Published book word counts

But rules are made to be broken, and the most successful publishing phenomenon in history did just that. Few elements of the bookwriting process inspire such handwringing and teethgnashing as trying to constrain your novel within certain seemingly arbitrary bounds. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures of readability and to measure typing and reading speeds usually in words per minute. Readers looking for a good beachread in the mystery section will not likely gravitate towards a 1,000page book. Oct 17, 2018 following the submission guidelines for a publisher is critical.

How many words do they or did they, in some cases write each day. Some of the greatest books ever published didnt have the proper word count and i believe they were better for it. Of course, theres a problem with just taking a writers word counts and trying to deduce too much insight from them. The longest novel is artamene ou le grand cyrus, originally published 164954 in ten parts, each part in three volumes. Word counts how many pages is a published 85,000 word novel. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. Where can i find a database of all published books word. Word count for famous novels organized by hawthorn mineart, under books, writing. The answer will be the approximate page count of a printed book. Most published books average closer to 300 words per page than 200.

Ive been doing some research into epic fantasy word counts recently, especially to get an idea of debut novel figures over recent years. For manuscripts, the answer is about 250300 words per page if. This is a list of the novels over 500,000 words published through a mainstream publisher. Use these numbers as a baseline for your writing goals. If yours is too short, restructure it and add more tightly written stuff. My manuscript without the index is sitting at 111,000 right now but theres not much more i can cut and every word counts. However, that isnt to say that a shorter or longer book cant be a bestseller too. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. While page counts are a common but not universal feature of bibliographic metadata, word counts are much less frequently provided and are not at all mandatory. Hilo books for upper elementary grades at ala example titles ranging from 1090k words. That doesnt mean you can submit a manuscript twice the length a publisher recommends. 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, heres another list i may swipe and add in here. For example, childrens books are going to have fewer words per page than a book meant for adult readers. For the book hatchet, the actual word count is 41,672 and i give you 41,212. When converting character counts to words, a measure of 5 or 6 characters to a word is generally used for english. While, in the past, being published was limited to small numbers of people due to the cost of printing and the desire of the elite to control the dispersion of information, we now have more accessible technologies that make publishing something that many are capable of.

Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. The best word counts for each genre are the same for both traditional publishing and self publishing. Where can i find a database of all published books word counts and. Word count, with a little help from amazon alexis grant. The word counts of some famous novels for comparison. Compiling a list of longest novels yields different results depending on whether pages, words or characters are counted. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing.

Search for word count totals in books word counters. I use the running time of the audiobook to come up with the word count total. For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. Therefore, a 280,000 word manuscript becomes a 900 page doorstop.

Board books board books arent really a genre, theyre a style of book binding. That doesnt mean that your book will be an instant success if your novel word count is in its optimum number. 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. As a reader i love the huge word count novels steven king has written and the very short gems tom robbins has penned. Authors book business book marketing books conferences contests ebooks editors for kids interested in writing literary agents magazine nj scbwi pearl s. Word count for famous novels organized commonplace book. Counting chickens a few words about word counts at hope vestergaards site. There are many writers who choose the more difficult path of convincing publishing professionals that the parameters should be stretched beyond the norm and that their manuscript justifies a larger word count. Apr 09, 2014 multipublished authors break these limitations all the time. Following the submission guidelines for a publisher is critical. Generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. You would be wise to come close to these suggested. When it gets closer to 1,000, editors and agents may shy away. May 14, 2018 literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction.

If you want to get published, you need to be aware that major new york publishers are looking for a specific word count, depending on your genre. Buck writing center picture books poetry contests publishers. If the publishing industry spoke about page numbers, the number would constantly change depending on the stage the book was in. The word counts you gave is helpful, but this is a nonfiction book, and i wonder if there might be a similar list for. I put in anne of green gables and clicked on the first entry, and it listed the word count as 17,129. Some authors believe the word count is irrelevantwhether it takes 20,000 words or 200,000 words, the book will be done when youve finished telling your story.

