If you have written a nonfiction book and want to know if you are hitting the. Well skip the extreme options like microfiction upto 100 words and flash fiction 100 words because you may not need a traditional publisher to print such a small book itll resemble a booklet or worse, a pamphlet. For debut books in this field the average word count tends to be 35k and it has therefore become the marker many. Even if you dont count the titles published through printondemand and other feecharging, vanitypresstype outfits, the total still comes to 10,000 books a year or one book published every. May 11, 2012 heres how the wordcount of your book will decide what category your masterpiece falls in. Aug 05, 2019 for most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. May 21, 2006 every word does count and careful consideration must be taken to ensure the pacing of the story and the illustratability is supported in a way that fits a picture book format. Mar 22, 20 the word count of a non fiction book i wrote is 98,797 words long, but its only pages on microsoft word. Not all writers monitor their word count and others would advise against it. For others, making sure that they dont go over the word count can be a chore especially if their editor is strict about not going over that numbe. Similarly, if your book is published and lands in a bookstore, you dont want. Know your content, know your mainline pitch and some. Jul, 2015 alternatively, this is an acceptable length for a short work of non fiction.
Apr 07, 2012 higher word counts cost more to produce and if publishers are already taking a chance on a new author, taking a chance on a high word count is one more element of risk they have to deal with. The the fellowship of the ring, the first book of the lord of the rings series, swelled to 177,227 words. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. Page size, margins, breaks and typeface vary greatly. For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. Today, fiction editor deborah treisman answered readers questions in a live chat. I read science fiction and mystery series such as the travis mcgee series. These days, novellas are starting to appear more and more as standalone published works, too. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. Famous books and their word counts freelance writing jobs.
The hours count by author jillian cantor, is a reimagining of the last years in the lives of ethel and julius rosenberg. Sep 25, 2008 crossover fiction is a slippery category, neither fish nor fowl, sometimes published for adults but read by teens the life of pi, other times published for teens but read by adults his dark. For full titles, authors and descriptions of these books, see whats on my travel memoir bookshelf. But for mainstream ya it is always best to stick to under 80k. Also, heres another list i may swipe and add in here. Jul 18, 2004 even if you dont count the titles published through printondemand and other feecharging, vanitypresstype outfits, the total still comes to 10,000 books a year or one book published every. Genre in childrens writing meg rosoff the guardian. Last year i wrote an adult series under this name which i overhauled and made more adult, it was only going to be a three book series of novellas 120 hand written pages each, 41,904 to 47,030 words but i added a fourth at about half the word count of 26,143 words which is the conclusion to all three stories. I put in anne of green gables and clicked on the first entry, and it listed the word count as 17,129.
How many words in a novel vary depending on genre, audience, and the story itself. A way to check word count of published books anita nolans blog. Told from the firstperson point of view of fictional neighbor millie stein, the story captures the era perfectly. Jun 20, 2011 go to any magazine that accepts fiction, and see the word count limit.
Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. Publishers word count requirements were set up back in the days of typewriters when courier was the only option. See the article revision 911 for fiction picture books. Word count for literary fiction books word counters.
The average fiction book is about 80,000 to 100,000 words, which is about 246 to 307 ebook pages. Fantasy and science fiction novels are known to be lengthier than other books. Almost every book i read during those years was in the 40,000 word range. Find the word count for published ya and childrens books. Jun 15, 2006 my latest hard cover release is 126,000 words, which seemed long when i wrote it, but the publisher wanted an epic style book and thats why they bought it. A time to kill 168,603 the firm 142,811 the pelican brief 1,926. Can be publisher specific, ranging from 3,000 to absolute max 5,000. Where word count translates into a specific number of pages, which in turn influences how painful it would be to publish your book. By the fifth book, harry potter and the order of the phoenix, the word count had grown to 257,000 words. The classics of mystery and science fiction were written at the length of 4050 thousand words or shorter. There are some easy ways to find the word count for a published bookonline bookstores. Crossover fiction is a slippery category, neither fish nor fowl, sometimes published for adults but read by teens the life of pi, other times published for teens but read by adults his dark.
Even consider contacting agents and publishers asking for guidelines before sending them a copy of a manuscript. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for non fiction books. A lot of fiction written for women will have an element of romance, but is far more. Search for word count totals in books word counters. While page counts are a common but not universal feature of bibliographic metadata, word counts are much less frequently provided and are not at all mandatory.
Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. 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. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures of readability and to measure typing and reading speeds usually in words per minute. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. 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. In the days of the typewriter, a doublespaced page with 1inch margins would hold an average of 250 words. For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. And besides, if its just the first book in a series, like the ones youve listed, then you have further books to expand the scope and build upon an epic vibe in the first book with more words and worldbuilding. How many wordspages long should a nonfiction book be. A non fiction book attractive to publishers of bestsellers starts at around 75,000 words. In this weeks comment, the editors write about the summer fiction issue.
