Have you ever wondered how the average ebook page length or word count differs by book genre. Word count is tricky because most readers dont really think about word count, and page count can be easily adjusted as noted in the rowling example above. Search for word count totals in books word counters. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. Just like a paperback is going to save you money compared to a hard cover copy, the ebook version is going to be even less expensive. How to write an ebook for a b2b audience complete guide. 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.
This question came in as a reader comment on one of the earlier blog posts. If a page is 500 words on an ipad, and 250 words on a kindle, it might be only 120 words on a phone. What is the ideal length word count wise for my first book. In itself, no measure is perfect but personally i find word count the most useful. We all know of outliers within each genre that have been published well under, or well over, these word counts. But the thing is, that thick book that you see in a bookstore may actually contain fewer words than you think. Martin and harper lee keep things more evenly paced in a game of thrones and to kill a mockingbird, respectively. Standard word counts for books publishing with kindle. Here is what 187 words looks like in microsoft word.
Does it mean amazon has set a bare minimum to say all kindle books published has to. 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. The word counts of some popular ya novels we often go around thinking that fat, thick books with huge word counts are the best. In fact, the majority of printed books are turned into ebooks.
How many words there are on a page depends on the font type, font size, spacing, margins and paragraph length. For fantasy, the average word count is probably closer to 7080,000 words, whereas the average novel length is 5060,000 words. The current average for published fiction is about 80,000 words for novels, i believe. 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. When it gets closer to 1,000, editors and agents may shy away. 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.
Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. Line count varies depending on page size, font size, etc. Getting leads is awesome, but its the customers that count. Average word count in a book book editing services. We explain two easy methods to estimate your books page count. Most blogs and writer websites had the moreorless the same advice forget the length and the average word count of your novel. Obviously, my point is not that you should submit a first book of anywhere near 200,000 words. The comprehensive guide to building an ebook for your lead magnet.
Onethird of the novels that come into the agency are rejected because theyre too long or. But depending on the ereading device and the font size setting this must vary greatly between a phone, a tablet or a kindle. Amazon cannot count the kindle words per page readers read, the number of pages readers flip, or the time readers spend on reading an ebook. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. What is a good way to get the word count of a kindle book. 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. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length klytics. Book page count calculator how many pages is my novel. The average adult novel runs approximately 100,000 words while those in other categories run 80120,000 words. 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.
Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. If youre working on a novellength book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least but its better to aim for 90,000. How many words per page generally depends on what word processor settings youre using. Compare word count between print and electronic books so you can plan your ebook. The average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. Considering that our average word count is 65% lower than the average word count for our top 50 bestsellers, it strengthens my believe that readers are going out of their way to search out and purchase.
Calculate book page count using the word count from your word document. In such a case, the publisher could use, for example, a novella of 21,000 words, approximately 100 print pages. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. Harry potter and the halfblood prince 168,000 words. Coyne uses the nanowrimo wordcount length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. Lets look into some statistics about word count and its correlation to your bottom line. For website visitors or to subscribe to content 3,0006,000 words. I agree that it seems like for a debut author, the agent really looks at that word count. At the 80 to 100 page length though, i think youre getting into an area.
An ebook could be 3,000 words or as long as a fulllength book. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. The average across a sample of 50 books in august 2015 showed 172 words per kindle edition normalized page. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. Amazon estimates a page count in an ebook to be around 187 words. Im going to give you some information here, but first i want you to know why this is important.
So itll be off on occasion, but it should get you relatively close for the average book. So, to answer your question, think longer rather than shorter. That was the formula in the good old days when courier was the only typeface and typewriters were king. In 2011, the lists average length peaked at 467 pages. Count the number of lines on each page to get the linesperpage. For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. Smashwords gives a precise word count for each and every b.
This looks like a simple question, but you have to look at several factors before you can determine optimum length. Every category will have an average length, including childrens books, young adult, business books, etc. The scythian stone ebook fantasy adventure the blackgloom bounty hard cover and ebook medieval fantasy. But i could assume that it is based on an average font size on a kindle screen. The average fiction book is about 80,000 to 100,000 words, which is about 246 to 307 ebook pages. You can use comparable, successful books as models to determine the length you book should be. If your book falls within the standard preferred wordcount range, its one less. Each page contains about 34 lines, with an average word count of 11 words per line, thus 375 words per page. As persuasion progresses, jane austen seems to elongate hers, building them up on a crescendo. During the introductory month of the new system, the conversion of kenpc into the actual number of words in the book actual word count showed significant differences from one book to the other.
The first alone has sold more than 120 million copies, and the rest have sold at least 65 million each. This question about average word count was on my mind as well, when i started writing my book. I publish my books first on smashwords and then, after they pass vetting for the smashwords premium catalog, i publish them on amazon as well. Fill your ebook with real knowledge you have and words will automatically come out. Harry potter and the deathly hallows 198,000 words. The comprehensive guide to building an ebook for your lead. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. This might mean cutting out unnecessary tangents, juggling sections or. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. Depending on the assignment, the professor may require students to divide their papers into sections, with headings and subheadings. Deconstructing five spooky picture books with spoilers and word counts. Go ahead, tell your writers that 500 words arent enough and you want them to crank out.
Book word count is one of the first questions to ask when youre considering writing an ebook. If those writers can do that, you can write a 20,000 word ebook in a month. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books. If you plan to turn your ebook into a print book at some point, you might want to consider length. 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. For additional perspective not shown in the chart, of the 119,000 ebooks published today at smashwords, the average word count is 37,000 words. Here are the average novel word counts in the top five genres in the book publishing industry in no particular order.
The average word count for a novel is between 70,000 words and 120,000 words. However if youre curious to see what the average word count is for standard genres, check out the breakdown in the article. After all, your longterm goal is probably to make money from your ebook. The kindle unlimited problem it cant count words or pages. Are you wondering what the word count for your book should be. For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. 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. If you are in high school i am a hs senior, i suggest using a more academic vocabulary that will make your sentences fuller. 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. But depending on the ereading device and the font size setting, it varies significantly between a phone, a tablet, or a kindle. Book length varies according to genre, but a print nonfiction book length averages 50,000 words and commercial fiction averages 80,000 110,000 words. Therefore, if a kindle ebook is unusually short and badly produced with disappointing.
A typical ebook is around 2,0002,500 words, which probably only gives you around 300350 words per section. Thats when sentences become runons and you lose points. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook. Always plan your book length to be useful to your reader. Excluding endnotes and index, the book has about 200 pages of text, which means its total word count is about 74,000 words. How to write a highquality ebook in 30 days copyblogger. The average adult novel runs approximately 100,000 words while those in other categories.
It seems like ya novels are getting longer and longer nowadays, but maybe my attention span is getting shorter. People buy ebooks for knowledge and if you are giving them what you want then. The question of how long your manuscript should be is sometimes hard to answer because different publishers have different guidelines. Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book. Average word count for fantasy is significantly higher than it is for other novel types and you have written a novella, not a novel.
Your lead magnet ebook is only there to pull the leads your way you still have to turn them into customers. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. But, only make them longer if it is necessary and meaningful, not to reach a word count. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. In my opinion dont just go for filling your ebook with words. On average, young adult novels usually fall around 55,000 and 70,000 words. Count up the total number of words on 10 random full lines from different places and divide by 10 to get the average wordsperline.
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