A reasonable word count for a nonfiction book would be between 30,000 to 50,000 words. Can be publisher specific, ranging from 3,000 to absolute max 5,000. 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 words. Perkins agency in new york says its much easier to market a firsttime novelists book if the word count falls between 80,000 and 100,000 words, or roughly 300 doublespaced, typed pagesthe average novel length. Ideally, you want to give your reader something she knows. The average wordcount for adult fiction is between 70,000 to 120,000 words. In 2011, the lists average length peaked at 467 pages. I am on the record as saying i dont really care about word counts unless they are so offthe wall out of bounds that it is absurd. The first book is around 95k words, so if every book is about that long, it should be closing in on a million words all told. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for non fiction books.
Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. These word counts assume that a novel is more for commercial consumption, and for adults. It seems like ya novels are getting longer and longer nowadays, but maybe my attention span is getting shorter. 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. Tips for writing in the science fiction book genre. The golden compass by philip pullman 112,815 words, prisoner of azkaban by jk rowling 106,821 words, and enders game by orson scott card 100,609 words. As a general guideline, chapters should be between 3,000 to 5,000 words. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook.
Anything above 70k but less than 115k science fiction and fantasy tend to run up around 100k115k words. When converting character counts to words, a measure of 5 or 6 characters to a word is generally used for english. Apr 23, 2018 of course, if you mean i can add together the word counts of all genres in the novel im writing, then thats another story. This popular genre averages between 75,000 and 120,000 words, unless youre writing a saga. In terms of length, author unlimited recommends writing structurally sound sections and making good use of bullets and numbers.
Youll notice that all of them fall well shy of three million words, including the longest of the bunch, marcel prousts in search of lost time. Oct 18, 2017 the average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range. A manuscript over 40,000 words is considered to be a novel. Word counts from the nyt best sellers list writers rumpus. However, the true word count depends on the category in which youre writing. Books in this genre are also often gag gifts or are meant to be facetious. May 14, 2018 literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. Also, edgedancer should, for all purposes, be considered stormlight 2. For fiction, i recommend 5,000 words or more for short stories. Nonfiction books tend to be shorter, around 45,000 words on average, and novels ten to be longer, around 80,000 words on average. The average fiction book is about 80,000 to 100,000 words, which is about.
The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000 word range. As a general rule of thumb, a novel falls somewhere between word count ranges of 50,000 words and 100,000 words. However, very few novels these days are as short as that. Onethird of the novels that come into the agency are rejected because theyre too long or.
We will only consider sf, fantasy, horror or ya crossover novels. The actual word count for the hunger games is 99,750 and my utility calculates 94,743 words. Using your current word count and the appropriate formula below, calculate the number of pages you can expect in your finished book. Since 2011, the average length of a bestseller has dropped steadily from year to year. Jul 24, 2009 my upperlevel ya novel is 211 pages, 61,078 words, tnr 12 pt.
That has to be the first 5 books of the black company. Here are some word count guidelines major fantasy and science fiction publishers have given during open submission rounds. If youre writing a young adult fantasy novel, you should keep your word count below 90,000 words or 300 book pages. I asked agents elizabeth pomada and michael larsen of larsen pomada literary agency to add their thoughts to the subject. Oct 23, 2017 dont count on royalties to support you. A non fiction book attractive to publishers of bestsellers starts at around 75,000 words. None of them fit the industry standard in word count. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 words. However, we do not suggest writing a novel of 500,000 words unless you as established as stephen king is. As mentioned, general fiction for adults should come in at 100,000 words.
For a compilation of short stories, i would shoot for at least 30,000 words. It was 333 words which tends to be lower then the average. I am 42000 words in to my first novel and i have 39 chapters, so on average its just over words per chapter, though some may be nearer 2000. Each genre and subgenre has its own word count range. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. Traditionally published mysteries, like the books of sara paretsky, louise penny, laurie r. If youre working on a novellength book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least but its better to aim for 90,000. A short story has a word count of under 20,000 words though anything over 10,000 puts it into that no mans land along with novellas where its a long slog for a short story but too short for anything resembling a novel. The di vinci code 2003 by dan brown is 8,380 words christian book word count. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid.
Aug 15, 2019 the word count for this novel genre can be extensive depending on the storyline. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. I use the target average of 1,500 words per chapter. The left behind series original books, not including the prequel, 19952007 by tim lahaye and jerry b. 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. I get a lot of questions about word count for urban fiction novels. For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. If you dont know what that might be, read publishers submission guidelines at their sites. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. For a novel, i would recommend at least 50,000 words in length. Is black company being separated into five blocks a matter of omnibus publications, or does this graph really only account for 5 out of 10 books otherwise, this is a good illustration of the effort needed to overtake a specific series. Sep 20, 2019 as you can see, word count for science fiction books vary widely. As for non fiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. Larson writes science fiction with a word count around 100k.
For direct submissions we only consider complete and unpublished science fiction, fantasy and horror novels, written in english of between 95,000 150,000 words. Different genres have different preferences for novel length. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelist s competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. Mostly, it will depend on the story you want to tell. 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. I just did a word count on maurice sendaks picture book where the wild things are. Most agree that under 1,000 words would be rather short and that over 5,000 might be rather too long. But genre books fantasy, scifi, or historical fiction are often longer. Jun 27, 2019 that said, the average word count for science fiction and fantasy novels generally lies between 100,000 and 115,000. Create new technology that works with andor against your protagonists agenda. According to amazons great text stats feature, the median length for all books is about 64,000 words. Its for the ages 710, would i need to stretch it up to 8,000.
