For full length novels on wattpad, the average or recommended length is generally 20003000 words per chapter. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. What is the ideal length for a nonfiction book proposal. That was the formula in the good old days when courier was the only typeface and typewriters were king. I asked agents elizabeth pomada and michael larsen of larsen pomada literary agency to add their thoughts to the subject. That means your manuscript must be at least 3540,000 words long. That number actually lines up pretty well with the data we have on this, but again, that number should neither be a goal, nor a constraint. Nonfiction picture book 3,000 words max, but closer to 1,000 to 2,000 words. Your chapter structure needs to be in proportion to the overall length of the book. Not counting your two to three sample chapters, your nonfiction book proposal should be no longer than 1015 pages. I use the target average of 1,500 words per chapter. May 11, 2009 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.
Jun 07, 2017 when talking about book length, its common to talk about word count rather than page count. This is not an uncommon length in traditional publishing, especially in my observation for nonfiction books that are heavy on research. 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 noticed way too many nonfiction kindle books around 3040 pages. Ford, glen book length average length of a non fiction book. Mar 20, 2020 so, what length is the right one for a book. So if you write a 35,000 word manuscript, your formatted book will likely be around 140 pages. Too many words and you risk losing your audience, too few and they might feel like they missed something. Martin and harper lee keep things more evenly paced in a game of thrones and to kill a mockingbird, respectively. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. At the other end of the spectrum a book of 80,000 to 100,000 words has significant heft, 320400 pages. If your manuscript is on the short side, make this clear when pitching to a publisher and give solid.
However, there are some general guidelines in this article that may help you determine the page count and chapter length needed for your book. It should be enough to communicate your message effectively. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. Readers love to feel at home with their favorite authors, and though they may not be cognizant of things like chapter length, they will notice the difference in how a book feels when they read it. This averages to about 22 to 23 chapters per novel, with the average chapter length around 4,280 words.
Armed with these word counts, i now have a range of lengths that have been proven popular. Know your content, know your mainline pitch and some. Chapter one is about the importance of realizing why your bedroom is so essential to wellbeing. Generally speaking a 70,00090,000word count is a comfortable range. When writing a longer book that is aimed at 12yearolds and could maybe be considered tween, using the term upper middle grade is advisable. Oct 18, 2017 the average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range. Sep 20, 2019 oftentimes, professional editing will cut down the unnecessary information so your memoir is the appropriate word count.
Also, the chapters are evenly divided into 3 titled parts. In any case, to see how authors use this tactic to set their pacing, we also mapped out the word count of every chapter in four famous books. Jenkins started strongly but weakened, along with the. And, keeping your chapters short creates a good balance between content and action, and fits with this model of short actionable content. If you can decide on the right vision for your book, and you therefore know your trim size, you can tailor your writing to your target. A novelist of my acquaintance insists that the only way to estimate the number of words in a book is to multiply the number of pages by 250. That said, of course the books couldnt be more different. Apr 02, 2012 what is the ideal length for a nonfiction book proposal.
Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. Excluding endnotes and index, the book has about 200 pages of text, which means its total word count is about 74,000 words. Dont submit an outline for a book that contains less than 9 chapters. One thing in favor of short chapters is that readers are more likely to read just one more chapter when its midnight and they have to work in the morning, but theyre really into the book. If im writing a novel, this gives me 40 chapters and 70,000 words when im done. Before diving into the specifics of genrebased word counts, lets look at the broader picture of average book length. Another interesting way to find a good chapter length i think, would be to sit down and read a book from the first chapter, for about 510 minutes, or however long you wish your chapters to be, and see how many words you have read in that amount of time. If youd like some guidelines, you can assume that the average nonfiction book is 50k words, and that they have 12 chapters, so around 4k words would be an average chapter length. By 2017, however, that number has dropped to 273 pages.
Aug 05, 2019 before diving into the specifics of genrebased word counts, lets look at the broader picture of average book length. The book length on kindle is rather useless since you dont get a real book length. Regardless of genre, there is no hard and fast rule about how many pages or words each chapter should contain or how many chapters should be in a book. 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. Is it expected that chapter lengths are more or less of similar length. A nonfiction book attractive to publishers of bestsellers starts at around 75,000 words.
Each page contains about 34 lines, with an average word count of 11 words per line, thus 375 words per page. Nonfiction books also vary tremendously in word count. While theres plenty of room for variety, the average chapter length for a book is between 2,000 and 5,000 words. Many people read in spurts, at lunch time, or on the subway to work, readers. 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. In 2011, the lists average length peaked at 467 pages. With this logic, the number of words in a nonfiction book chapter is about 3,500 words to 5,000 words. Generally speaking, traditional publishers expect completed nonfiction book manuscripts to be between 50,000 to 75,000 words.
