Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. Jun 03, 2015 actually, its seemingly closer to about 65, 000. Obviously, a prime determinant of book size is the word count. The overview below provides an indication of the number of pages required based on font. If a page is 500 words on an ipad, and 250 words on a kindle, it might be only 120 words on a phone.
I just popped into my office and pulled a few books off the shelf. Due to wide variation between definitions, it is always a good idea to put a word count at the bottom of your product description when selling an unusuallength book. In chinese, korean, and japanese respectively it is simplified chinese. That would be a novella too long for a short story and too short for a novel. A young adult novel will run between 20,000 and 40,000 words. There are times when it helps to know how many words per page youre writing. The average fiction book is about 80,000 to 100,000 words, which is about 246 to 307 ebook pages. The average book has 64,500 words not in book publishing, but id imagine one issue is, if its much longer, there better be a darn good reason for it. I have 15 books selling in the amazon kindle store of varying lengths. Before our book page count calculator, you had to dig around through multiple sources to figure out how many words per page for your exact font size and then do the math. Word count estimates are not guaranteed to be accurate. That would depend on how many words per page you want it to be.
Amazon kindle direct publishing is reportedly planning to remove kindle books that have fewer than 2,500 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 count the number of lines on each page to get the linesperpage check that the book actually starts on page 1 sometimes the stuff before it starts is counted. It becomes more expensive to produce a novel when it is that long. A novella is usually between 20,000 and 50,000 words. Your debut novel is 20,000 words long how not to self. By most peoples standards, 40,000 words would be pretty short for a novel. 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. 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. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic.
The average adult novel runs approximately 100,000 words while those in other categories run 80120,000 words. Young adult books range between 60,000 and 90,000 words. 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. Such books will have a minimum length of 75,000 words but seldom exceed 110,000. The golden extent for many publishers is 288 pages about 90100,000 words without tables or figures. Word count is a direct way to measure the length of a novel in a. However, occasionally very short books are published, such as harry frankfurts on bullshit, at 67 small pages with very wide margins about 110 wdspage.
A published author in 10,000 words or less writeraccess. If you are an author of a book or know of a books accurate wordcount, contact me. Put simply, anything less than 70, 000 words or over 110, 000 might make publishers think twice before accepting it. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. Word count for famous novels organized by hawthorn mineart, under books, writing. This is a list of the novels over 500,000 words published through a mainstream publisher. It is very rare for a crime or a love story to need to push on beyond the 110 000word epic mark. In terms of adult mainstream fiction, that length would be considered a novella. But while the length of a novel is to a large extent up to its writer, lengths may also vary by subgenre.
This of course will depend on your word processor settings and how you format your work, however, with standard margins and arial or times new roman 12 point font your results should be about the same. Pbs go from image only board books all the way up to full stories with significant illustrations. However, many authors, frustrated with the low price of ebooks, have taken to writing ebooks that are between 40, 000 and 50, 000. Liquid glass by zathyn priest, the night caller by clancy nacht, the ghost on my couch by l. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. Some large print books dip down into the 250 words per page range, though, and at that count, a 100,000 word novel makes for 400 pages. Thats the level where publishers may suggest dividing a story into multiple volumes. If so, these books need to be the 7 x 9 trim size, and the slightly larger pages can hold 400 to 450 words per page. The storytellers secret sejal bedani 110,000 words. Me before you jojo moyes 140,000 words very unusual length for womens fiction this one, but it was a very unusual book. The science fiction and fantasy writers of america offers a less nebulous guideline for the coveted nebula award.
Unless youre writing a young adult epic fantasy, which can go up to 150,000 words. A typical novel will normally be 60,000 to 100,000 words, with some of the larger thrillers and genre novels being much longer. You can use comparable, successful books as models to determine the length. Length of a book is typically associated with its sizespecifically page countleading many to assume the largest and thickest book equates to its length. This is a story that is between 10,000 and 40,000 words.
Frequently asked questions getting published meg cabot. A short story is usually anything from 1,000 to 8,000 words, but many are often longer a novella is usually between 20,000 and 50,000 words the average novel is usually between 80,000 and 100,000 words an epic novel is anything over 110,000 words. Thrillers and epic fantasy often clock in at over 100, 000 words. Feb 18, 2012 for much of the 20th century, novels averaged 75, 000 to 80, 000 words, making a book of fewer than 250 pages and sometimes barely 200. Amazon estimates a page count in an ebook to be around 187 words. Aug 11, 2014 childrens books, however, are allowed a lower word count than comparable books for adults. The truth is the number of words per page depends on a variety of factors such as the type of font. As ebooks became a viable business model, the rise in popularity of books in the 20,000word range opened the door for authors to publish books about topics that didnt require a full 60,000 word treatment.
