Average book chapter word count

And remember, keeping to word counts is important, but what makes or breaks your chances with a publisher is the quality of your manuscript. How to write early readers, easy chapter books, and. For writing i would conclude, that some readers like my mother use chapters to plan the time for reading. To find pretty much any kids ya word count, you can. Well, while the accelerated reader program is lame in a lot of ways, this is a very handy tool. 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.

Consider your average chapter length for that story. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. 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. Information on writing and publishing in the early reader and chapter book market. A you should be aware that the majority of readers are actually adults. The chapter by chapter breakdown sections lists the povs in order by chapter. Less than 70,000 unless fantasy scifi supernatural, which can be longer, max 90,000. Books that can be read by many ages are called crossover books. Even the individual books in the series have more words than average. Discover what size your book should be and if thats comparable to the standard book sizes in publishing. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. If you want to make it comfortable for them, count the length of a chapter in novels you like.

Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. I definitely notice when a chapter is a lot shorter or a lot longer than sort of what has been established. 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. First of all, find your word count in word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen. Basically, having an idea of how long you want your book to be helps you work smarter, not harder. Since 2011, the average length of a bestseller has dropped steadily from year to year. Im a little confused about the word count for chapter books. The hunger games has 27 untitled chapters, and about 3700 words per chapter.

If youre printing a regular book or publishing to amazon or something thats extremely ereader friendly, you can get away with longer chapters. The hunger games uses 3,700word chapters, dividing each chapter into three parts. I have often looked this up and got different results, which makes it very confusing. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. Excluding endnotes and index, the book has about 200 pages of text, which means its total word count is about 74,000 words. Oct 22, 2010 early readers and chapter books are a childs first tentative steps into the grownup world of reading. Many sites say the same thing and it makes me wonder a bit if im writing my own novel wrong. Analyzing chapter lengths in fantasy fiction creativity. Its also worth noting that the average word count figure can vary by genre. First, provide an estimated character count for a standard book. The original question had a followup statement, which was as follows. Search for word count totals in books word counters. May 11, 2009 word count and book length getting published was indeed a good blog post. If im writing a novel, this gives me 40 chapters and 70,000 words when im done.

My question is about novel structure and word counts. Most middle grade novels are between 40,000 and 69,000 words long. As you can see, established authors get much more flexibility when it comes to the length of their book. Analyzing chapter lengths in fantasy fiction creativity hacker. Jun 15, 2017 this is a general list of age categories and word counts for childrens books. Of course, rules are made to be broken, especially in literature. Nicholas sparks word count popular novel word count. I am writing the last chapter of my childrens chapter book manuscript and am currently just shy of 23k. We explain two easy methods to estimate your books page count. A plan for your book that includes a word count helps you. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. Calculate book page count using the word count from your word document. But again as a surprise to me, dune was a close second, averaging just 3,800 words per chapter.

You might not keep to those word counts, but it gives you something to. Word counts of popular ya books as i started drafting my new wip a ya scifi thriller i began wondering what word count i should aim for. 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. Before you decide your average chapter length, its a good idea to think about the. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. 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. Youll use the word count in your word document to calculate book page count. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. 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. Childrens book manuscript chapter length consistency is what sort of keeps the engine of your pacing going. Each genre and subgenre has its own word count range. Most are written inhouse or by packagers, and a few, as carrie noted about the dora books, are downright dreadful. What will happen in each chapter, and how much has to happen before you move on to the next chapter.

Coyne uses the nanowrimo wordcount length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. 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. I use the target average of 1,500 words per chapter. If yours is too short, restructure it and add more tightly written stuff. 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. And make sure you view a sample chapter to find out what your content will look like. 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. 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. Many times ive onemorechaptered myself all the way to the end at 2 a. Of course, when youre writing the first draft of your story, you want to just get your words out on paper. Do check your comparable titlesrecent debuts onlyto make sure your story falls in that range.

The one im targeting would be the younger audience around ages 6 to 9. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. However sometimes, like today, the reverse happens. I find it alarming, honestly, that the stats seem to be so low. 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. 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.

Ive got 50k words word processor word count and im on my fifteenth chapter with six. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a word count guideline. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. Now, they dont offer word count or running time for books, but they do have a search api. It turns out a better book in the end as well, which means your readers enjoy it moreand youll sell more copies. Once you know your word count, follow one of our two methods below to estimate your page count. The percentage expressed here takes the total number of words in that section and divides it. We are also going to look at how harry potter is comparable to other young adult novels in regards to word count. The title with the shortest chapters, on average, was whirlwind in the thorn tree, averaging just 2,900 words each. Twilight has 24 titled chapters, or 26 if you count the preface and epilogue, and about 4580 words per chapter. From a conference, paula sadler had given out a handout that said the word count could be between 5,000 to,000 words.