The left behind series original books, not including the prequel, 19952007 by tim lahaye and jerry b. If the content is stepbystep and high quality, 15 pages is enough for a 99 cent kindle book or a freebie used for lead generation. But rules are made to be broken, and the most successful publishing phenomenon in history did just that. How to write a book chapter in 7 simple steps for your. I just wrote a prologue that ended up right at 500 words, and i wanted to know the same. Mar 03, 2015 one thing in favor of short chapters is that readers are more likely to read just one more chapter when its midnight and they have to work in the morning, but theyre really into the book. The average number of words in a nonfiction book is around 50,00070,000 words, and the average number of chapters in a nonfiction book are about 1020. The hunger games has 27 untitled chapters, and about 3700 words per chapter. Elizabeth said, for nonfiction books, it depends on the kind of book.
Add screenshots or other graphics and youve got a nicesized ebook. The trade paperback is 314 which is at least 350 on a standard paper book. Apr 07, 2014 if youre concerned about the final page count for your book, you should know that the average 6. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 words.
Kindle finally updated the page count to 276 from 114. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. A fulllength nonfiction book usually contains 9 to 15 chapters of average length. Most agree that under 1,000 words would be rather short and that over 5,000 might be rather too long. 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. Publisher production costs some books are written to a specific format, and as such word length for chapters matters a great deal. The di vinci code 2003 by dan brown is 8,380 words christian book word count. Oct 27, 2018 i use the target average of 1,500 words per chapter. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. Step 5 is to target your writing so you will be on track for your books vision. Many times ive onemorechaptered myself all the way to the end at 2 a.
The targets average chapter contains 1,600 words while the goldfinchs average chapter contains 25,000 words. As a general guideline, chapters should be between 3,000 to 5,000 words. Ideally, you want to give your reader something she knows. So it is advisable to follow the guidelines on word length for this category.
Mar 10, 2015 when i was working on my memoir after id written around 90,000 words i was advised that a good length was 60k. A reasonable word count for a nonfiction book would be between 30,000 to 50,000 words. When i started writing three years ago, the mg word count i kept hearing was no more than 30,000 words. 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. 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. Nov, 2009 nonfiction picture book 3,000 words max, but closer to 1,000 to 2,000 words. According to chuck sambuchino see below for word count. The art of the nonfiction book proposal writers relief. 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. 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. Chapter two is about how to assess what needs to be cleaned.
For most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. When i was working on my memoir after id written around 90,000 words i was advised that a good length was 60k. New writers tend to assume that a chapter must be a certain set length in order to maintain the average novel length of around 80,000 95,000 words, but in truth, chapters can be as long or as short as you need them to be. 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.
Jul 23, 2012 the average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 words. The grandfather of modern christian fiction, in his steps by charles m. In all cases, you can find an author who has successfully pushed the envelope one way or another. Going back to our fictional book about life being easier when you clean your bedroom, you chapters might be described this way. Flannery by brad gooch starts with a 50 page chapter and the rest cap out at somewhere around 30 tops, both h. What follows is a rough guide to book length expectations in certain genres. I know that in fiction book chapter lengths can vary dramatically for various reasons. Short and punchy books are 40,000 to 60,000 words, but many nonfiction books are lengthy. 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. As persuasion progresses, jane austen seems to elongate hers, building them up on a crescendo. The average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000word range. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors.
Can be publisher specific, ranging from 3,000 to absolute max 5,000. Absolutely, chapter lengths can be all over the place. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books. That doesnt mean you can submit a manuscript twice the length a publisher recommends. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. Specifically, an accessible nonfiction book might be anything between about 30,000 words and 50,000 words.
Any book that falls into this category needs to be a real pageturner. Less than 100 pages and it becomes difficult for a printer to print the title of the book on the spine. And man, people love to point out exceptionsand they always will. The art of the nonfiction book proposal writers relief, inc. The most important thing here is to realize that there are always exceptions to these rules. Jul 11, 2018 going back to our fictional book about life being easier when you clean your bedroom, you chapters might be described this way. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. When it was picked up by anaiah press, my editor cut a bit more during the development edit, but she never mentioned the actual word count.
What is the ideal word count for a nonfiction book in the. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 to 75,000 words, but this can vary depending upon category. Since 2011, the average length of a bestseller has dropped steadily from year to year. Thats generally considered enough information to make a reader feel like an update was worth it, its long enough for most people to read in under ten minutes, its mobiledevice friendly, and its plenty of time for things to happen. One of the questions that a new writer often asks is how long should my book be. Any selfhelp or motivational nonfiction book should be between 30,000 and 70,000 words. I was quickly flooded with emails from many an angry author for daring to put a word count on a level of book. Brands and paul kriwaczek particularly kriwaczekhis chapters can be anywhere from 40 to 14 pages frequently have chapter lengths that vary from long to short, and the same could be said for ron chernow, though to a lesser. Let me tell you about how i had to remove my membership from a childrens writer forum because i responded to a newbie about this topic. Chapter book this varies widely, depending on grade and reader level, usually starting at 4,000 words and 15,000 words max. The length can vary greatly between genres, though.
The average fiction book is about 80,000 to 100,000 words, which is about 246 to 307 ebook pages. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. May 14, 2018 readers of individual genres anticipate certain book lengths, and so do publishers. 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. Make sure you have enough material and time to fulfill this obligation before you propose it.