The Word Count of 175 Favorite Novels
I’m writing a novel. You’re writing a novel. We’re all writing or reading novels. But how long is too long? How short is too short? If you’re obsessing over how many words your novel should be, it’s a good idea to consult the word counts of popular novels as a frame of reference. In this post, you’ll find the word counts of 175 (well, it’s actually 177, but 175 sounds cleaner!) classic, bestselling, award-winning novels, from books you’d recognize from high school English to recent hits. Along the way, I’ll analyze the word counts and note a few interesting trends. It’s my hope this list can be a resource for other writers like me who wonder how long a novel should be. I hope to follow it up with a children’s literature specific list.
The links will take you to Amazon (these are affiliate links), and if you’d like to know my sources, you can view them in this Google spreadsheet .
Also of note, check out my list of the 20+ best books on creative writing :
The 20+ Best Books on Creative Writing
A few series in focus
Before we dive into the list, let’s explore the word count of a few popular fantasy series and one favorite, bestselling author who racks up high word counts.
Word count of Harry Potter series
The total word count of J.K. Rowling’s seven-book Harry Potter series is 1,084,625. That’s like reading David Foster Wallaces’s Infinite Jest (488,940) twice.
Word count of The Chronicles of Narnia series
The total word count of C.S. Lewis’ seven-book Chronicles of Narnia series is 345,535. That’s approximately the same length as Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote (344,665).
Word count of Earthsea series
The word count of Ursula K. Le Guin’s six-book Earthsea series is 480,503. That’s like reading Stephen King’s The Stand: Uncut at 471,485 words and a third of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea at 26,601 words.
Word count of His Dark Materials series
The word count of Philip Pullman’s three-book His Dark Materials fantasy series is 390,575, about the length of reading J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion (130,115) three times.
Word count of Game of Thrones series
The word count of George R. R. Martin’s five-volume A Song of Ice and Fire series is 1,770,000. The series is incomplete, so there could still be more words on the way! That’s about the length of Stephen King’s It (445,134) times four (1,781,736).
Word count of the Lord of the Rings series
The word count of J. R. R. Tolkien’s four-volume Lord of the Rings series is 576,459. To equal that, read J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (190,858), Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (169,441), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (198,227) plus about half of Albert Camus’ The Stranger (36,014)
Author in focus: word count of Stephen King’s books
It’s also fun to look at the word counts in the work of one author in particular, so I decided to do a little exploring and find out the word counts of some books by a beloved author, Stephen King, a prolific writer with millions of words among his many books. In this list, you can see that The Stand: Uncut is 471,485 words. His writing guide and memoir On Writing is 79,139, meaning The Stand holds approximately six (5.957) books of On Writing ‘s length within it. On Writing is one of my favorite guides to writing. I’d gladly take more of those over another novel. (Though I’d of course take The Stand over any novel ever.) For more Stephen King book word counts, see this ver y detailed Reddit thread .
Now we’ll move along to look at this list of 177 word counts of popular novels.
Books that are 500,000+ words long.
Here we see some of the longest novels in the world in the 500,000-word and up level. (And for more on that, check out the Wikipedia entry for List of Longest Novels .) Many people put reading Marcel Proust’s seven-volume In Search of Lost Time series on their reading bucket list. I’ve only read the first volume, Swann’s Way , and loved it, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get around to reading the rest of the books.
Books that are 400,000 words long
Think you can manage writing a 400,000-word novel? If you were going to write 1,000 words a day, that would take 400 days, more than a year. And if you only manage 500 words a day, double that to 800 days, over 2 years. Still, if it’s fame and glory you’re chasing, why not? David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest is a cult classic. And Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind won the Pulitzer Prize. Maybe bigger is better.
Books that are 300,000 words long
If you’re writing a 300,000-word novel, you’re in good company. Some of the most beloved classics in literature sit in the 300,000 word range. And some of these are downright page turners. Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander has to be the quickest 305,000 words I’ve ever read.
Books that are 200,000 words long
Writing 200,000 words seems manageable. Interestingly, the first book in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, A Game of Thrones , is also his shortest while J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth and longest book in her series. Here we also have the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay , which won the Pulitzer Prize, and Salman Rushdie’s Man Booker-winning Midnight’s Children . Two classics of the Western canon, Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment also reach the 200,000 word novel club.
