Standard book word count

Compact and inexpensivelyproduced, these books also called pocket books are around 4. All book publishers and book designers have a standard they go by to estimate page length. This may particularly be the case in academia, legal proceedings, journalism and advertising. Industry standard childrens categories published childrens books are divided into three main categories. It should be enough to communicate your message effectively. If you have 6 panels, stick to a maximum of 35 words per panel.

How to find out the number of words in a book pen and. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility calculates it at 80,7. This reduction will be very small, like maybe 12 lines less per page, and 510 pages less for the book. Word count is commonly used by translators to determine the price of a translation job. Like everything in writing, you may write a work of genius that smashes all the rules. And, in case youre wondering, here are the average word counts for other popular genres. List of book sizes standard sizes for all different self.

If i tell you that my book is 70,000 words, and send you an 800 page correctly formated ms the 1. 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. By using these three options to more accurately define your writing, the words per page calculator should provide a better estimate on how many words you need to write to fill a page. Failing to mention the word count, or committing the faux pas of stating the page count instead, will also see a quick rejection. The word count for your book in microsoft word will be located in the bottom left corner next to the page number. So, the average wordcount for a typical novel is anywhere from 70,000 to 120,000. For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. Both our hardcover and softcover books come in all standard book sizes. Board books are those tough little things you give to the smallest of readers. How many words per page are there in a typical novel. For example, childrens books are going to have fewer words per page than a book meant for adult readers. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. Im curious about your advice compose the novel in the standard format from the start rather than changing it later why does this matter.

For the book hatchet, the actual word count is 41,672 and i give you 41,212. You would be wise to come close to these suggested. Onethird of the novels that come into the agency are rejected because theyre too long or short, perkins says. Roughly how many pages would 50,000 words produce in a. Im leaving this in the list to show that word count isnt offered for every book.

When i started writing three years ago, the mg word count i kept hearing was no more than 30,000 words. For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. Book page count calculator how many pages is my novel. Each genre and subgenre has its own word count range. That said, this figure differs from book to book and organization to. A reasonable word count for a nonfiction book would be between 30,000 to 50,000 words. In 2017, the downward trend has continued, with an average book length of 273 pages. The binding, font and paper size establish how many pages a published book will be. 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. Thats the level where publishers may suggest dividing a story into multiple volumes. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. However, book length varies widely between genres, among authors, and based on the content of the book.

There are still many factors to consider, like your genre. I agree that it seems like for a debut author, the agent really looks at that word count. Well, as publishers matter less and less, in some respects, word counts matter less and less. May 15, 2020 the standard size for a mass market paperback is around 4. Author eve tells me her book came in at 95,000 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. For manuscripts, the answer is about 250300 words per page if. If youre given a perpage rate, you can calculate a per word rate by assuming the industry standard of 250 words per page, e. In a typical contemporary book, you will have between 60,000 and 90,000 words. For example, if youre writing for genres that have a word count range of 80,00089,999 words i. If youre hoping to land a book deal with a traditional publisher, you. Search for word count totals in books word counters. Thats why the traditional submission formats exist. Before our book page count calculator, you had to dig around through multiple sources to figure out how many words per page for your exact font size and then do the math.

Mainstream, thriller, horror, romance, suspense, mystery, and literary and you want to adhere to the 3,0005,000 word count range per chapter, then that would probably entail about 16 to 30 chapters. It seems like ya novels are getting longer and longer nowadays, but maybe my attention span is getting shorter. Page count is determined by the publisher, not the writer. Youll use the word count in your word document to calculate book page count.

Each page contains about 34 lines, with an average word count of 11 words per line, thus 375 words per page. Surely when writing the important thing is to get words on the page even if theyre in pink comic sans. In 2016s list, ron chernows 816page alexander hamilton managed to crack the top spot. On the layout tab, in the page setup group, click size, and then select more paper sizes. Apr 23, 2018 standard word count ranges for various genres. This 90,000word guideline for how many words in a novel is just that, a guideline.

Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook. Once you know your word count, follow one of our two methods below to estimate your page count. But, if you want to be old school you will use oneinch margins all around, and a monospaced font like dark courier by hp or courier 10. Ensure all pages were included in the count and adjust the count if. In the opposite direction, it can give a more accurate estimate of how many pages you have created if you only know the word count. The typical book s words perpage count tends to range between 225 and 275an average of 250. Kdp standard book sizes include most standard book dimensions, but they exclude the mass market paperback size. What is the average number of actual words in comic books. Aug 05, 2019 for most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. Count up the total number of words on 10 random full lines from different places and divide by 10 to get the average words perline 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. 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. Jun 27, 2019 put simply, the sweet spot for a novels word count is generally said to be around 8090k.

The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. Lets first define some familiar industry terms to give you some context for the numbers coming next. First of all, find your word count in word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. But for print publishing, the physical cost of producing the book is an issue, and the market does generally know what it likes. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books.

Coyne uses the nanowrimo wordcount length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. Yes, having a book that is overly short or overly long for its genre will. As with many publishing standards, word count guidelines exist for a. What follows is a rough guide to book length expectations in certain genres. Use your word processor to figure out your average word count per manuscript page and your total word count. So many people today rely on the word count given by their software program, but when you go to print a physical book, the pages matter. Word count, with a little help from amazon alexis grant. Any content not intending to be trimmed off should be a minimum of 0. Line count varies depending on page size, font size, etc.

As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. At one extreme you get large print books with 250 words on the page. So should i stay with this word count, or try to bring the word count down. These are basic learning books that creatively teach colors, numbers or simple, fun stories for bedtime. If the industry standard is 250 words per page and the book you read contains 200 pages then you could reasonably expect that the number of words read is 50,000. Up to 6070k is probably safe though there are even longer exceptions. This line count includes blank lines between paragraphs as well as lines with just a single word. The word counts of some famous novels for comparison. Heres our word count guide for 18 different book genres.

Finish the draft first, then worry about word count. Standard book sizes can vary depending on your genre. That doesnt mean that your book will be an instant success if your novel word count is in its optimum number. 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. Shorter novels such as fahrenheit 451, the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, the great gatsby, and slaughterhousefive are between 4050,000 words. In the meantime, overwriting to the point that your draft exceeds typical word count ranges is a common issue and those widelyaccepted ranges arent completely arbitrary. Longer word counts allowed for fantasy, scifi, historical.

Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book. Excluding endnotes and index, the book has about 200 pages of text, which means its total word count is about 74,000 words. As a nonfiction writer myself, i know this is tough. For the book hatchet, the actual word count is 41,672 and i give you. Ive been writing a novel over the past year, and with the help on your site as well as a few other sites, ive been converting it into manuscript format.

For full titles, authors and descriptions of these books, see whats on my travel memoir bookshelf. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. When converting character counts to words, a measure of 5 or 6 characters to a word is generally used for english. Coyne uses the nanowrimo word count length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. 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. There is absolutely an industry standard, but it is a bit old school and some editors may not even care. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic. The best thing that you can do is look over comparable books and try to judge word count by their size, average words page, and illustration content. Also, heres another list i may swipe and add in here. As a publisher who has laid out dozens of books for printinga 50,000 word manuscript should end up somewhere between 180 and 220 pages. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. No matter how much you adjust the other variables, if the ms is only 50,000 words in length instead of 95,000, then you have a problem if the book was announced as being 288 pages in. 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.

Word count for famous novels organized commonplace book. After that, your agent will be able to help you more. 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. If youre working on a novellength book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least but its better to aim for 90,000.

