Coyne uses the nanowrimo wordcount length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. This is a lot harder because its not a specific field im receiving back i have to scrape the results and do some crazy parsing of the data. Consider your average chapter length for that story. If youre working on a novellength book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least but its better to aim for 90,000. Less than 70,000 unless fantasy scifi supernatural, which can be longer, max 90,000. Here is everything writers need to know about novel word counts. The original question had a followup statement, which was as follows. It is feasible to count the number of words in a published chapter. Harry potter and the sorcerers stone has 17 chapters with titles, and about 4560 words per chapter. For my travel memoir, should i query when i have a proposal and several sample chapters, like nonfiction, or wait until the manuscript is complete, like fiction.
You might not keep to those word counts, but it gives you something to. But again as a surprise to me, dune was a close second, averaging just 3,800 words per chapter. And remember, keeping to word counts is important, but what makes or breaks your chances with a publisher is the quality of your manuscript. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. Many sites say the same thing and it makes me wonder a bit if im writing my own novel wrong. There are plenty of books that purposefully play with the word counts of their chapters.
What is the average word count for a scene in a chapter. May 11, 2009 word count and book length getting published was indeed a good blog post. Before we discuss the best word count of a chapter, lets first break. Jul 18, 20 the longest average chapter lengths were lord of the rings 7,500, prince of nothing 8,700, and the beefiest chapters were found in the black company, with an average chapter length of 11,300 words. Try it on some books with chapter lengths you like, and dont be surprised if it. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. It should be enough to communicate your message effectively. Its up to you within reason before you decide your average chapter length, its a good idea to think about the purpose behind dividing a book into chapters. My question is about novel structure and word counts. The one im targeting would be the younger audience around ages 6 to 9.
If youre printing a regular book or publishing to amazon or something thats extremely ereader friendly, you can get away with longer chapters. Well, while the accelerated reader program is lame in a lot of ways, this is a very handy tool. Armed with these word counts, i now have a range of lengths that have been proven popular. Would you consider a post on memoir guidelines, since memoir falls somewhere between fiction and nonfiction in many ways. Nicholas sparks word count popular novel word count. Writing middle grade a look at the numbers hannah holt. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. Analyzing chapter lengths in fantasy fiction creativity hacker. How many chapters will you need before you reach your target word count. Harry potter and the sorcerers stone has an average of 4,560 words per chapter.
Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. A you should be aware that the majority of readers are actually adults. If youve read our related article on how many words are in a novel youll recall that the typical word count for a novel according to is 80,000 to 109,000 words. And this ebook page length differs significantly depending on the book genre. When writing a longer book that is aimed at 12yearolds and could maybe be considered tween, using the term upper middle grade is advisable. Twilight has 24 titled chapters, or 26 if you count the preface and epilogue, and about 4580 words per chapter. In north america, the standard used by editorial staff in figuring word count is 250 words per page, 10 words per line using a 12 pt. To find pretty much any kids ya word count, you can. But remember, this is more of a guideline than a rule. How many characters of text letters are in an average book. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length.
This averages to about 22 to 23 chapters per novel, with the average chapter length around 4,280 words. Basically, having an idea of how long you want your book to be helps you work smarter, not harder. We all know of outliers within each genre that have been published well under, or well over, these word counts. Aug 05, 2019 all of these are average book word count ranges and should not be taken as the definitive word count you must reach in your book. Youll use the word count in your word document to calculate book page count. Childrens book manuscript chapter length consistency is what sort of keeps the engine of your pacing going. On average, when writing a memoir should not exceed 90,000 words and that is a stretch when it comes to memoir word count we recommend memoirs be between 45,000 to 80,000 words in order to maintain intrigue and reduce intimidation. Information on writing and publishing in the early reader and chapter book market. How to write and publish early readers and chapter books. But the word count of a chapter matters if you want your story to flow right. Each genre and subgenre has its own word count range. Why chapter length matters more than you think medium. Im a little confused about the word count for chapter books.