Books that are 150,000 words long
I split up the 100,000 – 200,000 category in two to make it easier to grasp. Plus, that 50,000 word difference is significant, at least according to the good people of National Novel Writing Month , who count a winning novel at 50,000 words. In this category, we have three books in the Harry Potter series. We have a few modern classics of literary fiction, including Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections , Zadie Smith’s White Teeth , and Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible . We see a few fantasy and science fiction novels here, too, like Dune , American Gods , and Eragon .
Books that are 100,000 words long
At 100,000 words, several of these novels are bestsellers. If you want to write a hit, this might be the sweet spot. Also, we’ve got Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl , a #1 New York Times bestseller, Ian McEwan’s Atonement , and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice , all three of which were adapted for Oscar-nominated movies. Might this be the perfect length for a film version of your novel? It’s certainly something to consider. Note that we’ve got the first novels in three beloved YA fantasy series here: Twilight , Divergent , and Throne of Glass . If you’re writing YA fantasy, aim your word count high.
Books that are 90,000 words long
We’ve dropped a digit and are now at five-figure word counts, but that doesn’t mean the prestige (or bestseller potential) drops, too. Here at 90,000 words, we see Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games alongside Paula Hawkins’ frenzied thriller The Girl on the Train and Toni Morrison’s lush literary Song of Solomon . And 90,000 words seems quite doable. At 1,000 words a day, you’d be finished in 90 days, or three months. And if you really hit your stride at 1,000 words, you’d finish four 90,000-word books in a year. Not bad if you’re planning a series!
Books that are 80,000 words long
There are many bestsellers and award-winning novels in the 80,000-word novel society, like Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize winning Gilead and the Booker Prize-winning The English Patient . But what strikes me most about the books in this category is The Diary of a Young Girl . I take particular inspiration from Anne Frank’s diary, which is 82,662 words long. That’s as long as some of the classics of literature, including 1984 and Persuasion , and shows how insightful, observant, intelligent, and hopeful Anne Frank was while writing her diary. What an accomplishment. It stirs you on, doesn’t it?
Books that are 70,000 words long
It feels a bit strange to know that one of my favorite novels of all time, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is 73,404 words long. It’s like knowing how many words are in the bible, if Catcher is your misfit religion like mine was. We see in this batch of 70,000-word novels the first book in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series at 77,325. If you’re keeping track, you could write that in 77 days, a little over two months at 1,000 words each day.
Books that are 60,000 words long
From John Green to Virginia Woolf to Terry Pratchett, the authors who have written beloved 60,000-word novels know how to pack a lot of meaning into a relatively short book. If you’re looking to expand your novel beyond NaNoWriMo length, take some comfort that you don’t have to stretch too far past the 50,000 word draft to pen a future classic.
Books that are 50,000 words long
Several classics of children’s literature are comfortably in the 50,000-word novel range, including Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty , Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows , and Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea . The novels in this category, including Michael Cunningham’s Pulitzer-winning The Hours (one of my favorite books), prove that you don’t have to type your fingers off in order to craft something that takes your reader’s breath away. It’s also interesting to note that The Hours is an homage to Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway , which we learned in the last category, is longer (at 63,422). Sometimes you can take inspiration for a retelling and capture the beauty of the original in far fewer words.
Books that are 40,000 words long
Now, none of these authors would win NaNoWriMo with their 40,000-word novel, but they’re obviously playing the long game. This list of 40,000-word novels should be subtitled: “How to write a book they’ll teach in high school English.” It’s like a who’s who of the English curriculum: Fitzgerald, Vonnegut, Hinton, Bradbury, hell, probably Nicholas Sparks… I mean, who knows? Clearly, even though we’re getting down to the end of this list of word counts of favorite novels, there are still heavy hitters in the lower range.
Books that are 30,000 words long
As an aspiring children’s literature writer, I’m pleasantly surprised and inspired to learn that Roald Dahl’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is only 30,644 words long. You can manage that in a month, for sure! It’s also interesting to note that James M. Cain’s noir novel Double Indemnity is only 30,072. And at 30,000 words, most of these novels fall into the novella length , which is generally between 17,500 and 40,000 words.
Books that are 20,000 words long
And here we are at the last category I’ve included: novels that are 20,000 words long. When you read Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and George Orwell’s Animal Farm , you’re reading some of the shortest novels (really, novellas) you’ll find in bound books, yet these alarming, still-shocking stories show you can make a huge impact in just a few words.
