How publishers count words in a book

Before diving into the specifics of genrebased word counts, lets look at the broader picture of average book length. As a reader i love the huge word count novels steven king has written and the very short. First and foremost, word count matters because it matters to publishers. Chapter book this varies widely, depending on grade and reader level, usually starting at 4,000 words and 15,000 words max. Accepting submissions in all genres austin macauley.

Readers of individual genres anticipate certain book lengths, and so do publishers. Harry potter and the deathly hallows 198,000 words. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. It contains 38 lines per page, with an average of 12 words per line, thus 456 words per book page. However, the true word count depends on the category in which youre writing. This is a list of the novels over 500,000 words published through a mainstream publisher. Yet any piece of fiction climbing over the 110,000 word mark also tends to give editors some pause. My emma the penguin book in the obrien panda series is. In this post were going to explain word count and how it affects your chance.

Jul 11, 2007 most print publishers prefer a minimum word count of around 70,000 words for a first novel, and some even hesitate for any work shorter than 80,000. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. If you select all then adjust the font size using the chart, you will discover the number of pages your book. May 14, 2018 readers of individual genres anticipate certain book lengths, and so do publishers.

Its too much hassle and timeconsuming time you couldve spent refining and perfecting your book content. In word, the word count will appear on the status bar at the bottom of the workspace. If my manuscript is coming in at 280 pages it would be acceptable at 70,000 words using the 250 per page method but the docs count may be as much as 6,0007,000 words less and so not hitting the ideal. Failing to mention the word count, or committing the faux pas of stating the page count instead, will also see a quick rejection. The actual word count for the hunger games is 99,750 and my utility calculates 94,743 words. First of all, find your word count in word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen. Well, as publishers matter less and less, in some respects, word counts matter less and less.

The grandfather of modern christian fiction, in his. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. But, most nonfiction publishers want to be sold the concept, and. The binding, font and paper size establish how many pages a published book will be. Page count is determined by the publisher, not the writer. Most publishers pay writers based on a hypothetical number of words in the manuscript. This is due to the audience youre reaching preferring that length. For most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. Book page count calculator how many pages is my novel. If you are planning to traditionally publish, it is significantly more likely.

A nonfiction book attractive to publishers of bestsellers starts at around 75,000 words. Writers can add the word count of the manuscript, although this may also be noted on a query letter. Discover the average number of words on a page by counting the number of words on three randomly picked full pages distributed throughout the book. Publishers like to see 80,000 to just under 90,000 words for the. 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. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic.

Know your content, know your mainline pitch and some. Oct 17, 2018 some publishers prefer a narrower word count range of around 80,000 to 100,000 wordsyou could call this the sweet spot for literary novels. That being said, ive seen a lot of conflicting opinions from agents on how word count should be donewhether its using the. Jan 18, 2010 publishers can now include it in the look inside, but a good rule of thumb is 10 words per line x 33 lines per page times number of pages. Many of these books are written in rhyme or in a simple singsong meter that is catchy and fun. Pages by paperback uses an industry standard formula for english language publishing of taking the average number of words per page and multiplying it by the average number of characters per word five including a space, for six total, the product of which is then used to divide against the total character count of the project.

It will vary between publishing companies, and literary agentsagencies look at book length too. If the text box is connected to other text boxes, all the words in the connected text boxes are counted. The popular book the noticer 2009 by andy andrews barely breaks the novel barrier at 40,454 words without the readers guide that was added to pad the book. Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. Less is more, just look at maurice sendaks where the wild things are. But they were all different, ranging from 119 to 145 words.

Publishers word count requirements were set up back in the days of typewriters when courier was the only option. 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. At times the readers of books may be interested in discovering how many words they read. Some of the above has been adapted from an earlier blog post and from a chapter in my free booklet word count is 6,000 book proposal tips and tricks it is free in pdf if you join the christian writers institute newsletter list or 99 cents if you want to read it on your kindle. Word count, with a little help from amazon alexis grant.

So, how many words should there be in a novel you want to get published. Shorter novels such as fahrenheit 451, the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, the great gatsby, and. Average the count by taking the total number of words counted and divide by three. I have often looked this up and got different results, which makes it very confusing. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. Estimate your page count book designer linda parke. Why word count matters when you submit your book the. You might find your story strengthening as the excess words drop off.

Ideally, an unpublished writer should try to keep the number of pages between 125300. An approximate word count round numbers based on what your wp tells you enables. As a result, a 100k manuscript can size up very differently on a shelf. Once you know your word count, follow one of our two methods below to estimate your page count.

At a writers conference i recently attended, publishing veteran jane friedman said 80,000 words is. Why word count matters when you submit your book the artful. Search for word count totals in books word counters. If youre writing a young adult fantasy novel, you should keep your word count below 90,000 words or 300 book pages. Jun 27, 2019 put simply, the sweet spot for a novels word count is generally said to be around 8090k.

Do book publishers have a specific minimummaximum word. How to find out the number of words in a book pen and. 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. This should capture the authors writing style and provide a reliable estimate of the number of words used by the. The first alone has sold more than 120 million copies, and the rest have sold at least 65 million each. Most publishers will tell you what word count they need for their early reading series contact then. Overall, the average picture book length is words or less.

Jun 28, 2010 read some picture books, count the words and get a feel for it. The di vinci code 2003 by dan brown is 8,380 words christian book word count. For a printed book, 37,000 words is definitely on the short side less than 150 pages so publishers may not be interested as pricing will be low and volumes needing to be correspondingly. Mar 17, 2010 over time, the word count diminished and volume 8 the mark contained only 85,341 words, and the last volume, number 16 kingdom come, dwindled to 77,776 words. For fiction or creative nonfiction picture books not informational, the current word count goal is 500 words. Put simply, the sweet spot for a novels word count is generally said to be around 8090k.

