Average length of book words

How long should your blog post be the write practice. But if it helps, you can assume that a printed book has around 250300 words on a page. Java code for average word length and average sentence. According to amazon s great text stats feature, the median length for all books is about 64,000 words. 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.

The average wordcount for adult fiction is between 70,000 to 120,000 words. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 to 75,000 words, but this can vary depending upon category. Java code for average word length and average sentence length. But, he also mentions that the wizard of oz was 40,000 words. Put simply, anything less than 70,000 words or over 110,000 might make publishers think twice before accepting it. The length can vary greatly between genres, though. I think you need to have an awful lot of compelling material, masterfully told, in order to write a memoir of that length or longer. Using this exercise, you should end up with a good idea of book length expectations for a novel like yours. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 words. Easygoing, fairly light, userfriendly, nonfiction book for the masses. For most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. At a writers conference i recently attended, publishing veteran jane friedman said 80,000 words is good for most fiction, below.

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. Sep 18, 2017 in comparison, the database gives an average length of 89,000 words for adult fiction excluding fantasy, smack in the middle of the commonlycited range of 80,000100,000. In 2015, the drop resumed as the average fell to 345. What do most writers see as a good average chapter length. Personally, i recommend at least 10,000 words for nonfiction, unless you can do it justice in less. So, do this for some books in your field, find one that matches the same depth and detail that you want to attain for your book, and give yourself an estimate based on that.

Mar 20, 2020 the average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 to 75,000 words, but this can vary depending upon category. Keep in mind what that post length will likely bring to your blog, and vary. Romance novels often run between 50,000 and 90,000 words on average. As with everything else when it comes to writing a book, these are only guidelinesnot rules. In the old days, writers estimated word count by figuring 250 words per page. While 50,000 words is a fairly firm minimum, plenty of ya books reach up to 100,000 words, with a sweet spot at 75,00080,000.

Nonfiction wordcounts sit between 70,000120,000 words. Jul 23, 2012 the average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 words. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site post navigation. Onethird of the novels that come into the agency are rejected because theyre too long or. So you shouldnt really fret if your work falls short of the average size of a kindle book, as long as its length is within reason for your genre and audience. Nonfiction picture book 3,000 words max, but closer to 1,000 to 2,000 words. A story that is over 40,000 words is generally considered a novel. Oct 10, 2016 most of the data ill be using throughout this article was sourced from writers digest and the manuscript appraisal agency, with any differences split to find the average. Though the average word count of a chapter is around 2,000 5,000 words, it all depends on your story. But you can have as long or as short a chapter as you want, with as many scenes in. Most agree that under 1,000 words would be rather short and that over 5,000 might be rather too long. There are plenty of books that purposefully play with the word counts of their chapters.

Today, even after the introduction of what amazon calls version 2. Therefore, a 55,000 word book should be about 200 manuscript pages. The assignment is to create a 2 class java code that will read in a file, a book specifically, and will analyze that to count average sentence length and average word length. A scene that takes place in ten or fewer pages can comfortably be considered short. For a compilation of short stories, i would shoot for at least 30,000 words. I would like your guidance please i have tried searching for this info, but cannot find anything regarding a suggested ebook length for a work of fiction. 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. For some genres, like mystery, the minimum may go as low as 40,000 in the guidelines for some contests, but 60,000 is probably a more marketable length. Before diving into the specifics of genrebased word counts, lets look at the broader picture of average book length. The first book, harry potter and the sorcerers stone, has 76,944 words. The total page count excluding appendices and index is 204 pages, thus about 93,000 words. Targeted for 2 to 8yearold kids, this type of book typically has between 400 800 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. On average, how long is a childrens book for children.

Some 6090k ya books get classified as hilo, but i dont think they were specifically written for the category. Long book length at the other end of the spectrum a book of 80,000 to 100,000 words has significant heft, 320400 pages. There are no ironclad rules, just some simple guidelines, of which you can make what you will. If you mean for it to be a percentage like all the other lines, then you should declare it as a float or double generally you should prefer doubles over floats because doubles offer more precision and the performance difference is usually insignificant. 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 books amazon sales page. Lewis the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe, roald dahls charlie and the chocolate factory. For that reason, writing a long, lengthy book just about their. These are basic learning books that creatively teach colors, numbers or simple, fun stories for bedtime. The science fiction and fantasy writers of america specifies word lengths for. That said, if your book is around 40,000 words, youre in good company. Jun 27, 2019 a story that is over 40,000 words is generally considered a novel. The average fiction book is about 80,000 to 100,000 words, which is about 246 to 307 ebook pages.

Sep 12, 2018 by book do you mean novel or nonfiction. That was the formula in the good old days when courier was the only typeface and typewriters were king. According to amazons great text stats feature, the median length for all books is about 64,000 words. The page count is 32 or 40 pages with a word count of under 1,500.