What’s the word count of your novel? What are some of your favorite short novels or long novels? Leave a comment and share your thoughts on writing and readings books of all lengths.
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Sarah S. Davis is the founder of Broke by Books, a blog about her journey as a schizoaffective disorder bipolar type writer and reader. Sarah's writing about books has appeared on Book Riot, Electric Literature, Kirkus Reviews, BookRags, PsychCentral, and more. She has a BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Library and Information Science from Clarion University, and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
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Counting Words: A Word Count Guide for Every Book Genre
Professional writers measure their progress word by word. As you’ve read in my article about writers’ daily word production , many famous authors measure their writing progress by tallying up every word they write.
Writers have made their reputation with works of variable length. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien was originally one book with 576,459 words. Ernest Hemingway wrote The Old Man and the Sea as a short 27,000 word book. In the 1800s, Anthony Trollope was famous for writing many hundreds of thousands of words in his books. Other writers — like Lord Byron — established their fame by telling stories in poems of under 10,000 words!
Today, in our current publishing market, particular genres of book are constrained to specific word-count lengths. A children’s book, for example, would never go above 100,000 words, except in unique circumstances. An adult novel would not be under 40,000 words, while nonfiction business books typically are in between those two counts.
To sell your book in the current market, you should pay close attention to these word count lengths and tailor your book to the market. This post outlines the basic word count length for fifteen genres of writing.
Why word count matters
However, if you want anyone else to read your story, it’s important to keep in mind the idea of a contract with your reader.
Readers pick up a book with a specific idea about that book. For example, when a 12-year-old picks up a story that they are interested in, they expect to finish that book in about a week. That means they expect the book to be between 20,000 and 50,000 words. This is a kind of inherent contract: the reader expects one thing, and you as the writer deliver that experience.
The same is true of other genres. When a businesswoman in the airport picks up a romantic thriller to read on the plane, she expects an escapist story that will take her out of her constrained travel arrangements for the next six hours or so. The romantic thriller will include some pulse-pounding action, character development (and an exciting romantic connection). And yet, she’ll be able to finish the book fairly quickly. So the thriller should be between about 75,000 and 90,000 words. This again is an inherent contract between the reader and writer.
To be clear, there are exceptions to every rule. Stephen King and J.K. Rowling get these exceptions — because they’ve made millions of dollars for publishers. Yet their inherent contract with readers is different than yours. Readers have enjoyed their work for decades, so readers extend them much more trust. You, as a beginning writer, need to prove yourself to readers. And part of proving yourself is delivering a good story in a particular word count.
Finally, as we discuss the average word count for particular genres, let’s think for a moment about Mark Twain’s experience of a daily word count. He set a goal, and he strove to accomplish that goal. He knew approximately how many words he had to write to complete his book.
In the same manner, your knowledge of your genre’s word count can be a forcing function to help you make progress toward your goal. You can chart your writing progress as you sail closer to your destination and plot your way across the sea of words to safe harbor.
The average length of a book
Today, with the advent of digital publishing and print-on-demand publishing, more books are being published than ever before in the history of human civilization. This is a great benefit to readers. But this also means that books have settled into very specific lengths. By following this word count guide for every book genre, you can also measure your progress and chart your success.
Publishers typically consider a book to be “novel-length” when it’s between 50,000 and 120,000 words.
Writer’s Digest states that 80,000 to 89,999 words is the “100% safe range for literary, mainstream, women’s, romance, mystery, suspense, thriller and horror.” Before a book is collated for publication, that length means that you can produce approximately 300 pages of double-spaced type.
Editor and writer Shawn Coyne uses the Nanowrimo word-count length of 50,000 words as a baseline and describes 50,000 words as a good foundation for your next revision (Read Coyne’s piece on StoryGrid about Outlining Your Book in 3 Easy Steps for more helpful hints).
This means that as an author you should target 50,000 words as the bare minimum. Ideally, once you start building towards a more publishable version of your manuscript, aim higher, for at least 90,000. Many writers write long — turning in over 100,000 words with their first draft. That’s when they have to start trimming back towards the 90,000-word mark.
Revision and editorial cutting are key components of any writing practice.
Word count standard lengths
Remember that 12-year-old who picked up your book? And that businesswoman in the airport? You have an inherent contract with those readers to deliver the books they expect, including the word count they expect.
Different genres have different word counts.