The average wordcount for adult fiction is between 70,000 to 120,000 words. This post covers why word count matters for novels, the standard word. 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. Choose a favorite published childrens book and type it up as a manuscript in standard manuscript format. Realize it over the maximum word count for erotic, science fictionfantasy genre. Books at this size usually come with a tiny typeface and spine flexibility ranging from minimal to moderate. If youre writing a young adult fantasy novel, you should keep your word count below 90,000 words or 300 book pages. Academic books might put 600 words on a page with works of reference squeezing in words. Step 5 is to target your writing so you will be on track for your books vision. Can be publisher specific, ranging from 3,000 to absolute max 5,000. What is the industry standard for the number of words per. Custom hardcover books can also be covered with a dust jacket, a removable paper cover used to protect a book from dirt or damage. On the spreadsheet, the editors total cost will be automatically calculated once you insert your total word count and the editors per word rate.

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. Word count for famous novels organized by hawthorn mineart, under books, writing. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. As a result, a 100k manuscript can size up very differently on a shelf. The best thing that you can do is look over comparable books and try to judge word count by their size, average wordspage, and illustration content. Longer word counts allowed for fantasy, scifi, paranormal, historical. Editors have very specific guidelines for the types of stories they publish and those types all have specific word count ranges. Overwriting drags down a narrative, turns off prospective agentspublishersreaders, and can cause professional services to become prohibitively expensive. Regarding the value of adhering to standard word counts, jackie bates, a former managing editor at aa publishing, adds. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. Its about 20k words more than a novella, so its right on the low end, id say. Standard book sizes custom book binding book trim sizes. This isnt to say that long books are no longer succeeding.

The standard size for a mass market paperback is around 4. It depends on the font you are using, of course, but in general, 250300 words per page. In itself, no measure is perfect but personally i find word count the most useful. Onethird of the novels that come into the agency are rejected because theyre too long or. There is a 24page count minimum for our hard case bindings. There are a few book word count guidelines for each genre, but these arent hard and fast rules. Enter width and height fields for your trim size with bleed added. This is due to the audience youre reaching preferring that length. Its too much hassle and timeconsuming time you couldve spent refining and perfecting your book content. I just popped into my office and pulled a few books off the shelf.

Jan 08, 2018 calculate book page count using your word count. 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. The hunger games has a word count of 99,750 and my utility calculates it at 98,916. Standard nonfiction business, political science, psychology, history, etc. Word counting may be needed when a text is required to stay within certain numbers of words. Here are the average novel word counts in the top five genres in the book publishing industry in no particular order. Everything you need to know about novel word counts nathan. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages.

Word count discrepencies in novel submissions a reader writes to ask. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures of readability and to measure typing and reading speeds usually in words per minute. All fonts in the cover should be embedded in the native program before publishing. One rule of thumb is you can get 60 percent of a manuscript page into one typeset page said manuscript being in 12point type, doublespaced, preferably times new roman, with oneinch margins on an 8. Bookbaby offers both hardcover and softcover book options. Obviously, a prime determinant of book size is the word count. Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. It gives me a chance to lay out standard word counts for different types of books. For paperbacks you get 2550 lines per page, with 35 being a good average. The word count is the number of words in a document or passage of text. At a writers conference i recently attended, publishing veteran jane friedman said 80,000 words is good for most fiction, below 60,000 isnt novel length territory, and above 120,000 is likely too much.

Frequently asked questions getting published meg cabot. Yes, having a book that is overly short or overly long for its genre will incrementally decrease your odds of finding traditional publication. Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. Im not sure if im pushing the word count over, been trying cut back the word count.

The actual word count for harry potter and the sorcerers stone is 78,792 and my utility calculates 77,876. Jun 12, 2009 should a diet book be 30,000 words or 45,000. Aug 02, 2008 count pages in some board books the cardboard books for babies and toddlers. However, the drop in the overall average length of bestsellers over the last 7 years points to a marked. Build your book format a paperback manuscript word for. Many of these books are written in rhyme or in a simple singsong meter that is catchy and fun. Multiply the industry standard by the number of pages contained in your book. How often do you find a longer picture book like the journey of oliver k. Such books will have a minimum length of 75,000 words but seldom exceed. Do check your comparable titlesrecent debuts onlyto make sure your story falls in that range. You should be fine, but it wouldnt hurt to get it closer to 70k.