Average word count for non fiction book

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. Publishers are probably more open to this approach, since when you become more established, theres less risk for them with bigger books. In todays market, this is the goto paperback size range for many novels, memoirs, and nonfiction books. A word count guide for 18 book genres, including fiction and nonfiction. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic. Less than 100 pages and it becomes difficult for a printer to print the title of the book on the spine. There are a few book word count guidelines for each genre, but these arent hard. How do you know if your novel is literary or mainstream.

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. Search for word count totals in books word counters. I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an e book at a short length at least for non fiction. If youre concerned about the final page count for your book, you should know that the average 6. Although, youll notice with the harry potter books the length of each book increases with each release in the series. But the word count of a chapter matters if you want your story to flow right. Generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count.

That doesnt mean you can submit a manuscript twice the length a publisher. Word count is commonly used by translators to determine the price of a translation job. First of all, find your word count in word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen. Sep 06, 2014 according to chuck sambuchino see below for word count. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. The 1 thing you need to do to write a new york times best. Oct 18, 2017 therefore, the word count of a novel is crucial if you want your book to be fit for publication. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures of readability and to measure typing and reading speeds usually in words per minute. So 50,000 words is the minimum for a nonfiction book.

On average, when writing a memoir should not exceed 90,000 words and that is a stretch when it comes to memoir word count we recommend memoirs be between 45,000 to 80,000 words in order to maintain intrigue and reduce intimidation. Jul 17, 2017 not necessarily, according to a new study by book in a box of 272 nonfiction books that hit the new york times best sellers list between 2011 and 2017. Obviously, my point is not that you should submit a first book of anywhere near 200,000 words. Of course, when youre writing the first draft of your story, you want to just get your words out on paper. 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. Each page contains about 34 lines, with an average word count of 11 words per line, thus 375 words per page. I have often looked this up and got different results, which makes it very confusing.

Nov 07, 2016 generally speaking, a shorter book of 150 finished pages or 40k words or less typically commands a lower price. As for non fiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. Use these numbers as a baseline for your writing goals. It seems like ya novels are getting longer and longer nowadays, but maybe my attention span is getting shorter. Using your current word count and the appropriate formula below, calculate the number of pages you can expect in your finished book. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. Jun 15, 2017 this is a general list of age categories and word counts for childrens books. How do i raise the word count in my non fiction book with readable material.

I get a lot of questions about word count for urban fiction novels. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books. How to set the retail price of your book mill city press. How many words should be in an adult nonfiction book. For example, memoirs are generally 80,000 to 90,00 words. I just popped into my office and pulled a few books off the shelf. Oct 26, 2018 discover what size your book should be and if thats comparable to the standard book sizes in publishing. When converting character counts to words, a measure of 5 or 6 characters to a word is generally used for english. That means your manuscript must be at least 3540,000 words long. If youre working on a novellength book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least but its better to aim for 90,000. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels.

A recommended wordcount might be 15002000 words but, more. I agree that it seems like for a debut author, the agent really looks at that word count. For nonfiction, the people who say a book should be however long it needs. So as youre writing a book, a common question if often asked. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a nonfiction book. How do you know if your book qualifies as literary. 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. Apr 07, 2014 if youre concerned about the final page count for your book, you should know that the average 6. Now this doesnt mean there arent any guidelines in place. We all know of outliers within each genre that have been published well under, or well over, these word counts. Not necessarily, according to a new study by book in a box of 272 nonfiction books that hit the new york times best sellers list between 2011 and 2017. The retail price you set for your book impacts your profit margin. Jul 23, 2012 so 50,000 words is the minimum for a non fiction book.

Alternatively, this is an acceptable length for a short work of nonfiction. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a non fiction book. A word count guide for 18 book genres, including fiction and. And this ebook page length differs significantly depending on the book genre. Im going to give you some information here, but first i want you to know why this is important. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. 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.

May 27, 2008 the question of how long your manuscript should be is sometimes hard to answer because different publishers have different guidelines. Harry potter and the deathly hallows 198,000 words. 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. It should be enough to communicate your message effectively. The question of how long your manuscript should be is sometimes hard to answer because different publishers have different guidelines. By 2017, however, that number has dropped to 273 pages. Urban fiction publishing requirements urban fiction news. If youre writing a nonfiction book, be sure to look up that category to find the length of similar books. Excluding endnotes and index, the book has about 200 pages of text, which means its total word count is about 74,000 words. A reasonable word count for a nonfiction book would be between 30,000 to 50,000 words. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for non fiction books.

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. I have therefore made some averages, based on what ive heard from publishers and agents at childrens book events, and from research and reading. This is a lot harder because its not a specific field im receiving back i have to scrape the results and do some crazy parsing of the data. 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. On average, when writing a memoir should not exceed 90,000 words and that is a stretch when it comes to memoir word count. In 2011, the average length of a bestselling nonfiction book was 467 pages, but that dropped to 273 pages in 2017. Ive just about finished a nonfiction book about little known young and other heroes of the american. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. Line count varies depending on page size, font size, etc. The 1 thing you need to do to write a new york times.