These include using published information about the book to determine an exact word count, estimating the number of words based on industry standards and. There are some easy ways to find the word count for a published bookonline bookstores. Now regarded as classics, these debut novels had to be edited to reduce them to these published word counts. And if youre only looking for a few examples from a particular genre, the word counts for other books listed on this site have also been verified. I published my first novel on amazon this year mongruxx wolfpac and am 40k words into the next book mongruxx starship umbra. Everything you need to know about novel word counts nathan.

Childrens book types and suggested word counts go teen. If perhaps it had even more pictures it would be even a lot better. What is the recomended wordcount for a fantasyfiction book. There are a few book word count guidelines for each genre, but these arent hard and fast rules. Word count stays consistent regardless of arbitrary formatting choices. Writing for reluctant readers at writing world stated count of 4001200 words.

Like everything in writing, you may write a work of genius that smashes all the rules. Estimate your page count book designer fiona raven. And remember, keeping to word counts is important, but what makes or breaks your chances with a publisher is the quality of your manuscript. Standard word counts, page lengths and formats for self. Surely when writing the important thing is to get words on the page even if theyre in pink comic sans. Why word count matters when you submit your book the. At times the readers of books may be interested in discovering how many words they read. Published childrens books are divided into three main categories.

For novels in general, the accepted word count is 7080,000 words. For fantasy novels, you are allowed to go slightly above this limit, but unless you are an established author, i dont recommend going too far above. Word counts how many pages is a published 85,000 word. Using your current word count and the appropriate formula below, calculate the number of pages you can expect in your finished book. Word count signals to people what kind of book theyre dealing with. If youve published a book successfully before, you may have more leeway in this area, but its best to play it safe by staying within the parameters set by the publisher. Childrens book categories are not static and they are not written in stone. For traditional publishing or selfpublishing, youll have the best odds of success. This article suggests that essentially, it should be as long as it needs to be, meaning dont look at the word count, just get the story out then edit. But if marketability matters to you, its not that simple. Multipublished authors break these limitations all the time. Learn the average wordcount for every type of novel, novella, genre, etc. 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.

Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. Heres our word count guide for 18 different book genres. Are you wondering what the word count for your book should be. Whats more annoying is when people rationalize it as comparable to quality when the requisite word counts were higher not too long ago. Word count, on the other hand, stays pretty much the same.

However, there are also genre conventions at play that influence even selfpublished books that arent likely to be sold on a shelf. Deconstructing five spooky picture books with spoilers and word counts. There are still many factors to consider, like your genre. Use word to count the words in a story in your publication, click the text box that contains the words you want to count. We all know of outliers within each genre that have been published well under, or well over, these word counts. So if you want to write and publish a book successfully, this is vital information to know even if it seems trivial. Because it allows me to check out length for published books in my genre.

Word count matters more than it should in my opinion. Anyway, heres the figures and facts i have so far looks like big debut novels are anything but unusual in epic fantasy now. Everything you need to know about novel word counts. I would limit the book at 100,000 words to be safe. To be picked up by a traditional publisher, my manuscript needs to fall in a similar wordcount window. Im curious about your advice compose the novel in the standard format from the start rather than changing it later why does this matter. Apr 05, 2015 generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. I have therefore made some averages, based on what ive heard from publishers and agents at childrens book events, and from research and reading. 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. May 11, 2009 word count and book length getting published was indeed a good blog post. I clicked on the unabridged version, and it lists the word count as 97,364. I am trying to approach this rather pragmatically, with a view to getting published, so id prefer to modify the project to fit the needs of publishersin that regard at least, i feel the length probably does matter. However, there are averages and rough word counts expected by publishers. And a 28,000 word manuscript is more like a booklet or novella of 90 pages.

