That was the formula in the good old days when courier was the only typeface and typewriters were king. Featuring found photographs from real asylums and filled with chilling mystery and pageturning suspense, asylum is a horror story that treads the line between genius and insanity. For a ballpark figure, you have approximately 10,000 words per 50 pages of manuscript if you are using 12pt font and 1 inch margins and doublespaced. Also, heres another list i may swipe and add in here. Goodreads authorsreaders meet your next favorite book. However if youre curious to see what the average word count is for standard genres, check out the breakdown in the article.
Word count matters because every book, regardless of genre, has an inherent contract with the reader. At amazon the page count for books for 10yearsold children varies from 120 to 350. Apr 11, 2015 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. Its for the ages 710, would i need to stretch it up to 8,000. The complete stories average around 1500 words, with the longest at around 2500 and the shortest at 311 yeah, not really a short story, but the next shortest one is 1,100. Feb 20, 2008 to get an accurate word count for your manuscript, take the character count and divide by 5. Word counts for childrens books i received a request awhile ago to do a post on word counts for different age categories in childrens lit.
Short stories range anywhere from 1,500 to 30,000 words. Novelist jane smiley suggests that length is an important quality of the novel. Learn the average wordcount for every type of novel, novella, genre, etc. I wrote this book over 2 years ago and have been spending the last few years editing and researching agents etc. The impression im left with is mainstream, mass market paperbacks are stretched as much as possible so they appear bigger works than they actually are, in terms of page count. 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. For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. I just popped into my office and pulled a few books off the shelf. 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. Pick up a childrens book in your collection and count the words on one page. I do find if someone has written a very short or overly long novel, they often dont quite have a grip on their story.
For instance, when a reader picks up a thriller, they have certain expectations of what theyre about to read. Since opinions vary greatly, i did some research to verify the numbers in my head. A way to check word count of published books anita nolan. Ive rechecked my word count of my childrens fiction book and i have just under 7500. Failing to mention the word count, or committing the faux pas of stating the page count instead, will also see a quick rejection. Jun 27, 2019 put simply, the sweet spot for a novels word count is generally said to be around 8090k. The problem is, most print books do not tell you word count.
The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. These are the basic classifications of what a book is by word count. Mgs are usually around 2545k, even longer if its a fantasy. I agree that it seems like for a debut author, the agent really looks at that word count. If you want to learn how to write a book, sign up for our online course. This is a true statement if your goal is to be published through traditional methods someday. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. 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. 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. Word count is important because it helps you select your readers. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook.
Where can i find a database of all published books word. Novels for adult readers fall between 80,000 and 120,000 words. Well, the answer is about one half page single spaced or one page double spaced. These were to do with whether the book would be categorised as a novel or a novella or an epic or something else. Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. May 11, 2012 these were to do with whether the book would be categorised as a novel or a novella or an epic or something else. When i do try to push my stories to longer lengths, often it feels like im just padding them out for the sake of the word count and nothing more. As a result, a 100k manuscript can size up very differently on a shelf. Apr 27, 2014 to find the word count in your favorite kids book, visit the a. Put simply, the sweet spot for a novels word count is generally said to be around 8090k. The reason for this is that when i refer to wordcount im referring to a single, distinct idea. Multiply it with the page count and you get a vague idea. Smashwords gives a precise word count for each and every b.
The daily word counts of 39 famous authors writers write. Duotrope a free writers resource listing over 3950 current fiction and poetry publications caps their search for short story publishers at 7,500 words, which means most publishers are looking for stories of less than that length. I put in anne of green gables and clicked on the first entry, and it listed the word count as 17,129. Line count varies depending on page size, font size, etc. I talk more indepth about this in stories classified. Yup, thats right i managed to keep it within industry standard. The binding, font and paper size establish how many pages a published book will be. I was quickly flooded with emails from many an angry author for daring to put a word count on a level of book. According to wikipedia, these are the classifications are novel, novella, novelette, and short story. Even if you dont have a word count yet, prompts are an excellent way to exercise the writing muscle.
Finally, youll find i prefer the compound word wordcount as opposed to splitting the word into two. It seems like ya novels are getting longer and longer nowadays, but maybe my attention span is getting shorter. Novel 40,000 words or over novella 17,500 to 39,999 words novelette 7,500 to 17,499 words short story under 7,500 words. Butindie authors are not bound by these rules even when they create print books and they are especially not restricted by word count when it comes to ebooks, where cost is not a limiting factor, and shelf space is irrelevant. Word counting may be needed when a text is required to stay within certain numbers of words. The book will be part of a trilogy, and although ive only written little over half of the entire thing, the estimated word count is looking to be nearly 300 000 words. Heres what you need to know about this often overlooked genre. When i began writing for kids a decade ago, i was told to keep it under 1200 words, ideally under. Feb 12, 2018 heres a quick word count guide for adult fiction, adult sff, young adult contemporary, young adult sff, and middle grade. Word count is the devil you have to love, or at the very least, respect. 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.
If youre writing your first novel, the general rule of thumb for novel writing is a word count in the 80,000 to 100,000 range. Heres a quick word count guide for adult fiction, adult sff, young adult contemporary, young adult sff, and middle grade. The the fellowship of the ring, the first book of the lord of the rings series, swelled to 177,227 words. What is a good way to get the word count of a kindle book. Im leaving this in the list to show that word count isnt offered for every book. I also include word counts from some best sellers in. If the text is already as tight and economical as you can make it, and every sentence counts, then the agent will notice that rather than the word count. Word count for famous novels organized commonplace book. What is the proper word count for a collection of short. Go play cricket or bake a souffle or save the whales. For example, if you write a novel and it is long, about 100,000 words long, then naturally there will be some readers to whom it is not suitable just because of the word count.