Your university department will have a maximum word count or page count and you must take that into account. 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. For novels specifically in the young adult genre, the typical range is between 55,000 79,999 words. 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. Everything you need to know about novel word counts nathan. If the word count of twilight is disregarded, the average becomes around 88,625.

A plan for your book that includes a word count helps you not write too little or too much. May 14, 2018 literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. Why chapter length matters more than you think medium. Each page contains about 34 lines, with an average word count of 11 words per line, thus 375 words per page. In 2011, the lists average length peaked at 467 pages. And this ebook page length differs significantly depending on the book genre. A prayer for owen meany by john irving, national book award winner and threetime nominee, has an average word count per chapter of. Most publishers like to see chapters that are in the 2,000 to 3,000word range. I believe the word count has increased as she wrote more books. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. And a typical howto nonfiction book might need between 7 and 12. Try it on some books with chapter lengths you like, and dont be surprised if it.

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 word count at big five publishers had a slightly narrower range. I use a book mark to remember where i was, but stop reading also in the middle of a chapter. A reasonable word count for a nonfiction book would be between 30,000 to 50,000 words. Never write a chapter longer than 4,000 words bookfox. Would you consider a post on memoir guidelines, since memoir falls somewhere between fiction and nonfiction in many ways. Jan 08, 2018 calculate book page count using your word count. This 90,000word guideline for how many words in a novel is just that, a guideline. Words counts of bestselling novels better novel project. To find pretty much any kids ya word count, you can use the ar bookfinder. Do you want to publish a wide format bookwith inspiring quotes down the side margins. When writing a longer book that is aimed at 12yearolds and could maybe be considered tween, using the term upper middle grade is advisable.

To give you a general idea of the average chapter length, the range is usually between 3,000 to 5,000 words. 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. Jun 05, 2017 childrens book manuscript chapter length consistency is what sort of keeps the engine of your pacing going. 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. How long are the chapters in books by famous authors.

The first book in each series below was the authors first. We all know of outliers within each genre that have been published well under, or well over, these word counts. This averages to about 22 to 23 chapters per novel, with the average chapter length around 4,280 words. On average, when writing a memoir should not exceed 90,000 words and that is a stretch when it comes to memoir word count. Oct 26, 2018 discover what size your book should be and if thats comparable to the standard book sizes in publishing. If youre working on a novellength book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least but its better to aim for 90,000. A books have a teenage protagonist, but if you want to write y. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a wordcount guideline.

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. But the word count of a chapter matters if you want your story to flow right. Harry potter and the sorcerers stone has an average of 4,560 words per chapter. It is feasible to count the number of words in a published chapter. The collection as a whole posted an average chapter length of 6,100 words. As with everything else when it comes to writing a book, these are only guidelinesnot rules. 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. Oct 27, 2018 chapter length matters more than you think.

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. How to write and publish early readers and chapter books. 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. Use these numbers as a baseline for your writing goals. We recommend memoirs be between 45,000 to 80,000 words in order to maintain intrigue and reduce intimidation. T he indie author chris fox coined the term potato chip chapters for easilydigestible book chapters of a certain size.

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. How many chapters will you need before you reach your target word count. How many characters of text letters are in an average book. 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. Armed with these word counts, i now have a range of lengths that have been proven popular. Each book section below details the breakdown of these points of view as a word count and as a percentage. Tips and tricks by writerkellie kellie bowe with 4,328 reads. Before we discuss the best word count of a chapter, lets first break. So as youre writing a book, a common question if often asked. Here is everything writers need to know about novel 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.

It should be enough to communicate your message effectively. Harry potter and the sorcerers stone has 17 chapters with titles, and about 4560 words per chapter. A recommended wordcount might be 15002000 words but, more. 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.

The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 to 75,000 words, but this can vary depending upon category. Now this doesnt mean there arent any guidelines in place. Click librarian or teacher and then search for books like yours click on the. 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. But remember, this is more of a guideline than a rule. How to write early readers, easy chapter books, and chapter. 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. Depending on the writing genre, word count in book chapters can vary. Writing middle grade a look at the numbers hannah holt. Also, millions of people, young and old alike, who have read these books have. The average chapter length in my book is roughly nine pages. 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. 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.

Though the average word count of a chapter is around 2,000 5,000 words, it all depends on your story. May 12, 2012 i find it alarming, honestly, that the stats seem to be so low. Also, the chapters are evenly divided into 3 titled parts. 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. One of my biggest problems as a publisher is having authors deliver more than was agreed to. If perhaps it had even more pictures it would be even a lot better. Rather than force your chapter to meet a certain word count, end it where it naturally ends. Chapters in books for younger readers often err on the shorter side, while fantasy. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. Therefore, the word count of a novel is crucial if you want your book to be fit for publication.