right length when the story follows the beats in save the cat writes a novel, the characters come alive and become memorable, their development is believable, and the plot develops and wraps up properly. Once you have a vision for your booksmall, standard, or wide formatyou can move on to the second step in deciding how many words you should write. Novels intended for the adult market will be longer than those targeted at children and young adults. The average fiction book is about 80,000 to 100,000 words, which is about 246 to 307 ebook pages. Oct 01, 2012 its worth checking out if youre writing fiction. For a novel, i would recommend at least 50,000 words in length. Nonfiction book 25,000 150,000 words fiction novella 18,00040,000. I would like your guidance please i have tried searching for this info, but cannot find anything regarding a suggested ebook length for a work of fiction. That said, if your book is around 40,000 words, youre in good company.