Learn the average wordcount for every type of novel, novella, genre, etc. Writing middle grade a look at the numbers hannah holt. If yours is too short, restructure it and add more tightly written stuff. It seems like ya novels are getting longer and longer nowadays, but maybe my attention span is getting shorter. However if youre curious to see what the average word count is for standard genres, check out the breakdown in the article. 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. Jan 08, 2018 calculate book page count using your word count. Similarly, if your book is published and lands in a bookstore, you dont want.
Upper middle grade can hit in the 50k word count range possibly longer, if its something really special. Coyne uses the nanowrimo wordcount length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures of readability and to measure typing and reading speeds usually in words per minute. If you want to get published, you need to be aware that major new york publishers. A memoir of the craft, king speaks on his writing speed. I agree that it seems like for a debut author, the agent really looks at that word count. For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference.
Word count, with a little help from amazon alexis grant. When converting character counts to words, a measure of 5 or 6 characters to a word is generally used for english. Jan 18, 2010 this is awesome enough for me to get excited over. Basically, having an idea of how long you want your book to be helps you work smarter, not harder. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook. Typically, a book that is published in paperback format at a length of 300400 pages. Some authors believe the word count is irrelevantwhether it takes 20,000 words or 200,000 words, the book will be done when youve finished telling your story. The average across a sample of 50 books in august 2015 showed 172 words per kindle edition normalized page. Also, heres another list i may swipe and add in here.
Word count for famous novels organized commonplace book. That said, this figure differs from book to book and organization to. For young adult fiction, the word count is once again lower, with the ideal. This tool is helpful for all authors everywhere who want to figure out how many pages their final book will contain based on their current word count. Page count is determined by the publisher, not the writer. Stephen king word count 112263 274,672 bag of bones 203,3 black house 252,270 blockade billy 15,917 carrie 60,718 cell 121,931 christine 193,602 cujo 121,150 cycle of the werewolf 15,955 desperation 195,011 doctor sleep. Other factors that will affect the number of words per page in a published book include. To be picked up by a traditional publisher, my manuscript needs to fall in a similar wordcount window.
I hope this information has helped you gain clarity about your book. Sep 09, 2012 a quick word from the wise, well me dont do it publishers are turned off or more politely annoyed with a synopsis that doesnt give it away so to speak. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. The formatting for a book containing such elements means the word count will differ from a book that has only words. Use these numbers as a baseline for your writing goals. Aug 05, 2019 all of these are average book word count ranges and should not be taken as the definitive word count you must reach in your book.
Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book. Shorter novels such as fahrenheit 451, the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, the great gatsby, and slaughterhousefive are between 4050,000 words. For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. Your computer count will be considerably different from this basic calculation and when i was under contract to several na publishing houses, they werent at all interested in what i thought the word count was. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a word count guideline. Oct 26, 2018 if you want to experiment with book sizes and the way they might impact your typesetting choices, the reedsy book editor allows you to do so for free. For the book hatchet, the actual word count is 41,672 and i give you 41,212. How to use our book page count calculator select your word print size select the book genre enter your books word count. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words.
But at the end of the day, you have to write the novel you want to write. One of the most important urban fiction publishing requirements is formatting. If perhaps it had even more pictures it would be even a lot better. Search for word count totals in books word counters. By most peoples standards, 40,000 words would be pretty short for a novel. That said, the average word count for science fiction and fantasy. Having some reallife examples at your side, you should get a better sense of. The actual word count for harry potter and the sorcerers stone is 78,792 and my utility calculates 77,876. For traditional publishing or self publishing, youll have the best odds of success. In 2011, the lists average length peaked at 467 pages.
Do check your comparable titlesrecent debuts onlyto make sure your story falls in that range. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. Jun 15, 2017 this is a general list of age categories and word counts for childrens books. I am trying to approach this rather pragmatically, with a view to getting published, so id prefer to modify the project to fit the needs of publishersin that regard at least, i feel the length probably does matter.
Everything you need to know about word count and book length for. We all know of outliers within each genre that have been published well under, or well over, these word counts. Most published books average closer to 300 words per page than 200. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. The hunger games has a word count of 99,750 and my utility calculates it at 98,916. Young adult fiction allows for a lot of flexibility in word count. If they want a 6 x 9 book, this is only about 66 pagesalmost not a book. A books word count does matter and if you get it wrong, this can impact your. Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. Since 2011, the average length of a bestseller has dropped steadily from year to year. Most adult books are about 90,000 words, and no longer than 100,000 words unless. Failing to mention the word count, or committing the faux pas of stating the page count instead, will also see a quick rejection.
Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. We recommend memoirs be between 45,000 to 80,000 words in order to maintain intrigue and reduce intimidation. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. Yes, you should go through the novel revision checklist and take out anything extraneous no matter what.
Whether the book has pictures, charts, graphs, etc. This article suggests that essentially, it should be as long as it needs to be, meaning dont look at the word count, just get the story out then edit. On average, there are about 300 words per page in a book. Hes been published by each of the three largest publishers in the world. Im curious about your advice compose the novel in the standard format from the start rather than changing it later why does this matter. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic. Many urban fiction publishers dont require a synopsis but be prepared if you find one that does. Mar 20, 2020 a plan for your book that includes a word count helps you not write too little or too much. Each genre and subgenre has its own word count range.
And remember, keeping to word counts is important, but what makes or breaks your chances with a publisher is the quality of your manuscript. The word count at big five publishers had a slightly narrower range. Estimate your page count book designer fiona raven. May 14, 2018 literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. May 10, 2016 heres the general rule for any book published traditionally or self pubbed. Surely when writing the important thing is to get words on the page even if theyre in pink comic sans.
Urban fiction publishing requirements urban fiction news. I have often looked this up and got different results, which makes it very confusing. The average mean word count was about 53,000 words. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books. So if you want to write and publish a book successfully, this is vital information to.
Everything you need to know about novel word counts nathan. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. This 90,000word guideline for how many words in a novel is just that, a guideline. On average, when writing a memoir should not exceed 90,000 words and that is a stretch when it comes to memoir word count. Often a novellettelength work is difficult to sell to a publisher. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000word range. What follows is a rough guide to book length expectations in certain genres.
But rules are made to be broken, and the most successful publishing phenomenon in history did just that. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. Word count is commonly used by translators to determine the price of a translation job. What is a good length for a selfpublished book on amazon. 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. Book page count calculator how many pages is my novel. As you can see, a smaller trim size will produce more pages for the same word count, and a larger trim size will produce less. 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. Are you wondering what the word count for your book should be. In itself, no measure is perfect but personally i find word count the most useful. First of all, find your word count in word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen. Go to that books page and scroll down to inside this book. Of course, rules are made to be broken, especially in literature. Depending on your genre, having too many or too little can not only hurt your book sales, but also cause fewer 5star.
Frequently asked questions getting published meg cabot. Because it allows me to check out length for published books in my genre. If youre working on a novellength book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least but its better to aim for 90,000. The binding, font and paper size establish how many pages a published book will be. 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. When writing a longer book that is aimed at 12yearolds and could maybe be considered tween, using the term upper middle grade is advisable.
Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. During the introductory month of the new system, the conversion of kenpc into the actual number of words in the book actual word count showed significant differences from one book to the other. The editor also provides four popular trim sizes for formatting 4. Nonfiction books tend to be shorter, around 45,000 words on average, and. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words.
Once you know your word count, follow one of our two methods below to estimate your page count. As a result, a 100k manuscript can size up very differently on a shelf. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. Word count and book length getting published was indeed a good blog post. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. It turns out a better book in the end as well, which means your readers enjoy it moreand youll sell more copies. So itll be off on occasion, but it should get you relatively close for the average book. The greater the word count the larger the book more sections and pages that. Most middle grade novels are between 40,000 and 69,000 words long. I have therefore made some averages, based on what ive heard from publishers and agents at childrens book events, and from research and reading.
Put simply, the sweet spot for a novels word count is generally said to be around 8090k. Yes, having a book that is overly short or overly long for its genre will incrementally decrease your odds of finding traditional publication. The daily word counts of 19 famous writers word counter blog. The word counts you gave is helpful, but this is a nonfiction book, and i wonder if there might be a similar list for. The best word count for your selfpublished novel self. Standard word counts for books publishing with kindle. Youll use the word count in your word document to calculate book page count. With that in mind, ive tried to put together the definitive post on word count for fiction novels, young adult, middle grade, childrens. Oct 10, 2016 again, when considering the authority of agents and publishers, carstairs recommends that, adhering to the expected word count demonstrates that you understand your market. Line count varies depending on page size, font size, etc. With fun, lighthearted, simple middle grade youll want to stay around the 20k30k word count range. If you have any questions about how long your book should be, feel free to contact me and we can figure out your book vision and word count together. But if marketability matters to you, its not that simple. Hence, a manuscript not a published book of 200 pages is figured at 250 wpp x 200 pages 50,000 words.