Normal novel word count

Here are the average novel word counts in the top five genres in the book publishing industry in no particular order. Literary agent danielle zigner takes a look at typical novel lengths and what appeals to publishers. The length of a chapter in a novel should be less about words and pages and more about plot points. 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. The binding, font and paper size establish how many pages a published book will be. Unfortunately, they dont offer word count so ive created an algorithm based on the number of pages, genre, and the dimensions of the book. If youre writing for a more literary audience, then the rules above apply on upper limits. When converting character counts to words, a measure of 5 or 6 characters to a word is generally used for english. Deconstructing five spooky picture books with spoilers and word counts. I think theres some confusion here on memoir word count vs.

Word counts for different genres of novels vary, but there are general rules of thumb that. Pick up a childrens book in your collection and count the words on one page. I use amazons data feeds to come up with the calculation. In outlining your book in 3 easy steps, editor shawn coyne says, the average novel today is about 90,000 words. At amazon the page count for books for 10yearsold children varies from 120 to 350. The english word novella derives from the italian novella, feminine of novello, which means new. Develop and refine the structure for my story, determine the plot points, pinch points, controlling premise, my characters fatal flaw. A novella is a work of narrative prose fiction, longer than a short story but shorter than a novel.

The word count is the number of words in a document or passage of text. Multiply it with the page count and you get a vague idea. If you think a 270,000 word memoir will make it past the agent, do it. From picture books to ya information to get you started at. 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. Calculate book page count using the word count from your word document.

Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. Then consider writing a manuscript of similar length. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. In other words, you must be scrupulous about editing every sentence for length. Assuming that word count has anything to do with it, is a sure road to a writing disaster. By most peoples standards, 40,000 words would be pretty short for a novel. Whats a normal word count for a childrens novel or collection. Shorter novels such as fahrenheit 451, the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, the great gatsby, and slaughterhousefive are between 4050,000 words. As you can see, a smaller trim size will produce more pages for the same word count, and a larger trim size will produce less. Onethird of the novels that come into the agency are rejected because theyre too long or.

Literary agent danielle zigner takes a look at typical novel lengths per genre and what appeals to publishers within the current marketplace. On the lower end, anything above 56,000 words is golden. Of course, rules are made to be broken, especially in literature. Now that weve covered how many words are in a novel, its time to break it down even further by finding out the ideal number of chapters in a novel and how many words are used in a typical chapter. Failing to mention the word count, or committing the faux pas of stating the page count instead, will also see a quick rejection. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. Generally a 50,000 word novel would be the minimum word count. So, the average wordcount for a typical novel is anywhere from 70,000 to 120,000 words. That said, this figure differs from book to book and organization to. Mar 18, 2016 science fiction and fantasy novels break the above word count rules and can be longer how many words are there in a scifi or fantasy novel. But it shouldnt be word count for the sake of word count.

Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility calculates it at 80,7. Nonfiction books tend to be shorter, around 45,000 words on average, and novels ten to be longer, around 80,000 words on average. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. Word counting may be needed when a text is required to stay within certain numbers of words. Youll use the word count in your word document to calculate book page count. Jan 25, 2018 the length of a chapter in a novel should be less about words and pages and more about plot points. If you have 6 panels, stick to a maximum of 35 words per panel. What is the ideal wordcount per chapter for a novel. This isnt to say that long books are no longer succeeding. I found some disagreement about the ideal length of mystery novels. Word count is commonly used by translators to determine the price for the translation job. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction.

Whats a normal word count for a childrens novel or. Therefore, the word count of a novel is crucial if you want your book to be fit for publication. How long is a singletitle romance novel supposed to be. We explain two easy methods to estimate your book s page count. Also, heres another list i may swipe and add in here. Some resources like nanowrimo say novels can be 50,000, some books say 80,000 is average, and i just read an online article that said 120,000 is the upper end of the comfortable range for beginner novelists that publishers will accept. This is due to the audience youre reaching preferring that length. Also remember because there are a bunch of new novel imprints opening their doors, a novella is 40k or less. Once you know your word count, follow one of our two methods below to estimate your page count. Apr 05, 2015 generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. Why does the length of a typical novel fall in the 80100,000 range. Words counts of bestselling novels better novel project. This 90,000 word guideline for how many words in a novel is just that, a guideline.