Therefore, word counts are still based on the standards of umpteen years ago. A books word count does matter and if you get it wrong. The average book on the planet is 65,000 words at 200 pages, which is pretty close to this method. May 07, 2018 why do you think publishers care about word count. How to master your books amazon description publishers weekly. Ive written a picture book that is 429 words which seems to be in the sweet spot from what i understand. For paperbacks you get 2550 lines per page, with 35 being a good average. Jan 23, 2015 pleased at recognizing this, i figured i could simply count the words on a few amazon descriptions to determine how long mine should be. A synopsis is a brief overview, which can vary in length depending on the nature of your book, but generally it should not exceed 500 words. If you are an unknown author, your page count will be critically. If you are planning to traditionally publish, it is significantly more likely you will be successful if you stick to this word count. An estimated word count for your complete manuscript.

I have therefore made some averages, based on what ive heard from publishers and agents at childrens book events, and from research and reading. The total page count excluding appendices and index is 204 pages, thus about 93,000 words. This line count includes blank lines between paragraphs as well as lines with just a single word. The average book on the planet is 65,000 words at 200. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. Do book publishers have a specific minimummaximum word count. This is a general list of age categories and word counts for childrens books. Writing too many words in your novel is just as embarrassing as not writing enough. I understand that kicking out an 800 page novel 200000 words then is going to be an extra cost for a publisher and im not even gonna bitch about the sheer number of novels over 600 pages i have andor read ok i admit, they are pretty much all scifi and fantasy, dean koontz or stephen. Obviously, my point is not that you should submit a first book of anywhere near. Shorter novels such as fahrenheit 451, the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, the great gatsby, and slaughterhousefive are between 4050,000 words.

Mind you that great classic, the little prince, was such a work. Thats the level where publishers may suggest dividing a story into multiple volumes. First of all, find your word count in word by opening your. Most print publishers prefer a minimum word count of around 70,000 words for a first novel, and some even hesitate for any work shorter than 80,000. The point is that the perpage count is an estimate that will average out over time, and its good enough for.

These are basic learning books that creatively teach colors, numbers or simple, fun stories for bedtime. Nonfiction picture book 3,000 words max, but closer to 1,000 to 2,000 words. Aug 05, 2019 for most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. Some publishers prefer a narrower word count range of around 80,000 to 100,000 wordsyou could call this the sweet spot for literary novels. As a reader i love the huge word count novels steven king has written and the very short gems tom robbins has penned. Publishers want to know the overall length of your book. Jan 08, 2018 calculate book page count using your word count. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility calculates it at. Sep 20, 2019 the average fantasy novel should have between 50,000 and 150,000 words. Nov, 2009 nonfiction picture book 3,000 words max, but closer to 1,000 to 2,000 words.

Publishers like to see 80,000 to just under 90,000 words for the average adult novel. However, the way ive written it, it works out to only 10 pages of my text. A synopsis is a brief overview, which can vary in length depending on the nature of your book, but generally it should not. Certain fiction subgenres have slightly different expectations due to the nature of the stories being told as well as reader expectations. If you dont see the word count in the status bar, rightclick the status bar, then and click word. By most peoples standards, 40,000 words would be pretty short for a novel. Read some picture books, count the words and get a feel for it. Most publishers these days will accept manuscripts in any clear, easily readable font, but there is a lingering belief. The industry standard for a manuscript page, however, is a firm 250 words. Nov 11, 2018 for fiction or creative nonfiction picture books not informational, the current word count goal is 500 words. Publishers word count requirements were set up back in. In other words, its about figuring page space and not word count.

May 11, 2009 for a printed book, 37,000 words is definitely on the short side less than 150 pages so publishers may not be interested as pricing will be low and volumes needing to be correspondingly high. Publishers can now include it in the look inside, but a good rule of thumb is 10 words per line x 33 lines per page times number of pages. What follows is a rough guide to book length expectations in certain genres. Yes, you can go to barnes and noble and likely find a longer picture book on the. In your publication, click the text box that contains the words you want to count. Just check the specific word count for each publisher. Chapter book this varies widely, depending on grade and reader. Word count matters more than it should in my opinion. All we have to do is use the wp tool that shows word count. That said, this figure differs from book to book and organization to. My emma the penguin book in the obrien panda series is 800 words long, and, i hope, not a word out of place. Mar 18, 2016 so, how many words should there be in a novel you want to get published. May 24, 2010 overall, the average picture book length is words or less.

For the first three childrens book categories listed above, you are better off editing your word count down as low as possible. Jul 24, 2009 hillsy said im always confused when it comes not so much to word count, but to word per page count. But, most nonfiction publishers want to be sold the concept, and therefore be able to discuss the direction of the project, before you write the book. Pleased at recognizing this, i figured i could simply count the words on a few amazon descriptions to determine how long mine should be. These include using published information about the book to determine an exact word count, estimating the number of words based on industry standards and. A rough way to count words in an english language text is to assume that a standard formatted page with 12 pt courier font and doublespaced lines is 250 words. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. There are several methods for determining the word count of a given book.

In short, the target of 80,000 to 120,000 words has arrived more by tradition than necessity, but there are other reasons. Youll use the word count in your word document to calculate book page count. Using your current word count and the appropriate formula below, calculate the number of pages you can expect in your finished book. So if you want to write and publish a book successfully, this is vital information to know even if it seems trivial. To verify whether your novel falls above, below, or in the ideal word count for its genre, take a gander at the recommended word counts from. You will also need to include a copy of your full manuscript. Harry potter and the halfblood prince 168,000 words.