Average novella book word count

Yes, word count does vary too, but not nearly as much. If the average length is 300 pages, youre looking at a 75,000 word manuscript approximately one reason its harder for a new author to sell a 140,000 word manuscript is the size of the book. Like novels, these books fall into the 70,000 to 120,000 word range. Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. Some literary critics characterize the maximum length of a novella to be 100,000 words. Nicholas sparks word count popular novel word count.

What is the standard page count between a novel and a. For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. As persuasion progresses, jane austen seems to elongate hers, building them up on a crescendo. Word count for novels and childrens books at the guide to literary agents blog. A short story has a word count of under 20,000 words though anything over 10,000 puts it. If youre working on a novellength book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least but its better to aim for 90,000. Theres an even narrower story optionthe novelettethat has a word count between 7,500 and 17,000 words. Calculate book page count using word count for book design.

Science fiction and fantasy novels typically have a word count between 90,000 to 125,000 words. Due to the economic exigencies of publishing novels have tended to get shorter. We explain two easy methods to estimate your book s page count. 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. Standard word counts for books publishing with kindle. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. Also remember because there are a bunch of new novel imprints opening their doors, a novella is 40k or less. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. Posted on february 8, 2012 by lindsay as weve talked about before how well does short fiction sell in ebook form. There are general guidelines for each literary category. Stephen king word count 112263 274,672 bag of bones 203,3 black house 252,270 blockade billy 15,917 carrie 60,718 cell 121,931 christine 193,602 cujo 121,150 cycle of the werewolf 15,955 desperation. 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.

The sweet spot, according to donald maas, is 100,000 to 115,000 words. This article suggests that essentially, it should be as long as it needs to be, meaning dont look at the word count, just get the story out then edit. However if youre curious to see what the average word count is for standard genres, check out the breakdown in the article. Nicholas sparks word count the notebook 38,520 message in a bottle 92,760 a walk to remember 49,311 the rescue 100,916 a bend in the road 93,766 popular novel word count the worlds largest word count encyclopedia. If youre new to selfpublishing on amazon and wondering, just how much should i write for my kindle book. While anything over 40,000 words can fall into the novel category, 50,000 is considered the minimum novel length. The average across a sample of 50 books in august 2015 showed 172 words per kindle edition normalized page. Average word count ranges from 70,000 to 100,000 words, although biographies of major celebrities or public figures can support a higher number. This 90,000 word guideline for how many words in a novel is just that, a guideline. Nonfiction wordcounts sit between 70,000120,000 words.

If youre writing a young adult fantasy novel, you should keep your word count below 90,000 words or 300 book pages. When i started to work on novels i wanted to keep an estimate of how many words and book pages. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a nonfiction book. 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. When it comes to selfpublished books does size matter. You could have anywhere from 150 to 800 words on a page in a printed book. A novella is a work of narrative prose fiction, longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. The first answer, because its novella length, not novel length were talking adult fiction, not chapter books and novellas are hard to sell. From picture books to ya information to get you started at.

Some authors believe the word count is irrelevantwhether it takes 20,000 words or 200,000 words, the book will be done when youve finished telling your story. Word count for famous novels organized commonplace book. So, the average wordcount for a typical novel is anywhere from 70,000 to 120,000 words. But if marketability matters to you, its not that simple. This number can vary depending on if youre writing dialogue or how short each. Do check your comparable titlesrecent debuts onlyto make sure your story falls in that range. As always, be sure to keep it interesting so you can justify the word length.

Martin and harper lee keep things more evenly paced in a game of thrones and to kill a mockingbird, respectively. Why does the length of a typical novel fall in the 80100,000 range. Novelist jane smiley suggests that length is an important quality of the novel. When it gets closer to 1,000, editors and agents may shy away. Today, the novella is rarely sold as an individual work. Bearing in mind if you opt for a shorter word count, you might not be able to print o. In the publishing industry, they need a standardized way to measure things, and they use word count. Id guess that the actual average number of words in a novel was. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a word count guideline. If yours is too short, restructure it and add more tightly written stuff.

Picture story books for older children between the ages of 6 and 10 include more text with each picture. Calculate book page count using the word count from your word document. Or perhaps because these novels tend to be part of a series, readers are more bought in and are looking for a longer continuation of the story. If youre writing an adult fantasy novel or an epic fantasy novel like game of thrones, your word count can skew higher at 90,000 200,000 words.

On average, there are about 300 words per page in a book. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. By most peoples standards, 40,000 words would be pretty short for a novel. The word count is the number of words in a document or passage of text. A 90,000 word count signals to professionals that you know what you are doing. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. 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. I use microsoft word and a print page is different then a book page. The novel that im writing is at 53,000 words and i was trying to figure out how many words is average for a book of my genre. Agatha christie, the bestselling mystery writer of all time, wrote novels that averaged about 40,000 to 60,000 words. Well do more research on this, but if in doubt, shoot for 80,000 words.

Ya manuscripts can have a word count anywhere from 55k to 90k. If the book offers more complicated instructions such as for creating an origami bird or a fashionable paper doll, the word count can extend as high as 1,500 words. The average wordcount for adult fiction is between 70,000 to 120,000 words. Plus the way you used to figure length included calculations for all those variables. That said, this figure differs from book to book and organization to. Shorter novels such as fahrenheit 451, the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, the great gatsby, and slaughterhousefive are between 4050,000 words. Each genre and subgenre has its own word count range. The minimum number of words for a novel, until quite recently, was about fifty thousand words, or two hundred pages. A novella must be able to stand on its own as a book, but the exact word count is not set in stone. Try not to completely tether yourself to word counts. The average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range. Generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. This is due to the audience youre reaching preferring that length.

For traditional publishing or selfpublishing, youll have the best odds of success. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic. More frequently, several novellas are compiled into one book, or a novella will be grouped with a number of short stories by the same author. Counting chickens a few words about word counts at hope vestergaards site. Recently i got asked this question, what is the ideal length word count wise for my first book. Search for word count totals in books word counters. Wordcounter will help to make sure its word count reaches a specific requirement or stays within a certain limit.

Since 2011, the average length of a bestseller has dropped steadily from year to year. This number was significantly different from the average we had seen for the estimated print length that had been given in the product details of each book s amazon sales page. Short stories range anywhere from 1,500 to 30,000 words. Put simply, the sweet spot for a novels word count is generally said to be around 8090k. Bestselling author caleb carr may write novels of 250,000 words, but when you pitch your novel and offer up that number, be prepared for a glacial reception. Generally a 50,000 word novel would be the minimum word count. The average short story should run anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 words, but they can be anything above 1,000 words. The english word novella derives from the italian novella, feminine of novello, which means new.

However, most agents and writers say your mystery novel should be the same word count as general fiction, 80,000 to 90,000 words. Put simply, the sweet spot for a novels word count is generally said to. As such, a novella is considerably longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. Publishers and literary award societies typically consider a novellas word count to be between 15,000 and 40,000 words, although definitions vary. And remember, keeping to word counts is important, but what makes or breaks your chances with a publisher is. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. For example, if an author has to write a minimum or maximum amount of words for an article, essay, report, story, book, paper, you name it. Of course, word count wont matter if a story doesnt hook the target audience.

However, it will be on the short side, as the average length of a novel. The best word count for your selfpublished novel self. In outlining your book in 3 easy steps, editor shawn coyne says, the average novel today is about 90,000 words. But while the length of a novel is to a large extent up to its writer, lengths may also vary by subgenre. So itll be off on occasion, but it should get you relatively close for the average book. Are you wondering what the word count for your book should be.