I have even seen books with chapters that were all the same length that had both problems. Fits what ive heard that publishers want shorter and shorter books. I am now at 50,000 and i have a choice to chop it down to 5,000 or increase it to 80,000. I got it from the scwc blog im attending in february. Science fiction and fantasy novels typically have a word count between 90,000 to 125,000 words. Word count for novels and childrens books at the guide to literary agents blog. Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book. On average, there are about 300 words per page in a book. Put simply, the sweet spot for a novel s word count is generally said to be around 8090k. In fact, the majority of printed books are turned into ebooks.

Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. As with higher word count books, however, good writing is a must. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic. 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.

Everything you need to know about word count and book length for books. I am told that a first time novel should be 80,000 words. Publishers and literary award societies typically consider a novellas word count to be between 15,000 and 40,000 words, although definitions vary. The following are average word count ranges by genre. Im curious about your advice compose the novel in the standard format from the start rather than changing it later why does this matter. In 2017, the downward trend has continued, with an average book length of 273 pages. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books. What is the average number of actual words in comic books or. 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. That gives us a rough range of 61,00089,000 words, with about 3 out of 4 queried ya books falling into that range. That said, the average word count for science fiction and fantasy novels generally lies between 100,000 and 115,000. If you really want to know whats the general word length of a romance novel, look at whats published. As a result, a 100k manuscript can size up very differently on a shelf.

Generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. The highest word count was 115,000, the lowest was 47,000, and the average was 75,000. When the final work is printed for sale and published, the number of words per page will differ. Search for word count totals in books word counters. Armed with these word counts, i now have a range of lengths that have been proven popular. A reasonable word count for a nonfiction book would be between 30,000 to 50,000 words. Heres an article which breaks down by genre the typical length. Word count for famous novels organized by hawthorn mineart, under books, writing. Well, as to be expected with a book niche like ours, somebody decided to write an article for a howto site on how to go about writing and publishing a light novel in america. 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. Dec 08, 2010 ya fiction for mainstream ya, anywhere from about 45k to 80k. Within the publishing industry we tend to talk about the length of a book in words. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures of readability and to measure typing and reading speeds usually in words per minute. 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.

If youre writing a young adult fantasy novel, you should keep your word count below 90,000 words or 300 book pages. May 07, 2018 this 90,000word guideline for how many words in a novel is just that, a guideline. How many words per page are there in a typical novel. Some books have chapters that are too short, they dont expand the idea enough for you to understand. The acceptance of a more ambitious word count in these two genres is the need to describe whole new worlds and presumably original.

Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. 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 books 50% of books have fewer words and 50% of books have more words. Writing towards a word count might not work for everybody, but having a rough goal in mind certainly helps me when im sketching out chapters and undertaking my first draft. If you think a 270,000word memoir will make it past the agent, do it. This will help determine what kind of length readers expect in popular novels, and also will give me a word count goal for writing the scenes and assignments. In 2015, the drop resumed as the average fell to 345. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. Aug 05, 2019 i think theres some confusion here on memoir word count vs. Which is totally understandable, since length can be an important factor that agents and publishers look at when they receive your query letter. To put these numbers in perspective, if you type with a font size of 10, you could be packing nearly words on each a4 page which would make nearly 3. Page count is determined by the publisher, not the writer. This number can vary depending on if youre writing dialogue or how short each.

If your protagonist has just discovered something and is going. For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. Sep 18, 2017 this graph shows that the most common word count is 76,00080,000, at the very upper end of the range usually cited. Jan 08, 2018 calculate book page count using your word count. That was the formula in the good old days when courier. Id guess that the actual average number of words in a novel was. Of course, when youre writing the first draft of your story, you want to just get your words out on paper. List of popular ya novels word counts if youre like me, you obsess over the word count of your novel. An ebook could be 3,000 words or as long as a fulllength book. The average word count for a typical novel ranges anywhere from 70,000 to 120,000 words, with the average hanging.