The grandfather of modern christian fiction, in his steps by charles m. And so they should have the average word count of about 8000090000 words, as is the case with other fiction novels. Some genres like science fiction can be much longer and spend 1,000s of words on worldbuilding. This 90,000 word guideline for how many words in a novel is just that, a guideline. My own past research on ya word count turned up 5080,000 as an average guideline. The sweet spot, according to donald maas, is 100,000 to 115,000 words. Some books, however, go up to 150,000 to 180,000 words. My upperlevel ya novel is 211 pages, 61,078 words, tnr 12 pt. Perhaps more than any other, ya is the one category where word count is very flexible.
The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. A word count guide for 18 book genres, including fiction and nonfiction. What is the recomended wordcount for a fantasyfiction book. Do check your comparable titlesrecent debuts onlyto make sure your story falls in that range. Thats the level where publishers may suggest dividing a story into multiple volumes. I use amazons data feeds to come up with the calculation. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000word range.
Nonfiction wordcounts sit between 70,000120,000 words. As a starting point, heres an agentmaintained list of word count guidelines. Word count is commonly used by translators to determine the price of a translation job. 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. The average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range. I personally find the trend these days, particularly in thrillers, is to use shorter chapters. Instead, i looked at various scenes at the beginning, middle and end of each book, and multiplied the page numbers by the number of words on an average page an average manuscript page is about 250 words, but paper and font sizes vary with published books, so i had to do sample page counts for each book for instance, my copy of old man and. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. Science fiction and fantasy novels typically have a word count between 90,000 to 125,000 words. I wrote this book over 2 years ago and have been spending the last few years editing and researching agents etc. Learn the differences between middle grade and young adult fiction. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. Plotting a novel by the numbers live write breathe.
What is the minimum word count for a thriller novel in india. Word count of popular fantasy and science fiction series. If there is an average, 60,000 words to 80,000 words are probably the sweet spot. The average mean word count was about 73,000 words. Jenkins started strongly but weakened, along with the. 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. This 90,000word guideline for how many words in a novel is just that, a guideline. Search for word count totals in books word counters.
Literary agent danielle zigner takes a look at typical novel lengths and what appeals. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. But, most non fiction publishers want to be sold the concept, and therefore be able to discuss the direction of the project, before you write the book. King, and lee child run well over 90k, sometimes going as high as 120k. 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. Writing for young adults a look at the numbers hannah holt. Ebook word count by genre the average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction.
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. Know your content, know your mainline pitch and some. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures of readability and to measure typing and reading speeds usually in words per minute. Personally, i recommend at least 10,000 words for nonfiction, unless you can do it justice in less. If im writing a novel, this gives me 40 chapters and 70,000 words when im done. Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. If youve ever read a joke book or a book revolving around a humorous endeavor of some sort, it falls under this book category. Everything you need to know about novel word counts nathan.
Generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. Word count guidelines do, however, differ between genres and age groups. For young adult fiction, the word count is once again lower, with the ideal. 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. 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. I agree that it seems like for a debut author, the agent really looks at that word count. 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. When writing a longer book that is aimed at 12yearolds and could maybe be considered tween, using the term upper middle grade is advisable. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. George r r martin might come in closer to 300,000 words, but established authors can get away with a lot more than debuts.
Fantasy and science fiction novels are known to be lengthier than other books. Mar 22, 2016 thriller novels, even though a bit different from other categories of novels, are a type of fiction novels. Romance novels often run between 50,000 and 90,000 words on average. What occurred to me while reading was how the predetermined word counts make it more difficult to query a novel that crosses categories. Apr 05, 2015 generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. The following are average wordcount ranges by genre. But for mainstream ya it is always best to stick to under 80k.
First time authors should steer clear of writing anything over 80,000 words. Urban fiction publishing requirements urban fiction news. I found some disagreement about the ideal length of mystery novels. A change of scene, a change of chapter seems to make sense to me. Estimate your page count book designer linda parke. Word count for famous novels organized by hawthorn mineart, under books, writing.
To many words can work against you and not just because your audience may lose interest. Unfortunately, they dont offer word count so ive created an algorithm based on the number of pages, genre, and the dimensions of the book. Ive rechecked my word count of my childrens fiction book and i have just under 7500. Martin and harper lee keep things more evenly paced in a game of thrones and to kill a mockingbird, respectively. That said, the average word count for science fiction and fantasy novels generally lies between 100,000 and 115,000.
With fun, lighthearted, simple middle grade youll want to stay around the 20k30k word count range. The average word count could be anywhere from 70,000 to 120,000 words. The average fantasy novel should have between 50,000 and 150,000 words. When i started writing three years ago, the mg word count i kept hearing was no more than 30,000 words. For novels in general, the accepted word count is 7080,000 words. Ar book finder categorizes this book as a middle grade. Coyne uses the nanowrimo wordcount length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon.
It is feasible to count the number of words in a published chapter. By 2017, however, that number has dropped to 273 pages. As persuasion progresses, jane austen seems to elongate hers, building them up on a crescendo. You wont get exact, but youre wondering whether 35k is reasonable, so you dont need exact.