Average word count in a book book editing services. Youll receive an email on the first day of each month with our winning story and the prompt for our next contest. When writing a longer book that is aimed at 12yearolds and could maybe be considered tween, using the term upper middle grade is advisable. But depending on the ereading device and the font size setting, it varies significantly between a phone, a tablet, or a kindle. Childrens book writers must adhere to strict industry standards for. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a word count guideline. A good way to gauge appropriate length is to check out similar books for comparison. 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. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words.
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a selfcontained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood the short story is a crafted form in its own right. For the first three childrens book categories listed above, you are better off editing your word count down as low as possible. It measures a short story by reading time, rather than page length or word count. The word count is the number of words in a document or passage of text. Short story collections are notoriously had to place over the transom. Amazon estimates a page count in an ebook to be around 187 words. Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book. Search for word count totals in books word counters. A manuscript over 40,000 words is considered to be a novel. It seems like most short story collections are somewhat shorter than the average novel. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages.
The stories should be easy to follow and have an average word count of 1,000 to 10,000 words, a range similar to an adult short story. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. 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. The complete stories average around 1500 words, with the longest at around 2500 and the shortest at 311 yeah, not really a short story, but the next shortest one is 1,100. Excluding endnotes and index, the book has about 200 pages of text, which means its total word count is about 74,000 words. Learn the average word counts for various genres of fiction and nonfiction so you can determine the ideal length for your book. For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. The average short story should run anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 words, but they can be anything above 1,000 words. Be sure to subscribe to our email updates for free. Average nonfiction word counts biographies and memoirs. Of course, hemingway is no longer alive, but when he was he would. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. Generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count.
The average word count in a book is 60k to 100k words. If a page is 500 words on an ipad, and 250 words on a kindle, it might be only 120 words on a phone. Of the 161 stories listed, 3081 is the median word count number in the middle and 4052 is the average word count. 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. What is a good length for a selfpublished book on amazon. You might find your story strengthening as the excess words drop off. Here is what 187 words looks like in microsoft word. Duotrope a free writers resource listing over 3950 current fiction and poetry publications caps their search for short story publishers at 7,500 words, which means most publishers are looking for stories of less than that length. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. Onethird of the novels that come into the agency are rejected because theyre too long or short, perkins says. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. Its free, its fun, and the winner gets published in prime number magazine and receives a free book from press 53. Ive seen short story anthologies that are in the range of novella length all the way up to more than 150k words.
Your best bet is to figure out what books yours is comparable to, then sit down and count the words on 23 typical pages. I am currently at 20k words between 16 stories, complete and 3 incomplete. Between the ages of four and eight, children have picture books read to them and also begin to read themselves. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. In 2011, the lists average length peaked at 467 pages. What are the standard word counts for novels, short stories, et cetera. If youre counting the length of a short story by the number of pages that have been written instead of through word count, then it is important to know about standard formatting guidelines. However, very few novels these days are as short as that. 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.
Each page contains about 34 lines, with an average word count of 11 words per line, thus 375 words per page. The following are average word count ranges by genre. If yours is too short, restructure it and add more tightly written stuff. And remember, keeping to word counts is important, but what makes or breaks your chances with a publisher is the quality of your manuscript. I will show you the average short story lengths, so you can make an informed decision about how long to make your short story. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books. These are basic learning books that creatively teach colors, numbers or simple, fun stories for bedtime.
How long is the typical short story supposed to be. Yet any piece of fiction climbing over the 110,000 word mark also tends to give editors. Bearing in mind if you opt for a shorter word count, you might not be able to print o. I will show you the average short story lengths, so you can make an informed. Alternatively, this is an acceptable length for a short work of nonfiction.
Can be publisher specific, ranging from 3,000 to absolute max 5,000. It should be enough to communicate your message effectively. The following are average wordcount ranges by genre. What is the proper word count for a collection of short. A reasonable word count for a nonfiction book would be between 30,000 to 50,000 words. Most publishers expect to receive a manuscript that is doublespaced, using a standard 12point font like times new roman, with paragraph indentation of. However, it will be on the short side, as the average length of a novel hovers. Although marquez has an average word count of 2,412 words and overall his short story lengths are quite consistent at the high 2000s, he also has a flash fiction of only. Novelist jane smiley suggests that length is an important quality of the novel. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility calculates it at 80,7. Of course, rules are made to be broken, especially in literature. The daily word counts of 19 famous writers word counter blog. Typically a writer will have published most or all of the stories in other venues and then work with an agent to market the collection. Less is more, just look at maurice sendaks where the wild things are.
Precise word count definitions will vary, but as a general rule of thumb, a short story is anything up to about 7500 words sometimes 10,000, with. Perkins agency in new york says its much easier to market a firsttime novelists book if the word count falls between 80,000 and 100,000 words, or roughly 300 doublespaced, typed pagesthe average novel length. A single novel can be longer, but once the length is above 110,000 words publishers may look at cutting it. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a wordcount guideline. 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. A story that is over 40,000 words is generally considered a novel. Short stories make use of plot, resonance, and other dynamic components as in a novel, but typically to a lesser degree. And remember, keeping to word counts is important, but what makes or breaks your chances with a publisher is. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. Many of these books are written in rhyme or in a simple singsong meter that is catchy and fun. When i started writing three years ago, the mg word count i kept hearing was no more than 30,000 words.