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. If yours is too short, restructure it and add more tightly written stuff. As an indie author, you always have the freedom to play with word count, to modify, expand, compress, and assess what works best. But blake is trying to give everyone here some guidelines. Harry potter and the sorcerers stone is about 77,500 words total. Depending on the writing genre, word count in book chapters can vary considerably. First of all, find your word count in word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen. Im not finished writing the story yet, but ive already come up with ideas to insure i reach my goal.

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 genre and subgenre has its own word count range. Now that weve covered how many words are in a novel, its time to break it down even further by finding out the ideal number of chapters in a novel and how many words are used in a typical chapter depending on the writing genre, word count in book chapters can vary considerably. I would say again that reader expectations matter much more than industry rules. And remember, keeping to word counts is important, but what makes or breaks your chances with a publisher is the quality of your manuscript. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a word count guideline. Word count is the last thing anyone should be concerned with in terms of writing an amazing story. Feb 09, 2015 word counts of popular ya books as i started drafting my new wip a ya scifi thriller i began wondering what word count i should aim for. Sep 14, 2010 could you let me know the word count of some common books and novel length guidelines. Home about search genres ranges debut novels series advice close. Estimate your page count book designer fiona raven. The rules for word count are nothing if not flexible, in both traditional and indie publishing.

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. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. Its not uncommon to have a 60,000 or even a 45,000 word novel. For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. The second or third in a particularly bestselling series can go even higher. Literary novels can also go below the normal minimum. Famous book series and novel word counts number of words. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. Thats the level where publishers may suggest dividing a story into multiple volumes. Higher word counts are a bit less common, but values up to 100,000 are still well represented. On average, young adult novels usually fall around 55,000 and 70,000 words.

Im now halfway through zone 2 of my novel, and pretty much dead on the word count ill hit 50,000 word right at the midpoint, and will have a durable first draft ready for editing before years end. The actual word count for the hunger games is 99,750 and my utility calculates 94,743 words. Wordcounter will help to make sure its word count reaches a specific requirement or stays within a certain limit. It should be enough to communicate your message effectively. When it gets closer to 1,000, editors and agents may shy away. Gardens of the moon was his second novel and his first foray into fantasy. I have rounded the averages down slightly, both to account for twilights outlier status and my own preference for brevity. Word counts of popular ya books as i started drafting my new wip a ya scifi thriller i began wondering what word count i should aim for. Science fiction and fantasy books should be 90,000 to 125,000 words. According to amazons great text stats feature, the median length for all books is about 64,000 words.

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. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook. 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 195,011 doctor sleep. A short story has a word count of under 20,000 words though anything over 10,000 puts it. As previously discussed, there are different requirements for both fiction and nonfiction genres. Words per page is a free online words to pages calculator which converts the numbers of words you write into pages and allows you to change margins, font size and fonts. Literary agent danielle zigner takes a look at typical novel lengths and what appeals.

Whether youre just curious about how many words are in these books or youre writing a book and want to compare the length of your novel to these famous tomes, then read on to find the word counts of famous books and series. Jun 27, 2019 put simply, the sweet spot for a novels word count is generally said to be around 8090k. A manuscript for a novel is typically 500 words per page if singlespaced. Book page count calculator how many pages is my novel. Actually books are generally about 100,000 words for a full novel in mass market paperback. Try not to completely tether yourself to word counts. They can be up to 180,000 words, or even over 200,000, but the novel must be wonderful and must fully justify its word count. That said, each manuscript should be long enough to adequately tell its story or. 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.

So i think we get away with this being on the list. May 14, 2018 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. This averages to about 22 to 23 chapters per novel, with the average chapter length around 4,280 words. This may particularly be the case in academia, legal proceedings, journalism and advertising. Oct 18, 2017 therefore, the word count of a novel is crucial if you want your book to be fit for publication. For young adult fiction, the word count is once again lower, with the ideal.

That information isnt usually available to the reader unless the author wanted to boast of it, but i once read a visual novel that said it had around 40k words and it took me and my friend about 22. Surely when writing the important thing is to get words on the page even if theyre in pink comic sans. Ya manuscripts can have a word count anywhere from 55k to 90k. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. Do check your comparable titles recent debuts onlyto make sure your story falls in that range. But the word count of a chapter matters if you want your story to flow right. Of course, when youre writing the first draft of your story, you want to just get your words.