Average published book word count nonfiction

There are many different different paths to getting published. A single novel can be longer, but once the length is above 110,000 words publishers may look at cutting it back, unless it is a particular kind of book books over the 110k word count are usually considered epics. 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. As a reader i love the huge word count novels steven king has written and the very short. A good way to gauge appropriate length is to check out similar books for comparison. Excluding endnotes and index, the book has about 200 pages of text, which means its total word count is about 74,000 words. Once youve finished a draft of your book, the natural next step is to look for a book editor. The best thing that you can do is look over comparable books and try to judge word count by their size, average. The most important thing here is to realize that there are always exceptions to these rules. Of course, your page count in the final book can vary greatly depending on formatting choices. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. The length of your book will depend on a number of considerations.

Calculate book page count using word count for book design. So itll be off on occasion, but it should get you relatively close for the average. The writing market has changed a lot since i first got published. Frequently asked questions getting published meg cabot.

Sep 29, 2014 its good to have a word count in mind when you start. Short and punchy books are 40,000 to 60,000 words, but many nonfiction books are lengthy. In 2011, the lists average length peaked at 467 pages. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures of readability and to measure typing and reading speeds usually in words per minute. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures of readability and to measure typing and reading speeds usually. Jun 15, 2017 this is a general list of age categories and word counts for childrens books. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. 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.

As for non fiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. With that in mind, ive tried to put together the definitive post on word count for fiction novels, young adult, middle grade, childrens books and even memoir. Since 2011, the average length of a bestseller has dropped steadily from year to year. We all know of outliers within each genre that have been published well under, or well over, these word counts. With that in mind, ive tried to put together the definitive post on word count for fiction novels, young adult, middle grade, childrens. 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. I wrote a book actually, many books, then found read more. And remember, keeping to word counts is important, but what makes or breaks your chances with a publisher is the quality of your manuscript. Depending on your genre, having too many or too little can not only hurt your book sales, but also cause fewer 5star. Word count matters more than it should in my opinion. I know fiction works on average come in at 60,000 but i really had no idea about non fiction. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books.

Page count is determined by the publisher, not the writer. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. Discover what size your book should be and if thats comparable to the standard book sizes in publishing. My own past research on ya word count turned up 5080,000 as an average guideline. Generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. In itself, no measure is perfect but personally i find word count the most useful. So itll be off on occasion, but it should get you relatively close for the average book. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction. 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. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. What is the ideal word count for a nonfiction book in the. Once you know your word count, follow one of our two methods below to estimate your page count.

Use these numbers as a baseline for your writing goals. Id guesstimate that nonfiction books generally yes, this is very rough run perhaps 150450 pages, and. Your book may be complete and you are just telling the agent or editor its length. If youve ever read a joke book or a book revolving around a humorous endeavor of some sort, it falls under this book category. May 14, 2018 literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. It makes quite a difference whether you want to publish a childrens picture book, a 50. 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. Frequently asked questions on getting published how can i get the book ive written published. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a non fiction book. As a result, a 100k manuscript can size up very differently on a shelf. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a nonfiction book. 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. Setting the retail price for your book shouldnt be an arbitrary decision.

Therefore, a 280,000 word manuscript becomes a 900 page doorstop. Calculate book page count using the word count from your word document. And this ebook page length differs significantly depending on the book genre. We explain two easy methods to estimate your books page. I asked agents elizabeth pomada and michael larsen of larsen pomada literary agency to add their thoughts to the subject. When converting character counts to words, a measure of 5 or 6 characters to a word is generally used for english. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 to 75,000 words, but this can vary depending upon category. Im always worried that my book is too brief, because my style of writing is so brief. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. I guess the word count doesnt matter so much, as long as you write good content and people feel they get their moneys worth. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of. Sep 06, 2014 according to chuck sambuchino see below for word count. 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.

Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. Books in this genre are also often gag gifts or are meant to be facetious. I have therefore made some averages, based on what ive heard from publishers and agents at childrens book events, and from research and reading. Of course, rules are made to be broken, especially in literature. The best thing that you can do is look over comparable books and try to judge word count by their size, average wordspage, and illustration content. You dont want to overwrite and end up with a 100,000word book when all you wanted was a 20,000word book. The 1 thing you need to do to write a new york times. 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. In all cases, you can find an author who has successfully pushed the envelope one way or another. By 2017, however, that number has dropped to 273 pages. Average nonfiction word counts biographies and memoirs. Excluding endnotes and index, the book has about 200 pages of text, which means its total word.

Yes, you should go through the novel revision checklist and take out anything extraneous no matter what. Would you consider a post on memoir guidelines, since memoir falls somewhere between fiction and nonfiction in many ways. Cnet s david carnoy discusses the ins and outs of what its all about. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. The binding, font and paper size establish how many pages a published book will be. I agree that it seems like for a debut author, the agent really looks at that word count. The editor also provides four popular trim sizes for formatting 4.

For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a word count guideline. But at the end of the day, you have to write the novel you want to write. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for non fiction books. Yes, having a book that is overly short or overly long for its genre will incrementally decrease your odds of finding traditional publication. As a reader i love the huge word count novels steven king has written and the very short gems tom robbins has penned. And of course, if youre in need of book editing, youll wonder how much it will cost. Youll use the word count in your word document to calculate book page count.

At the other end of the spectrum a book of 80,000 to 100,000 words has significant heft, 320400 pages. Word count is commonly used by translators to determine the price of a translation job. 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. I am working on a book about my experience with losing a 9 year old cat to lymphoma. It seems like ya novels are getting longer and longer nowadays, but maybe my attention span is getting shorter. 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. Nonfiction books also vary tremendously in word count. Apr 07, 2014 if youre concerned about the final page count for your book, you should know that the average 6. 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. The question of how long your manuscript should be is sometimes hard to answer because different publishers have different guidelines. The word counts you gave is helpful, but this is a nonfiction book, and i wonder if there might be a similar list for. Mar 17, 2010 i am working on a book about my experience with losing a 9 year old cat to lymphoma. Each page contains about 34 lines, with an average word count of 11 words per line, thus 375 words per page.

How to set the retail price for your nonfiction book. For my travel memoir, should i query when i have a proposal and several sample chapters, like nonfiction, or wait until the manuscript is complete, like fiction. Line count varies depending on page size, font size, etc. According to chuck sambuchino see below for word count. Jun 07, 2017 so a 25,000word manuscript is about 100 pages. Having some reallife examples at your side, you should get a better sense of. Jan 08, 2018 calculate book page count using your word count. The answer will be the approximate page count of a printed book. 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. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a wordcount guideline.

A word count that is much higher than the average range tells the agent or editor your work probably needs to be tightened. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. Its good to have a word count in mind when you start. I have been writing all my life and have been published in a few online places.

As a nonfiction writer myself, i know this is tough. Elizabeth said, for nonfiction books, it depends on the kind of book. Everything you need to know about novel word counts nathan. So if you write a 35,000 word manuscript, your formatted book will likely be around 140 pages. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction.

There is no single formula for calculating the price of a book. Failing to mention the word count, or committing the faux pas of stating the page count instead, will also see a quick rejection. So if youre a writer looking to boost sales of your new book or if youre trying to place it on the highly coveted new york times best sellers list make sure you track your word count closely. I have often looked this up and got different results, which makes it very confusing. If yours is too short, restructure it and add more tightly written stuff. While there is no one right answer to how long should my book. First of all, find your word count in word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen. A single novel can be longer, but once the length is above 110,000. Decide how much time it will take you to write the book. My upperlevel ya novel is 211 pages, 61,078 words, tnr 12 pt. We all know of outliers within each genre that have been. I know fiction works on average come in at 60,000 but i really had no. Im going to write about my experience and not worry too much about the word count. And man, people love to point out exceptionsand they always will.

Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book. Search for word count totals in books word counters. The best thing that you can do is look over comparable books and try to judge word count by their size, average words page, and illustration content. Jul 23, 2012 the average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 words.

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. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 words. 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. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. I asked agents elizabeth pomada and michael larsen of larsen pomada. Do you want to publish a wide format bookwith inspiring quotes down the side margins. Apr 05, 2015 generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count.