Average ya novel word count

The word count at big five publishers had a slightly narrower range. From picture books to ya information to get you started at. Some books, however, go up to 150,000 to 180,000 words. Counting chickens a few words about word counts at hope vestergaards site. Anything over 110,000 words is considered too long for a fiction novel. Harry potter and the sorcerers stone has 17 chapters with titles, and about 4560 words per chapter. The average mean word count was about 73,000 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. Shorter novels such as fahrenheit 451, the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, the great gatsby, and slaughterhousefive are between 4050,000 words. For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. It doesnt have to be exact, but its there to guide writers. Oct 23, 2017 the average mean word count was about 73,000 words. Feb 09, 2015 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.

The highest word count was 115,000, the lowest was 47,000, and the average was 75,000. The average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range. Also remember because there are a bunch of new novel imprints opening their doors, a novella is 40k or less. All of these are average book word count ranges and should not be.

Yes, you should go through the novel revision checklist and take out anything extraneous no matter what. Use these numbers as a baseline for your writing goals. Generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count. May 14, 2018 bestselling author caleb carr may write novels of 250,000 words, but when you pitch your novel and offer up that number, be prepared for a glacial reception. For young adult fiction, the word count is once again lower, with the ideal. An average novel tends to be anything from 6080,000 words. Bestselling author caleb carr may write novels of 250,000 words, but when you pitch your novel and offer up that number, be prepared for a glacial reception. Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. Mostly, it will depend on the story you want to tell. How to determine your novel s word count jeff somers and the rough beast, episode 3. Ya manuscripts can have a word count anywhere from 55k to 90k.

The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. For debut books in this field the average word count tends to be 35k and it has therefore become the. Jun 27, 2019 put simply, the sweet spot for a novels word count is generally said to be around 8090k. Everything you need to know about novel word counts.

Word counting may be needed when a text is required to stay within certain numbers of words. This video is all about word counts for your novel, in particular word counts for ya novels. Try not to completely tether yourself to word counts. As persuasion progresses, jane austen seems to elongate hers, building them up on a crescendo. As a general guideline, chapters should be between 3,000 to 5,000 words. 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.

The second or third in a particularly bestselling series can go even higher. Plus, its always nice to know if your novel will be fatter or skinnier than the latest shelf buster at barnes and noble. Here are the average novel word counts in the top five genres in the book publishing industry in no particular order. A 90,000 word count signals to professionals that you know what you are doing.

Yes, having a book that is overly short or overly long for its genre will incrementally decrease your odds of finding traditional publication. Nonfiction wordcounts sit between 70,000120,000 words. But i cant edit any more out otherwise the story line is going to be way to fast paced or important plot threads are going to be missed, which is going to ruin the book and the sequel. Basically, instead of applying a formula for word count, we apply the final format and see what results. Sep 20, 2019 if youre writing a young adult fantasy novel, you should keep your word count below 90,000 words or 300 book pages. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. Most middle grade novels are between 40,000 and 69,000 words long. That gives us a rough range of 61,00089,000 words, with about 3 out of 4 queried ya books falling into that range. Most young adult novels fall between 50,000 and 80,000 words. If youre writing a young adult fantasy novel, you should keep your word count below 90,000 words or 300 book pages. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000 word range. Aug 05, 2019 for most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words.

Jan 18, 2012 when i look for word counts, however, i like to cut right to the chase and see what is actually out there. When i look for word counts, however, i like to cut right to the chase and see what is actually out there. But at the end of the day, you have to write the novel you want to write. Search for word count totals in books word counters. And as youve probably guessed it is sitting pretty right in between middle grade and adult.

Now, the page count was dramatically higher using the courier font, but word count didnt change. Word count is commonly used by translators to determine the price of a translation job. For novels in general, the accepted word count is 7080,000 words. Oct 11, 2012 she is currently querying her epic fantasy novel heirs of war with a word count at 7k. Martin and harper lee keep things more evenly paced in a game of thrones and to kill a mockingbird, respectively. Rowlings recordbreaking series began with two titles on the high end of that spectrum and finished with five that left the guidelines in the dust. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures. 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. With a track record to back them up, established writers have greater flexibility. How to determine your novels word count jeff somers and the rough beast, episode 3. To give you a general idea of the average chapter length, the range is usually between 3,000 to 5,000 words. Do check your comparable titlesrecent debuts onlyto make sure your story falls in that range. 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. With books like twilight at 118,975 words and divergent at 105,143 words, this genre has been trending higher.

But novellas can work and if its got everything it needs to have in it, dont make it longer just for the sake of it. Mainstream, thriller, horror, romance, suspense, mystery, and literary and you. This is due in large part to the variety of subgenres within it and the trend for a book series with an ever greater word count. Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. The average wordcount for adult fiction is between 70,000 to 120,000 words. For example, if youre writing for genres that have a word count range of 80,00089,999 words i. Of course, word count wont matter if a story doesnt hook the target audience.