Publishers want to know the overall length of your book. How does your book measure compare to whats succeeding in todays marketplace. In 2011, the lists average length peaked at 467 pages. It has fewer words than the other six books, making it the shortest book in the series. The 57 year old reading range straddles a few different categories of books. May 07, 2018 right now, when it comes to novellength word count, its all about 90,000 words. Frequently asked questions getting published meg cabot. The first alone has sold more than 120 million copies, and the rest have sold at least 65 million each. Count up the total number of words on 10 random full lines from different places and divide by 10 to get the average wordsperline count the number of lines on each page to get the linesperpage check that the book actually starts on page 1 sometimes the stuff before it starts is counted then. The old man and the sea was about 25 to 30,000 words. Harry potter and the halfblood prince 168,000 words. For fiction, i recommend 5,000 words or more for short stories.

Chapter book this varies widely, depending on grade and reader level, usually starting at 4,000 words and 15,000 words max. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. Nov, 2009 nonfiction picture book 3,000 words max, but closer to 1,000 to 2,000 words. You can follow any responses to this entry through the rss 2. Although the length of fiction is genredependent to an extent fantasy novels, for example, tend to be on the thicker side, sticking to the ideal novel length is still the best advice. Novels for adult readers fall between 80,000 and 120,000 words.

On average, a printed novel contains about 80,000 words. At the same time, dont feel bad if you want to write a post thats just 200 words long. Within the publishing industry we tend to talk about the length of a book in words rather than in pages. Aug 05, 2019 before diving into the specifics of genrebased word counts, lets look at the broader picture of average book length. Obviously, my point is not that you should submit a first book of anywhere near. Jun 07, 2017 in my opinion, if your nonfiction book is fewer than about 30,000 words 120 pages, it does not feel substantial enough to be real book.

In comparison, the database gives an average length of 89,000 words for adult fiction excluding fantasy, smack in the middle of the commonlycited range of 80,000100,000. And obviously for an ereader it doesnt make much sense to talk about page numbers in any case. Now, this doesnt mean that you have to compromise your manuscript and make it homogeneous, however by trying to tick a few boxes it might. Big, epic stories get anywhere from 120,000 to 200,000 words. You can even publish a very short story as its own ebook as long as its not shorter than 2,500 words, amazons unofficial minimum. This entry was posted on monday, may 11th, 2009 at 11. May 11, 2009 32 responses to word count and book length. For adult fiction especially crime, thrillers, womens fiction, saga and romance, 100,000 words is a good. When i started writing three years ago, the mg word count i kept hearing was no more than 30,000 words.

I just popped into my office and pulled a few books off the shelf. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. Oct 18, 2017 as with everything else when it comes to writing a book, these are only guidelinesnot rules. Keep in mind what that post length will likely bring to your blog, and vary your lengths so you can best serve your readers. How many words in a novel vary depending on genre, audience, and the story itself but in general, the average words in a novel is between 60,000 and 90,000 words for most genres. For a printed book, 37,000 words is definitely on the short side less than 150 pages so. By most peoples standards, 40,000 words would be pretty short for a novel. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic.

But remember that too many short scenes in a row can make the flow of the plot feel choppy, and disrupt the continuity that john gardner said creates a dream for the. An approximate word count round numbers based on what your wp tells you enables them to estimate costs and other factors involved in printing a book. No more than 90,000 words seems to be the editors mantra these days. Typically, a book that is published in paperback format at a length of 300400 pages will come in between 80,000 and 100,000 words. Ok, so, im a relatively new programmer and im having major difficulty with this assignment. While 50,000 words is a fairly firm minimum, plenty of ya books reach up to 100,000 words, with a. Once you have a vision for your booksmall, standard, or wide formatyou can move on to the second step in deciding how many words you should write. Any selfhelp or motivational nonfiction book should be.

The average adult novel runs approximately 100,000 words while those in other categories run 80120,000 words. I asked agents elizabeth pomada and michael larsen of larsen pomada literary agency to add their thoughts to the subject. Ya novels are rarely over 75k, historical novels go up to 120k, ditto speculative fiction. I was scared that agents would reject my book simply because i had got the length wrong. For a novel, i would recommend at least 50,000 words in length. Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. If the muse moves you, dont be afraid to write posts that are 2,000 words or more. Now im seeing a lot more mg books with up to 60,000 words, so i think the water has become a bit murky here. However, book length varies widely between genres, among authors, and based on the content of the book. Onethird of the novels that come into the agency are rejected because theyre too long or short, perkins says. However, it will be on the short side, as the average length of a novel hovers around 50,00070,000 words. The word count is the number of words in a document or passage of text. 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.

Right now, when it comes to novellength word count, its all about 90,000 words. For a compilation of short stories, i would shoot for at. Romance is a unique genre because the plot is all about two characters and their adventure with one another. Harry potter and the deathly hallows 198,000 words. However, many authors, frustrated with the low price of ebooks, have taken to writing ebooks that are between 40,000 and 50,000. But while the length of a novel is to a large extent up to its writer, lengths may also vary by subgenre. 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. In outlining your book in 3 easy steps, editor shawn coyne says, the average novel today is about 90,000 words. It contains 38 lines per page, with an average of 12 words per line, thus 456 words per book page. I hope youre feeling clearer on your book length now. This seems a reasonable limit even for the established authors, as its about the length of the average novel. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. 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. Since this was the first book, rowling had more time to edit the book and make the writing more concise.