Here are the average word-count ranges by genre in today’s publishing market, as derived from analysis done by Writer’s Digest and other publications:
General Fiction
- Flash Fiction : 300–1500 words
- Short Story : 1500–30,000 words
- Novellas : 30,000–50,000 words
- Novels: 50,000–110,000 words
Fiction Genres
- Mainstream Romance: 70,000–100,000 words
- Subgenre Romance: 40,000–100,000 words
- Science Fiction / Fantasy: 90,000–120,000 (and sometimes 150,000) words
- Historical Fiction: 80,000–100,000
- Thrillers / Horror / Mysteries / Crime: 70,000–90,000 words
- Young Adult: 50,000–80,000
Children’s Books
- Picture Books: 300–800 words
- Early Readers: 200–3500 words
- Chapter Books: 4000–10,000 words
- Middle Grade: 25,000–40,000 words
- Standard Nonfiction: 70,000–80,000 words
- Memoir: 80,000–100,000 words
- Biography: 80,000–200,000 words
- How-to / Self-Help: 40,000–50,000 words
Note that the list of book lengths above are average ranges for word counts. These should not be seen as specific end-points for any story or business book. If your self-help book is 51,567 words, that’s fine. If your thriller is 69,000 words, that’s fine too. You should write to hit somewhere in the target range to achieve the expected outcome and to fulfill that inherent contract with your reader.
You can use these word counts as a baseline for your writing practice.
Words per page
Your writing progress.
The short answer to this question is that writers produce a double-spaced manuscript page with a one-inch margin on every side. A page in this standard format, in a standard 12-point font like Times New Roman, sums up to about 250 words per page. This means that if you have 4 pages, then you have written about 1,000 words.
Now if you use a pen and paper, I can’t tell you precisely how many words are found in your hand-written manuscript pages, because handwriting varies so much.
Published Word Counts
A published book that contains about 100,000 words will be about 400 pages in printed form, depending on layout, font choices and the final published layout.
Note that other formats, such as specialized business books with many illustrations or children’s books with illustrations, often space text out in ways that make the page count longer, while the word count may be shorter and smaller.
Tools for word count
Most writers today use a word processor on their computers, such as Microsoft Word or Apple Pages or Scrivener. All of these programs have a built-in word count feature that is readily available.
Microsoft Word even shows your running word count in the lower left-hand corner of your screen. You can watch your word count grow as you continue to type. (Here’s a brief overview of Word Count in Microsoft Word .)
If you’re using an online system to write, such as Google Docs, then word counting is also available as a feature. (Here’s a brief overview of Word Count in Google Docs .) If you’re using a different tool, and you want a simple way to count words, here’s an online word counter .
For writers who prefer Scrivener, there are a number of features in this great tool that can help you calculate your progress and adjust your writing schedule to accommodate your plans and goals. (Here’s a brief overview of Word Count in Scrivener , courtesy of writer April Dávila .)
And here’s where to find the word count feature in Evernote (note that Mac Evernote doesn’t have this feature yet).
How to use word count
If you calculate your daily word production against your overall book word count goal, you can figure out how many words are remaining to write. You can also analyze how many words per day you should be writing in order to accomplish your goal.
Divide your target word count by your daily word count.
Imagine that you want to produce a book that is 100,000 words long, and you produce about 500 words a day. If you divide the two numbers, then you can produce this book in about 200 days.
If you only produce 250 words per day (1 double-spaced page), and if you write 365 days a year , then you’ll have 91,250 words in a year — which is a perfectly acceptable length for a publishable book.
As an alternative scenario, if you write 1,000 words a day, but only write on working business days — weekdays (Mon-Fri), and no holidays — which leaves you only 261 working days in a year, then you’ll have 261,000 words in one year! That’s two and a half books per year.
Resources:
➤ how many words do famous writers create per day, ➤ how many words should be in your book, ➤ word count examples from published books, ➤ word count in microsoft word, ➤ word count in google docs, ➤ word count in scrivener.
Keep Writing and Good Luck!
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Home / Book Writing / How Many Words Are in a Novel? Word Count by Genre & More
How Many Words Are in a Novel? Word Count by Genre & More
How many words are in a novel? Any work with 40,000 words or more can be considered a fully developed novel . But this differs by genre — the average word count ranges from 58,000 words in erotica to 109,000 for fantasy works.
However, some authors have more questions or even doubts about these numbers. When writing a work of fiction, considering the word count can feel like limiting the creative process. No one wants to feel like their compelling story is constrained by a number.