For fantasy novels, you are allowed to go slightly above this limit, but unless you are an established author, i. A novel is usually defined as anything over 40,000 words. Some people will let you know that 2,500 words is about average per chapter, while. While anything over 40,000 words can fall into the novel category, 50,000 is considered the minimum novel length. Thats the level where publishers may suggest dividing a story into multiple volumes. Literary agent danielle zigner takes a look at typical novel lengths and what appeals. 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. 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. This 90,000word guideline for how many words in a novel is just that, a guideline.

Oct 18, 2017 the average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range. I then did a word count after switching to times new roman 60,705. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. Although, if its over 110,000 words, some may call it an epic, not a novel.

This is due to the audience youre reaching preferring that length. For childrens fiction, the general rule is the younger the audience the shorter the book, and for ya novels the average is 50,00070,000 words. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000word range. Most agree that under 1,000 words would be rather short and that over 5,000 might be rather too long. However, i understand that the length of twilight is unusually long for a debut novel. Writing middle grade a look at the numbers hannah holt. There are exceptions, like ya books that exceed 250,000 words, but. But lists of ya word counts are hard to find, so i wanted to make it easy for you guys. Each genre and subgenre has its own word count range. Word count for novels and childrens books at the guide to literary agents blog. Word count for young adult books the word count range for young adult is 55,000 to 90,000. Writing for young adults a look at the numbers hannah holt.

Dec 27, 2015 go to the library and look at the top you define top ya books similar to what you are writing. She is currently querying her epic fantasy novel heirs of war with a word count at 7k. Famous novels have been extremely long, like 530,000 words for vic. Less than 70,000 unless its fantasy or scifi, which can stretch to 90,000 at a push. Put simply, the sweet spot for a novels word count is generally said to be around 8090k. But it shouldnt be word count for the sake of word count. We all know of outliers within each genre that have been published well under, or well over, these word counts. Jan 08, 2018 word count suggestions will vary from agent to agent, for example janet reid a literary agent with a fantastic blog suggests 150k minimum for sweeping epic fantasy, saying you cant do it right in less and 65100k for ya, whereas nathan bransford thinks your odds of attracting an agent with a debut novel over 150k are probably lower. By most peoples standards, 40,000 words would be pretty short for a novel. My own past research on ya word count turned up 5080,000 as an average guideline. A books word count does matter and if you get it wrong, this can impact your. You know this, i know this, and ive done my damndest to cut it i shaved 12k off in the past two weeks. Ive been researching the word countspages of ya novels to make sure im not under or over. So itll be off on occasion, but it should get you relatively close for the average book.

A closer look at word counts for young adult novels. 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. Also, heres another list i may swipe and add in here. 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. 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. That said, this figure differs from book to book and organization to. If the word count of twilight is disregarded, the average becomes around 88,625. Onethird of the novels that come into the agency are rejected because theyre too long or short, perkins says. My upperlevel ya novel is 211 pages, 61,078 words, tnr 12 pt. If you set yourself a target of 85,000 words, youll know that if you fall short of that average figure, your story is either. Young adult fiction allows for a lot of flexibility in word count. Is 109,000 words to long for a ya adult fantasy novel. For most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. The average word count could be anywhere from 70,000 to 120,000 words.

But i cant edit any more out otherwise the story line is going to be way to fast paced or important plot threads are going to be. The problem im having is that im thinking its to long. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic. I just did a word count of my ya novel in courier new 60,705. But for mainstream ya it is always best to stick to under 80k. For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference.

If youre writing an adult fantasy novel or an epic fantasy novel like game of thrones, your word count can skew higher at 90,000 200,000 words. How many words should there be per chapter in the average. Most middle grade novels are not pitched as a series. Count the pages in each chapter and divide by 250 to get an answer for what is the average number of words per chapter. If you are writing a standard length novel, aim for 80,000 to 95,000 words. Ya fiction for mainstream ya, anywhere from about 45k to 80k. It is feasible to count the number of words in a published chapter. Go to the library and look at the top you define top ya books similar to what you are writing. But remember, this is more of a guideline than a rule. You wont get exact, but youre wondering whether 35k is reasonable, so you dont need exact.

Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. How many words does it take to write a young adult book.

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. Book page count calculator how many pages is my novel. On average, young adult novels usually fall around 55,000 and 70,000 words. I am on the record as saying i dont really care about word counts unless they are so offthe wall out of bounds that it is absurd. With books like twilight at 118,975 words and divergent at 105,143 words, this. This may particularly be the case in academia, legal proceedings, journalism and advertising. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. On average, there are about 300 words per page in a book. What is the average word count in a youngteenage novel. I keep hearing that houses are looking for books around 200 pages long. The word count is the number of words in a document or passage of text.