I clicked on the unabridged version, and it lists the word count as 97,364. Aug 05, 2019 for most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. For some content writers or bloggers, hitting their word count is a pain. Book 1 of my ya fantasy is 99k trimmed down from 107k. Author eve tells me her book came in at 95,000 words. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books. Nicholas sparks word count popular novel word count.
Is there a website that gives the word counts on books. Jul 08, 2014 you have just discovered the wonderful world of bibliographic metadata. Now im seeing a lot more mg books with up to 60,000 words, so i think the water has become a bit murky here. Aug 25, 2011 finally, youll find i prefer the compound word wordcount as opposed to splitting the word into two. Print sales sites do not require it, and unless the book is also in ebook, you arent likely to find a word count anywhere. Word count word count discrepencies in novel submissions a reader writes to ask. Those of you who dont care about traditional publishing can leave the room now. The word count in picture books is sliding like stocks in 2008. There are general guidelines for each literary category. 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.
How to increase your novels word count noveldoctor. I also include word counts from some best sellers in each age category. To get an accurate word count for your manuscript, take the character count and divide by 5. You have just discovered the wonderful world of bibliographic metadata. By the fifth book, harry potter and the order of the phoenix, the word count had grown to 257,000 words. On the macro level in any type of edit, but especially a wordtrimming one, you always want to start with the big picture. Word count, with a little help from amazon alexis grant. Shorter novels such as fahrenheit 451, the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, the great gatsby, and slaughterhousefive are between 4050,000 words. Tolkiens initial novel, the hobbit, contained 95,022 words. 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. Of the 161 stories listed, 3081 is the median word count number in the middle and 4052 is the average word count. 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. To find the word count at for a particular book, search the books title, and click on it.
Apr 11, 2015 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 looked at articles that say literary agents wont consider a book with a word count of over 100 000, so you can see why im a little concerned. The word count that your computer gives you is not a standard word count like they use in publishing. It seems the only reliable way to judge the true size of a book, story, whatever is the word count.
Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. Madeleine rouxs new york times bestselling asylum is a thrilling and creepy photoillustrated novel that publishers weekly called a strong ya debut that reveals the enduring impact of buried trauma on a place. For full titles, authors and descriptions of these books, see whats on my travel memoir bookshelf. Heres how the wordcount of your book will decide what category your masterpiece falls in. I am currently at 20k words between 16 stories, complete and 3 incomplete. Yes, having a book that is overly short or overly long for its genre will incrementally decrease your odds of finding. Hey, im writing a book and im a bit worried about the word count. Jul, 2017 i dont think there is a way and this is odd. In itself, no measure is perfect but personally i find word count the most useful. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. That often dreaded, while at the same time appreciated, element of freelance writing. Count up the total number of words on 10 random full lines from different places and divide by 10 to get the average wordsperline 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. I dont need one of those equations to help calculate word count based on the number of pages times whatever. Word count is commonly used by translators to determine the price of a translation job.
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. I have tried searching the words word count plus the title of a novel, like the lovely bones, and all i get is the word count of essays and articles about the book in question, not for the book itself. It is, i think, the easiest to use to quickly find the word count of a book. Find the word count for published ya and childrens books. When i started writing three years ago, the mg word count i kept hearing was no more than 30,000 words. Page count is determined by the publisher, not the writer. This of course depends on what font size, line spacing and page margins you are using, but on average a word count of 250 words will yield around half a page single spaced and a whole page double spaced when set in either times new roman or arial at a 12 point font size. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures.
Jun 16, 2017 butindie authors are not bound by these rules even when they create print books and they are especially not restricted by word count when it comes to ebooks, where cost is not a limiting factor, and shelf space is irrelevant. Famous books and their word counts freelance writing jobs. This may particularly be the case in academia, legal proceedings, journalism and advertising. Heres what you need to know about this often overlooked. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. The word count is the number of words in a document or passage of text. At there is a nifty search tool outlining the interest level, book level, word count and number of pages in many childrens books, as well as various awards, booklists and groupings. Are you wondering what the word count for your book should be.
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. But more than word count, its content and reading difficulty that will better define what you have. 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. For others, making sure that they dont go over the word count can be a chore especially if their editor is strict about not going over that number. Standard word counts for books publishing with kindle. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. This reduction will be very small, like maybe 12 lines less per page, and 510 pages less for the book. Use our handy table to discover how many pages a given word count yields, single or double spaced, in times new roman or arial 12 point font. Precise word count definitions will vary, but as a general rule of thumb, a short story is anything up to about 7500 words sometimes 10,000, with. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. That said, this figure differs from book to book and organization to. Ali, 9000 words is on the upper end of the chapter book spectrum. But that contract is dependent upon the books genre.
Search for word count totals in books word counters. In this post, id like to share some thoughts on word count considerations. For others, making sure that they dont go over the word count can be a chore especially if their editor is strict about not going over that numbe. Is there a website that gives the word counts on books that. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility calculates it at 80,7. That includes scenes like the hero at the mercy of the villain, but. While its important that every story find its natural length, it takes time to develop an instinct as. The only reason to adhere to a certain word count for your book is your assessment of reader expectations.
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