Words counts of bestselling novels better novel project. Excluding endnotes and index, the book has about 200 pages of text, which means its total word count is about 74,000 words. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. If the word count of twilight is disregarded, the average becomes around 88,625. Ive got 50k words word processor word count and im on my fifteenth chapter with six very short portions not included as chapters, and im no where close to even a mid point or anything. First, provide an estimated character count for a standard book. 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. First of all, find your word count in word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen. I use a book mark to remember where i was, but stop reading also in the middle of a chapter. Jun 05, 2017 childrens book manuscript chapter length consistency is what sort of keeps the engine of your pacing going. Do check your comparable titlesrecent debuts onlyto make sure your story falls in that range.
For debut books in this field the average word count tends to be 35k and it has therefore become the marker many industry professionals look for in queries from new writers. As with everything else when it comes to writing a book, these are only guidelinesnot rules. Depending on the writing genre, word count in book chapters can vary. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. Of course, when youre writing the first draft of your story, you want to just get your words out on paper. Each book section below details the breakdown of these points of view as a word count and as a percentage. I find it alarming, honestly, that the stats seem to be so low. The title with the shortest chapters, on average, was whirlwind in the thorn tree, averaging just 2,900 words each. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a wordcount guideline.
A books have a teenage protagonist, but if you want to write y. Once you know your word count, follow one of our two methods below to estimate your page count. Your article was a welcome relief to me since i cannot justify writing for the sake of adding to my word count if the story is already complete. It turns out a better book in the end as well, which means your readers enjoy it moreand youll sell more copies. Analyzing chapter lengths in fantasy fiction creativity. Search for word count totals in books word counters. Oct 18, 2017 therefore, the word count of a novel is crucial if you want your book to be fit for publication. Now, they dont offer word count or running time for books, but they do have a search api. However sometimes, like today, the reverse happens.
The average chapter length in my book is roughly nine pages. And a typical howto nonfiction book might need between 7 and 12. The first book in each series below was the authors first. Everything you need to know about novel word counts nathan. Rather than force your chapter to meet a certain word count, end it where it naturally ends. If you want to make it comfortable for them, count the length of a chapter in novels you like. T he indie author chris fox coined the term potato chip chapters for easilydigestible book chapters of a certain size. If yours is too short, restructure it and add more tightly written stuff. We recommend memoirs be between 45,000 to 80,000 words in order to maintain intrigue and reduce intimidation. As you can see, established authors get much more flexibility when it comes to the length of their book. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a word count guideline.
Therefore, the word count of a novel is crucial if you want your book to be fit for publication. And make sure you view a sample chapter to find out what your content will look like. Chapters in books for younger readers often err on the shorter side, while fantasy. How to write early readers, easy chapter books, and. The hunger games has 27 untitled chapters, and about 3700 words per chapter. To find pretty much any kids ya word count, you can use the ar bookfinder. Also, the chapters are evenly divided into 3 titled parts. Each page contains about 34 lines, with an average word count of 11 words per line, thus 375 words per page.
May 12, 2012 i find it alarming, honestly, that the stats seem to be so low. Of course, rules are made to be broken, especially in literature. To give you a general idea of the average chapter length, the range is usually between 3,000 to 5,000 words. In 2011, the lists average length peaked at 467 pages. I am writing the last chapter of my childrens chapter book manuscript and am currently just shy of 23k. A plan for your book that includes a word count helps you. 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. A reasonable word count for a nonfiction book would be between 30,000 to 50,000 words. I use the target average of 1,500 words per chapter. We explain two easy methods to estimate your books page count. The collection as a whole posted an average chapter length of 6,100 words. Before you decide your average chapter length, its a good idea to think about the. Tips and tricks by writerkellie kellie bowe with 4,328 reads.
