Nonfiction book average word count

Nonfiction books tend to be shorter, around 45,000 words on average, and novels ten to be longer, around 80,000 words on average. I remember reading some westerns in high school and, if i. My own past research on ya word count turned up 5080,000 as an average guideline. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. Since 2011, the average length of a bestseller has dropped steadily from year to year. Martin and harper lee keep things more evenly paced in a game of thrones and to kill a mockingbird, respectively. Of course, rules are made to be broken, especially in literature. For a 70,000word book, your editing costs could be. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 words. Its easy to extrapolate from this what your total expected editing cost could be. You dont want to overwrite and end up with a 100,000word book when all you wanted was a 20,000word book. Given a standard font size of 11 and an average word count per page of 475 for a 6. Determine the approximate length of your finished book. 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.

The actual word count for the hunger games is 99,750 and my utility calculates 94,743 words. If yours is too short, restructure it and add more tightly written stuff. So lets begin our calculations by focusing on word count first. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. Dont take more than a few pages to make your point. For nonfiction books, word count guidelines are more flexible, sometimes even double the word counts listed here. Depending on your genre, having too many or too little can not only hurt your book sales, but also cause fewer 5star.

Book size is often based on how thick the spine will be and how it will stand out in a bookstore although things are changing. Jun 03, 2009 as far as length, popular memoirs range quite a bit from about 60,000 words to 120,000 or more. 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. Sep 06, 2014 according to chuck sambuchino see below for word count. 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. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. If your picture book is stemsteamrelated if youre working on a nonfiction picture book or an informational or educational picture book that deals with science, technology. I asked agents elizabeth pomada and michael larsen of larsen pomada literary agency to add their thoughts to the subject. 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. 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. Books in this genre are also often gag gifts or are meant to be facetious. There are a few book word count guidelines for each genre, but these arent hard and fast rules. Aug 15, 2019 average word count for this book genre.

Your book may be complete and you are just telling the agent or editor its length. In fact, word counts for these books run between 40,000 to 50,000 words. Mar 17, 2010 over time, the word count diminished and volume 8 the mark contained only 85,341 words, and the last volume, number 16 kingdom come, dwindled to 77,776 words. Chapter book this varies widely, depending on grade and reader level, usually starting at 4,000 words and 15,000 words max. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid.

Count up the total number of words on 10 random full lines from different places and divide by 10 to get the average words perline 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 then. For debut books in this field the average word count tends to be 35k and it has therefore become the marker many industry professionals look for in queries from new writers. Besides, with some editing the word count can come down. The word counts of some famous novels for comparison.

Write as much as it takes to tell the story, and no more. Im not sure if im pushing the word count over, been trying cut back the word count. Apr 08, 2020 in fact, word counts for these books run between 40,000 to 50,000 words. Picture book word count, and other rules that are meant to. Nonfiction wordcounts sit between 70,000120,000 words. The other total calculations also use their respective average rates. The average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range. When talking about book length, its common to talk about word count rather than page count. Count up the total number of words on 10 random full lines from different places and divide by 10 to get the average wordsper. First of all, find your word count in word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen.

How many words in a novel and word counts for other types. So should i stay with this word count, or try to bring the word count down. It should be enough to communicate your message effectively. Yes, having a book that is overly short or overly long for its genre will incrementally decrease your odds of finding traditional publication. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. As far as length, popular memoirs range quite a bit from about 60,000 words to 120,000 or more. Fantasy, scifi, and epic novel writers should be forewarned. For a 120,000word book, your editing costs could be. A study done last spring showed that the average length of a nonfiction bestseller has dropped 42% in the last seven years. Nonfiction books have shrunk drastically in the last decade. The grandfather of modern christian fiction, in his steps by charles m. So 50,000 words is the minimum for a nonfiction book.

Picture book word count, and other rules that are meant to be. How many words in a novel and word counts for other types of. Deconstructing five spooky picture books with spoilers and word counts. What is the ideal word count for a nonfiction book in the. In 2011, the lists average length peaked at 467 pages. 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. Its good to have a word count in mind when you start. 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. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing stack. For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. Jun 07, 2017 when talking about book length, its common to talk about word count rather than page count. But i understand your point that it would be better to have a lower word count from the start, thus increasing your chances of acceptance. Excluding endnotes and index, the book has about 200 pages of text, which means its total word count is about 74,000 words. The average fiction book is about 80,000 to 100,000 words, which is about.

A word count that is much higher than the average range tells the agent or editor your work probably needs to be tightened. The left behind series original books, not including the prequel, 19952007 by tim lahaye and jerry b. Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book. Youll use the word count in your word document to calculate book page count. The important thing is that your length fits your book. However, book length varies widely between genres, among authors, and based on the content of the book. With digital as well as print books available, the length of books varies. The average wordcount for adult fiction is between 70,000 to 120,000 words. 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.