Here are the average novel word counts in the top five genres in the book publishing industry in no particular order. As technology has shifted, so has our understanding of what it means to be published. Jun 27, 2019 similarly, if your book is published and lands in a bookstore, you dont want to turn away prospective readers with a bizarrely small or large book spine. Standard word counts for books publishing with kindle. Here are the standard word counts, page lengths and formats in the traditional categories of childrens books for authors who are selfpublishing ebooks, apps, or print books that they will be selling online. You can also find word counts on the accelerated reading website. Here is everything writers need to know about novel word counts. If the text box is connected to other text boxes, all the words in the connected text boxes are counted. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a word count guideline. Word count musts vary all over the board, which is irritating. But it is a business choice, and publishing is a business, and so is writing to be published by traditional publishers.

Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. May 07, 2018 but your word count might be a reason it is being rejected. How many words per page are there in a typical novel. Jan 18, 2010 this is awesome enough for me to get excited over. When it comes to selfpublished booksdoes size matter. I read a lot pretty much daily and have noticed many sci fy novels in the 75k word count range. There are no hardandfast rules when it comes to what word count a novel in a particular genre should be.

Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. A way to check word count of published books anita nolan. I was in barnes and noble the other day and i found myself wondering how my book will physically compare in size to the books on the shelf in there. If the publisher has a convincing argument for cutting a passage or two, the book will be shorter. Well, if your goal is to publish and sell your novel, those rules are pretty darn important. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000 word. However if youre curious to see what the average word count is for standard genres, check out the breakdown in the article. Go to that books page and scroll down to inside this book. Oftentimes, professional editing will cut down the unnecessary information so your memoir is the appropriate word count. Why word count matters when you submit your book the artful. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a wordcount guideline. Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words.

How to find out the number of words in a book pen and. My first novel ran 120k words, the next one most likely 200k. Hes been published by each of the three largest publishers in the world. When writing a longer book that is aimed at 12yearolds and could maybe be considered tween, using the term upper middle grade. This is a list of the novels over 500,000 words published through a. 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. Weve put together a list of the daily word counts of 20 famous authors, which you can check out here below.

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. But for print publishing, the physical cost of producing the book is an issue, and the market does generally know what it likes. The best word count for your selfpublished novel self. 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. Still, if you have any feedback id love to hear it. Most traditionally published novels for adults are about 80,000 words. Jun 15, 2017 this is a general list of age categories and word counts for childrens books. The actual word count for harry potter and the sorcerers stone is 78,792 and my utility calculates 77,876. Word count is commonly used by translators to determine the price of a translation job. Jul 08, 2014 you have just discovered the wonderful world of bibliographic metadata. If it has areas that need further explanation the word count will go up. So itll be off on occasion, but it still works well for the average book. Regarding the value of adhering to standard word counts, jackie bates, a former managing editor at aa publishing, adds. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books.

Your book may not be considered at all if you fall too far outside of the recommended word count range. Word count and book length getting published was indeed a good blog post. But i f you are a first time author looking to get traditionally published, try and stick to these ages and word counts. Whats more annoying is when people rationalize it as comparable to quality when the requisite word counts were. A way to check word count of published books anita nolans blog. I have often looked this up and got different results, which makes it very confusing. You have just discovered the wonderful world of bibliographic metadata.

Here are some popular scifi novels and their word counts. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook. Here is a website that will give you the number of words in published books. Sep 30, 2015 when it comes to selfpublished booksdoes size matter. Book page count calculator how many pages is my novel. It is, i think, the easiest to use to quickly find the word count of a book. But your word count might be a reason it is being rejected. Silly question, but i am trying to get a feel for how that book will look on a shelf how many pages will it wind up being.

There are several methods for determining the word count of a given book. However, there are also genre conventions at play that influence even self published books that arent likely to be sold on a shelf. 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. Childrens book types and suggested word counts go teen writers. Jan 19, 20 ive been doing some research into epic fantasy word counts recently, especially to get an idea of debut novel figures over recent years. Sep 12, 2012 put a title the exact title in the search engine, then click on the title, or one of the titles if more than one comes up. Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by douglas adams 50,895 words.