Thus, 100 pages 40,000 to 45,000 words and 200 pages yields 80,000 to 90,000 words for the main body of the text this excludes the words used in the quotations down the sides of the books margins. Mysteries and young adult books run between 40, 000 and 80, 000 words. Aug 03, 2017 flash fiction is anything from 100 to 500 words. Book page count calculator how many pages is my novel. No matter how much you adjust the other variables, if the ms is only 50,000 words in length instead of 95,000, then you have a problem if the book was announced as being 288 pages in length but the most it can be stretched to is 160 pages. Most adult books are about 90,000 words, and no longer than 100,000 words unless youre jk rowling. According to amazons great text stats feature, the median length for all books is about 64,000 words. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a nonfiction book. East asian languages treat 100,000,000 as a counting unit, significant as the square of a myriad, also a counting unit. Click to enlarge image created by the company cartridge discount, this informative infographic catalogs the word counts of famous and popular.
I think the fewest words i have in a book is about 15,000. Childrens books, however, are allowed a lower word count than comparable books for adults. 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. Memoir novel 80,000 words the most common rule for a memoir is that it should not go more than 80,000 words. Bestselling author caleb carr may write novels of 250, 000 words, but when you pitch your novel and offer up that number, be prepared for a glacial reception. Books of smaller word counts were more common in the 1800s and early 1900s, but the trend for books became longer with the rise of modern printing techniques. For most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. The average novel is usually between 80, 000 and 100, 000 words. However, many authors, frustrated with the low price of ebooks, have taken to writing ebooks that are between 40,000 and 50,000.
A good editor could probably cut 30 000 words without breaking a sweat. Word count for famous novels organized commonplace book. A novella is usually between 20, 000 and 50, 000 words. Will include het, slash, femslash, creature, dark, light, elves, humans, everything. While a general guideline is one page is 500 words single spaced or 250 words double spaced, this is a ballpark figure. The length can vary greatly between genres, though. A 90, 000 word count signals to professionals that you know what you are doing. A step up from picture books, these are for kids who have just started reading by themselves. Typically there are 350400 words in a standardsized book, so it will make your shortstory about 75 pages long. The average novel is usually between 80,000 and 100,000 words.
Also, i have ghostwritten books for others for decades. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook. Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words.
Since the paperback is going away, lets look at more realistic lengths for books. Here is what 187 words looks like in microsoft word. Aug 05, 2019 for most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. 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 pages. Ive heard people say that 250 words per page is the standard count, but in all my years of reading, ive never seen any but large print books have counts that low, so i pay no mind to that. So 15,000 words would run to 288 pages, and 30,000 words would run to 576 pages. How long it takes you to produce 100k words depends greatly on how quickly you write, how much time you have for writing, and what level of polish you want your words to be at. Novels intended for the adult market will be longer than those targeted at children and young adults. Every category will have an average length, including childrens books, young adult, business books, etc. Most editors wouldnt recommend going over 80,000, as it will inspire bad taste among readers. Mar 20, 2020 howtos or selfhelp usually have 4050,000 words. At the kboards site for kindle readers and writers, one author shared a letter from amazon that explained.
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. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. Generally i consider any novel that is less than 300 pages to be a short one, 500 page a medium sized novel and anything more than 750 a lengthy novel. For first drafts, most writers can produce 100k words in 36 months, depending on the amount of time per day allotted. 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. There are 10,000 words in the template, and the type is 11 pt with generous leading or linespacing. For much of the 20th century, novels averaged 75,000 to 80,000 words, making a book of fewer than 250 pages and sometimes barely 200. Why modern novelists need to watch their weight books the. A short story is usually anything from 1, 000 to 8, 000 words, but many are often longer. I still write about 5,000 words each day, but much of it is aimed at online courses i. It depends on the font you are using, of course, but in. You can write anything from 70 000 to 110 000 words, but this is out of the average range. Generally, 50, 000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70, 000 words.
Compiling a list of longest novels yields different results depending on whether pages, words or characters are counted. By most peoples standards, 40, 000 words would be pretty short for a novel. Writers digest recommends 80,000 to 89,999 words as a 100% safe range for literary, mainstream, womens, romance, mystery, suspense, thriller and horror. May 14, 2018 with a track record to back them up, established writers have greater flexibility. On the upper end, a novel over 110, 000 words is considered an epic. For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. 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. 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. Popular novels word count 100k 105k books goodreads. No matter how much you adjust the other variables, if the ms is only 50, 000 words in length instead of 95, 000, then you have a problem if the book was announced as being 288 pages in length but the most it can be stretched to is 160 pages. Content that is less than 2,500 words is often disappointing to our customers and does not provide an enjoyable reading experience. Here is a partial list of wellknown novels that contain roughly 50,000 words, which in turn is roughly 175 pages, and are thus comparable to the average size of a nanowrimo winners novel see also list of published authors who write quickly for published authors who consistently write at the nanowrimo pace or faster the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by douglas adams. But depending on the ereading device and the font size setting, it varies significantly between a phone, a tablet, or a kindle. Why modern novelists need to watch their weight books.
A short story is usually anything from 1,000 to 8,000 words, but many are often longer. Sep 20, 2009 obviously, a prime determinant of book size is the word count. Jan 08, 2018 there are 10,000 words in the template, and the type is 11 pt with generous leading or linespacing. A 40,000 to 80,000word memoir is around 150265 pages, a standard booklength for the genre. The average fiction book is about 80, 000 to 100, 000 words, which is about 246 to 307 ebook pages. Its too much hassle and timeconsuming time you couldve spent refining and perfecting your book content.
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