If yours is too short, restructure it and add more tightly written stuff. Therefore, the word count of a novel is crucial if you want your book to be fit for publication. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. Youll use the word count in your word document to calculate book page count. Harry potter and the halfblood prince 168,000 words. 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. There is no definitive word count guide for nonfiction books due to the many subgenres. So if you write a 35,000 word manuscript, your formatted book will likely be around 140 pages. Apr 05, 2015 generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. The first alone has sold more than 120 million copies, and the rest have sold at least 65 million each. 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. But, most nonfiction publishers want to be sold the concept, and therefore be able to discuss the direction of the project, before you write the book. My own past research on ya word count turned up 5080,000 as an average guideline.

Estimate your page count book designer fiona raven. Coyne uses the nanowrimo wordcount length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. 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. Different sources give different figures like you say but the average seems to be in that bracket. So if youre writing a series, start small, then increase the word count with each release. My upperlevel ya novel is 211 pages, 61,078 words, tnr 12 pt. And remember, keeping to word counts is important, but what makes or breaks your chances with a publisher is the quality of your manuscript. We recommend memoirs be between 45,000 to 80,000 words in order to maintain intrigue and reduce intimidation. Once youve committed to what genre youre writing in, and what age group youre writing for, you can use the average ranges below to determine your target word count. Sep 06, 2016 some of the other answers are idiosyncratic. The most important thing here is to realize that there are always exceptions to these rules. Novel 50,000 110,000 most print publishers prefer a minimum word count of around 70,000 words for a first novel, and some even hesitate for any work shorter than 80,000.

Oct 27, 2018 i use the target average of 1,500 words per chapter. And man, people love to point out exceptionsand they always will. How to set the retail price for your nonfiction book. Only if youre a major celebrity can you blow right through that word count and just keep going.

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. I use the target average of 1,500 words per chapter. 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. Youll probably be familiar with these premium formats. Aug 15, 2019 the relationships genre is not to be confused with the fiction romance genre. 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. Now, they dont offer word count or running time for books, but they do have a search api. Once the book is published, is the author required.

Calculate book page count using the word count from your word document. What is the ideal word count for a nonfiction book in the. 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. The research ive done seems to point at the 500800 word count for a childrens picture book. Most publishers like to see chapters that are in the 2,000 to 3,000word range.

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. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. While the story must be good, emphasis on action is not often as important as emphasis on the ideas, themes, and concerns of the book. Books in this genre are also often gag gifts or are meant to be. Having said that, if a publisher really likes and wants your story, it may be okay to go over that word count slightly. Would you consider a post on memoir guidelines, since memoir falls somewhere between fiction and nonfiction in many ways. Once you know your word count, follow one of our two methods below to estimate your page count.

Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. 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. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. Long book length at the other end of the spectrum a book of 80,000 to 100,000 words has significant heft, 320400 pages. Count up the total number of words on 10 random full lines from different. Thats the level where publishers may suggest dividing a story into multiple volumes. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. We explain two easy methods to estimate your books page count. If you stick to these when youre writing your nonfiction book, youll be fine.

We all know of outliers within each genre that have been published well under, or. Technically, in fiction, most publishers and awards consider anything over 40,000 words to be a novel, but many publishers wont look at anything under 60,000. Jul 24, 2009 my upperlevel ya novel is 211 pages, 61,078 words, tnr 12 pt. As a nonfiction writer myself, i know this is tough. But for mainstream ya it is always best to stick to under 80k. If your book falls within the standard preferred wordcount range, its one less.

Ford, glen book length average length of a non fiction book. What occurred to me while reading was how the predetermined word counts make it more difficult to query a novel that crosses categories. Most memoirs need to be in the 70,000 to 100,000word range. Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. If im writing a novel, this gives me 40 chapters and 70,000 words when im done. If your manuscript is on the short side, make this clear when pitching to a publisher and give solid. When writing a longer book that is aimed at 12yearolds and could maybe be considered tween, using the term upper middle grade is. Do you want to publish a wide format bookwith inspiring quotes down the side margins.

A word count guide for 18 book genres, including fiction. And conversely, a longer book of over 60k words or 200 pages can command a higher price. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a wordcount guideline. According to chuck sambuchino see below for word count. Jan 08, 2018 calculate book page count using your word count. In itself, no measure is perfect but personally i find word count the most useful. Generally speaking, traditional publishers expect completed nonfiction book manuscripts to be between 50,000 to 75,000 words. The relationships genre is not to be confused with the fiction romance genre. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a word count guideline. With digital as well as print books available, the length of books varies. So lets begin our calculations by focusing on word count first. That being said, this range is true for most booksalways do the research into comparable books and price.