What first-time authors may not know is that the right word count can:
- Improve your chances at a publishing deal
- Make your work more attractive to readers
- Inform your book’s price point
For these reasons and more, it's wise to have some context for how long most novels in your genre tend to be. Finding the word count sweet spot for your genre can propel your book to publishing.
- The best book length for your novel, based on 15 fiction best-sellers
- Practical tips on how to increase or decrease your book’s word count without sacrificing quality
- How to plan the word count for your next book
Links in this article may earn me a small commission if you use them to purchase a product. This is at no cost to you! It helps me continue to write these handy articles that anyone can read for free!
Table of contents
- Why is word count important?
- Word Count: Novel vs. Novella
- Word Count: Adult vs. Young Adult
- What are the key takeaways?
- How many words are in a fantasy novel?
- How many words are in a historical fiction novel?
- How many words are in a horror novel?
- How many words are in a genre fiction novel?
- How many words are in a literary fiction novel?
- How many words are in a science fiction novel?
- How many words are in an action and adventure novel?
- How many words are in a contemporary fiction novel?
- How many words are in a women’s fiction novel?
- How many words are in a suspense, thriller, or mystery novel?
- How many words are in a romance novel?
- How many words are in a crime fiction novel?
- How many words are in a religious fiction novel?
- How many words are in an erotica novel?
- How many words are in a short story?
- How do I increase my word count?
- How do I decrease my word count?
- How many words per page are in a novel?
- How Many Words Should My Novel Be?
Word counts are helpful guidelines that can improve your book’s chances of being read. Here are the top 3 reasons that your novel word count is important:
- A novel’s word count can make or break book deals. If you are an author seeking a traditional publishing route, you know that literary agents see copious amounts of manuscripts, and competition is fierce. Just one misstep can put you out of the running. Even a high-quality manuscript will be passed over if it’s twice the expected word count. Though there are no hard and fast rules, traditional publishers usually won’t take on the first novel with over 100,000 words from a new author.
- Word count can affect readers’ impressions. Readers tend to be experts in the genres they love. They’ve read dozens of their favorite types of novels, and they have expectations when they look up your title. If your book doesn’t fit their expectations for length, whether too long or too short, they might pass it over.
- The number of words often determines how much your book costs. Novellas, which typically contain under 40,000 words, are usually sold at a lower price point than a full-fledged novel.
Your word count affects the opinion of both publishing houses and readers, not to mention establishing your price point.
However, the broad category of novels is full of sub-genres, so it’s essential to know exactly what word count is best for your book.
Speaking of manuscripts, I’m a big fan of Scrivener after reviewing it myself, and I even have a discount for you if you want to use it for writing your novel.
One commonly asked question: Are 40,000 words enough for a novel? 40,000 words are usually not enough for a novel. The average book needs to be around 50,000 words to be considered marketable. This may be disheartening for authors of shorter works.
However, there are other genres available for books with a lower word count range. Let’s take a look at categories of books that contain fewer than 40,000 words.
- Novel: 40,000+ words (though you’re better off above 50,000 words)
- Novella: 17,500-40,000 words
- Novelette: 7,500-20,000 words
- Short story: 1,000-10,000 words
- Flash fiction: 1-1,000 words
There’s a market for shorter books, but you can help your pitch by using the proper term for your manuscript’s length.
The reader’s age is a pivotal factor to consider when determining the best word count for your novel. Conventionally, the younger the audience, the shorter the recommended length.
Here are the best word counts for a YA novel to children’s books:
- Adult fiction: 50,000+ words
- Young adult: 45,000+ words, but ideally not over 80,000 words
- Middle grade: 22,000+ words, usually not more than 60,000 words
- First chapter book: from 5,000+ words up to about 20,000 words
- Early reader: 1,000+ words
- Picture book: 250–750 words
- Board book: 25–200 words
It’s important to meet your reader where they are developmentally and in terms of attention span with your novel word count and content. Remember your audience.
No matter the age you’re writing for, you can benefit from some of our favorite book writing tools here at Kindlepreneur.
How long are novels by genre?
As we’ve seen, the genre of a novel can determine its length. Sci-fi novels top out at 377,000 words, while short stories live up to their name, averaging 30,000 words.
How many words is a typical novel? A typical novel is around 90,000 words. For reference, the average non-fiction book is only 50,000-75,000.