Add screenshots or other graphics and youve got a nicesized ebook. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a word count guideline. Jan 08, 2018 calculate book page count using your word count. Unfortunately, they dont offer word count so ive created an algorithm based on the number of pages, genre, and the dimensions of the book. Everything you need to know about novel word counts nathan. 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. I use amazons data feeds to come up with the calculation. May 14, 2018 literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. As always, be sure to keep it interesting so you can justify the word length. My upperlevel ya novel is 211 pages, 61,078 words, tnr 12 pt. When i started writing three years ago, the mg word count i kept hearing was no more than 30,000 words. I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an e book at a short length at least for nonfiction. Most traditional publishers will place restrictions on an author and require that the manuscript not exceed a specified word count, unless special concessions are made. Average word count for nonfiction essay, american literature argumentative essay, abstract of dissertation proposal, college essay about ski tuning.

Apr 23, 2018 standard word count ranges for various genres. If yes, then most publishers still work on specific word count lengths for books so youll probably be aiming for around 60,00080,000 words for nonfiction. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000 word range. Search for word count totals in books word counters.

It seems like ya novels are getting longer and longer nowadays, but maybe my attention span is getting shorter. 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. Nonfiction picture book 3,000 words max, but closer to 1,000 to 2,000 words. Therefore, a 280,000 word manuscript becomes a 900 page doorstop. If youre a new author, id recommend staying on the shorter side, perhaps around the 75,000 word mark. Aug 05, 2019 for most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. But your word count might be a reason it is being rejected. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. That means your manuscript must be at least 3540,000 words long. In itself, no measure is perfect but personally i find word count the most useful. When it gets closer to 1,000, editors and agents may shy away. Apr 08, 2019 when it comes to word counts and target ages for picture books especially nonfiction, i caution writers not to subscribe to hard and fast limitations. And man, people love to point out exceptionsand they always will.

The average across a sample of 50 books in august 2015 showed 172 words per kindle edition normalized page. I advise authors to ignore word counts when writing. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. Average word count ranges from 70,000 to 100,000 words, although biographies of major celebrities or public figures can support a higher number. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. A reasonable word count for a nonfiction book would be between 30,000 to 50,000 words. Each page contains about 34 lines, with an average word count of 11 words per line, thus 375 words per page. Apr 05, 2015 it word count 274,407 and page count 417. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a wordcount guideline. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. If your manuscript is on the short side, make this clear when pitching to a publisher.

I agree that it seems like for a debut author, the agent really looks at that word count. The di vinci code 2003 by dan brown is 8,380 words christian book word count. Make sure your introduction is clear and concisethis is no place for tangents, longwinded descriptions, or a boatload of statisticsand make every word count. According to chuck sambuchino see below for word count. Oct 18, 2017 the average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range. Generally speaking, traditional publishers expect completed nonfiction book manuscripts to be between 50,000 to 75,000 words. I just popped into my office and pulled a few books off the shelf. Line count varies depending on page size, font size, etc. The answer will be the approximate page count of a printed book. The most important thing here is to realize that there are always exceptions to these rules. Jul 23, 2012 the average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 words. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. What occurred to me while reading was how the predetermined word counts make it more difficult to query a novel that crosses categories.

When talking about book length, its common to talk about word count. As a nonfiction writer myself, i know this is tough. As persuasion progresses, jane austen seems to elongate hers, building them up on a crescendo. In 2011, the average length of a bestselling nonfiction book was 467 pages, but that dropped to 273 pages in 2017.

If youve ever read a joke book or a book revolving around a humorous endeavor of some sort, it falls under this book category. Average nonfiction word counts biographies and memoirs. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books. 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. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility calculates it at 80,7.

Can be publisher specific, ranging from 3,000 to absolute max 5,000. Jul 24, 2009 my upperlevel ya novel is 211 pages, 61,078 words, tnr 12 pt. You would be wise to come close to these suggested. 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.

A good way to gauge appropriate length is to check out similar books for comparison. We all know of outliers within each genre that have been published well under, or well over, these word counts. This reduction will be very small, like maybe 12 lines less per page, and 510 pages less for the book. May 07, 2018 your book may be complete and you are just telling the agent or editor its length. Rather than sticking too rigidly to word count, its best to strive for a manuscript in which the function and the format work together. Like novels, these books fall into the 70,000 to 120,000 word range.

Still, there may be some bestsellers out there that are submitted at 115,000 words, and turned down for bad books that are exact. The popular book the noticer 2009 by andy andrews barely breaks the novel barrier at 40,454 words without the readers guide that was added to pad the book. Once you know your word count, follow one of our two methods below to estimate your page count. Elizabeth said, for nonfiction books, it depends on the kind of book. 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 following are average wordcount ranges by genre. Realize it over the maximum word count for erotic, science fictionfantasy genre. 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 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. Apr 07, 2014 generally speaking, traditional publishers expect completed nonfiction book manuscripts to be between 50,000 to 75,000 words.