And when im reading, i definitely notice, you know, with my editorial clients, i have manuscripts in front of me all the time. From a conference, paula sadler had given out a handout that said the word count could be between 5,000 to,000 words. A plan for your book that includes a word count helps you not write too little or too much. I definitely notice when a chapter is a lot shorter or a lot longer than sort of what has been established. Its generally advisable that, when you first start writingup, to sit down and work out your chapters roughly and assign a general word count to them. Calculate book page count using the word count from your word document. Do you want to publish a wide format bookwith inspiring quotes down the side margins. 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. Many times ive onemorechaptered myself all the way to the end at 2 a. I have often looked this up and got different results, which makes it very confusing. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid.
How to write early readers, easy chapter books, and chapter. The chapter by chapter breakdown sections lists the povs in order by chapter. So as youre writing a book, a common question if often asked. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. Books that can be read by many ages are called crossover books. Most are written inhouse or by packagers, and a few, as carrie noted about the dora books, are downright dreadful. Oct 22, 2010 early readers and chapter books are a childs first tentative steps into the grownup world of reading. On average, when writing a memoir should not exceed 90,000 words and that is a stretch when it comes to memoir word count. May 14, 2018 literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction.
If perhaps it had even more pictures it would be even a lot better. 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. Ive got 50k words word processor word count and im on my fifteenth chapter with six. Never write a chapter longer than 4,000 words bookfox. All of these are average book word count ranges and should not be taken as the definitive word count you must reach in your book. The percentage expressed here takes the total number of words in that section and divides it. Since 2011, the average length of a bestseller has dropped steadily from year to year. Use these numbers as a baseline for your writing goals. One thing in favor of short chapters is that readers are more likely to read just one more chapter when its midnight and they have to work in the morning, but theyre really into the book. Some will tell you 2,500 words is the average, while others will say that 3,000 to 5,000 word chapters are more likely to be the norm. If im writing a novel, this gives me 40 chapters and 70,000 words when im done. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors.
Also, millions of people, young and old alike, who have read these books have. One of my biggest problems as a publisher is having authors deliver more than was agreed to. I believe the word count has increased as she wrote more books. The hunger games uses 3,700word chapters, dividing each chapter into three parts. 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. Discover what size your book should be and if thats comparable to the standard book sizes in publishing. Yet all too often they arent taken seriously in the world of childrens publishing. 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. I counted the number of words on page 7 of night whispers, then multiplied by the number of pages, then rounded, and so theres aout 4 words per book. Its also worth noting that the average word count figure can vary by genre. 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. 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. Though the average word count of a chapter is around 2,000 5,000 words, it all depends on your story.
The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 to 75,000 words, but this can vary depending upon category. I have therefore made some averages, based on what ive heard from publishers and agents at childrens book events, and from research and reading. For novels specifically in the young adult genre, the typical range is between 55,000 79,999 words. Most middle grade novels are between 40,000 and 69,000 words long. How long are the chapters in books by famous authors. A prayer for owen meany by john irving, national book award winner and threetime nominee, has an average word count per chapter of.
Click librarian or teacher and then search for books like yours click on the. Your university department will have a maximum word count or page count and you must take that into account. Apr 23, 2018 this post covers why word count matters for novels, the standard word count ranges for various genres, and the word counts of some famous novels. Most publishers like to see chapters that are in the 2,000 to 3,000word range. We are also going to look at how harry potter is comparable to other young adult novels in regards to word count. Jan 08, 2018 calculate book page count using your word count. Now this doesnt mean there arent any guidelines in place.
A recommended wordcount might be 15002000 words but, more. The word count at big five publishers had a slightly narrower range. Oct 26, 2018 discover what size your book should be and if thats comparable to the standard book sizes in publishing. Jun 15, 2017 this is a general list of age categories and word counts for childrens books. Even the individual books in the series have more words than average. The longest average chapter lengths were lord of the rings 7,500, prince of nothing 8,700, and the beefiest chapters were found in the black company, with. 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. What will happen in each chapter, and how much has to happen before you move on to the next chapter. This 90,000word guideline for how many words in a novel is just that, a guideline. For writing i would conclude, that some readers like my mother use chapters to plan the time for reading.
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