The hunger games has a word count of 99,750 and my utility calculates it at 98,916. You have just discovered the wonderful world of bibliographic metadata. For most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. Learn the average wordcount for every type of novel, novella, genre, etc. Author eve tells me her book came in at 95,000 words. The length can vary greatly between genres, though. 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. 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. Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. A word count guide for 18 book genres, including fiction and nonfiction. The shortest book ive read in the past was at least 200 pages long. Firsttime and unknown authors should keep their books shorter. 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.
Where can i find a database of all published books word. Most print publishers prefer a minimum word count of around 65,000 words for a first novel, and some even hesitate for any work shorter than 80,000. When converting character counts to words, a measure of 5 or 6 characters to a word is generally used for english. What is the recomended wordcount for a fantasyfiction book. Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book. The current average for published fiction is about 80,000 words for novels, i believe. I would limit the book at 100,000 words to be safe. When i started writing three years ago, the mg word count i kept hearing was no more than 30,000 words. Still, a book such as life of pi at 98,783 words is more on target. Then he works with the production personnel to run the production numbers. Jun 04, 2010 in this weeks comment, the editors write about the summer fiction issue. If you have a wide array of stories to send, you might have to be selective. Another topselling self published genre, science fiction and fantasy books do best with a word count between 80k150k words.
There is no average word count per page of a published novel. This number is critical to a successful book proposal, as the editor uses this proposed word count to project the number of pages in the published book. I looked on the internet and it said novels should be about 80,000 words long. How many words are there on the average page of a novel. Again, this doesnt necessarily apply if youve already published a bestseller. Sep 12, 2012 put a title the exact title in the search engine, then click on the title, or one of the titles if more than one comes up. Knowing how many words in a novel is the first step toward writing a book. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. Popular novel word count the worlds largest word count. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. The average wordcount for adult fiction is between 70,000 to 120,000 words. Generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. That said, the average word count for science fiction and fantasy novels generally lies between 100,000 and 115,000.
So, to answer your question, think longer rather than shorter. Jan 27, 2017 the authors in the above list all write in different styles and genres using different tools and in different conditions from one another. Writing for young adults a look at the numbers hannah holt. Again, word count shouldnt come at the cost of the story. So if you want to write and publish a book successfully, this is vital information to. Deborah treisman is the new yorker s fiction editor.
Nov, 2015 the truth about word counts for childrens book is nothing is set in stone, so it can be a good idea to do as much research as possible on current expectations. That often dreaded, while at the same time appreciated, element of freelance writing. Word count for famous novels organized commonplace book. How long many pages long will my book be if its published. The best word count for your selfpublished novel self. For some content writers or bloggers, hitting their word count is a pain. That said, the average word count for science fiction and fantasy. Generally speaking, the average novel word count is between 60,000 and 90,000 words. The word count range for literary fiction is 80,000 to 110,000. Therefore, word counts are still based on the standards of umpteen years ago. For the book hatchet, the actual word count is 41,672 and i give you 41,212. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility calculates it at 80,7.
Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. Even if she selfpublishes, the cost per copy would be high, and few readers. 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. On the other hand, a high word count doesnt have to be the kiss of death. With fun, lighthearted, simple middle grade youll want to stay around the 20k30k word count range. Dont worry, though, many writers have been published in a wide array of magazines, and this is very attractive for novel publishing companies and literary agents. Depending on your genre, having too many or too little can not only hurt your book sales. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic. Still, instead of word count being neutral, it could be a negative. Popular novels word count 100k 105k books goodreads. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. There are few exceptions of published debut novels not falling between these strict markers.
For novels in general, the accepted word count is 7080,000 words. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook. As for non fiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. Since supernatural books often create entire worlds, they sometimes require more words than realistic novels. Told from the firstperson point of view of fictional. According to amazons great text stats feature, the median length for all books is about 64,000 words. Anything above 70k but less than 115k science fiction and fantasy tend to run up around 100k115k words. Tolkiens initial novel, the hobbit, contained 95,022 words.
I clicked on the unabridged version, and it lists the word count as 97,364. With the road at 58,702 words and the goldfinch at 296,582 words, this genre also known as general or commercial fiction tends to have a wide range. The actual word count for harry potter and the sorcerers stone is 78,792 and my utility calculates 77,876. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. What is the average word count for short story submissions. Im leaving this in the list to show that word count isnt offered for every book. Nonfiction wordcounts sit between 70,000120,000 words. Word count is commonly used by translators to determine the price of a translation job. Yet any piece of fiction climbing over the 100,000 word mark also tends to give editors some pause. Thats the level where publishers may suggest dividing a story into multiple volumes. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000 word range.
Word count, with a little help from amazon alexis grant. These numbers are put into the spreadsheet document that gives the complete financials on the book. Most publishers these days will accept manuscripts in any clear, easily readable font, but there is a lingering belief. On average, there are about 300 words per page in a book.