Though some authors far exceed this estimate, like J.K. Rowling or George R. R. Martin, their colossal fanbases predated their lengthiest works.
For a first book, it’s best to stay around the ideal word count for specific genres.
The books in the following graphic came from both publishing houses and self-published authors on Amazon. The data were averaged based on Amazon's Top 100 Best-selling books in each genre.
To keep the average novel word counts accurate, outlier books, box sets, anthologies, and omnibuses were removed. Blue segments represent 25% of the genre, and the orange section signifies 50% of the books in each category.
The number of words in novels from the top 15 Amazon Kindle categories, according to our extensive in-house research, were:
- Fantasy: 109,000 words on average (range 27,000-318,000)
- Historical fiction: 102,000 words on average (range 6,000 to 223,000)
- Horror: 102,000 words on average (range 19,000-377,000)
- Genre fiction: 99,000 words on average (range 6,000-221,000)
- Literary fiction: 98,000 words on average (range 58,000-163,000)
- Science fiction: 98,000 words on average (range 11,000-377,000)
- Action/adventure: 96,000 words on average (range 16,000-299,000)
- Contemporary fiction: 96,000 words on average (range 33,000-196,000)
- Women’s fiction: 94,000 words on average (range 6,000-163,000)
- Mystery/thriller/suspense: 91,000 words on average (range 14,000-196,000)
- Romance: 91,000 words on average (range 19,000-194,000)
- Crime fiction: 89,000 words on average (range 24,000-180,000)
- Religious fiction: 75,000 words on average (range 13,000-161,000)
- Erotica: 58,000 words on average (range 5,000-157,000)
- Short stories: 30,000 words on average (range 4,000-101,000)
Here are the key takeaways of what this data can mean for your novel length:
- While a book only needs 40,000 words to make the threshold for a novel, Best-selling authors are writing closer to 90,000 words on average. Readers might expect yours to fit that mold as well.
- Fantasy , historical fiction, and horror novels are about 15% longer than other genres.
- In one case, a fantasy book was in the top 25 best sellers with approximately 42,000 words (less than half of the average length for this category). Word count matters, but rules can still be broken!
To answer the commonly asked question: Are 70,000 words enough for a novel? 70,000 words would be enough for a standard religious fiction or erotica novel. However, most authors today are averaging 90,000 words in a novel, so you may want to increase the length.
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The average best-selling fantasy novel on Amazon contains around 109,000 words.
Remember, this is a rule of thumb. There is quite a range in the word counts needed for world-building, and creating an alternate reality can take up extra words.
In the top 10 best-sellers, there were 2 books of 50,000 words or fewer. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there were also 13 books longer than 150,000 words and one over 300,000!
The average best-selling historical fiction novel on Amazon is around 102,000 words, just over the 100,000 words we recommend as the max for a first-time author.
There were only a handful of historical fiction novels under 60,000 words, and the top 10 books in this genre averaged over 110,000 words. It’s a safe bet that you should have a solid word count if you write historical fiction.
The average best-selling horror novel is around 102,000 words. To reiterate, first-time authors should not exceed 100,000 words in their first book unless it is fantasy or sci-fi.
One novel stood far and away in the title for the longest horror story and, for that matter, all standalone stories. Can you guess which one?
The correct answer is The Stand by Stephen King, one of the masters of the genre, weighing in at 500,000 words.
The average best-selling fiction novel is around 99,000 words.
As you can imagine, the top 100 genre fiction books had a smattering of every subject. Nevertheless, I was a bit surprised to see a lengthy 200,000-word book on the Roman Empire make the list. It serves as a reminder to write about your passions, even if they seem niche.
The average best-selling literary fiction novel is around 98,000 words.
Of the many genres, this one is relatively consistent in what works for readers. The top 100 for this category had the most negligible difference between the shortest book and the longest book. Aim for 98,000, and you’ll be golden.
The average best-selling science fiction novel is around 98,000 words.
Combing through the numbers, I made an interesting discovery. While science fiction stories tend to be pretty long, when compiling this list, the #1 seller in sci-fi was only 30,000 words (which decreased the average).
The average best-selling action and adventure novel is around 96,000 words.
Fun fact here: All 7 of the Harry Potter books are still in the top 20 of this genre over 13 years after Harry Potter, and the Deathly Hallows was released. Now that’s the staying power of a good story.
The average best-selling contemporary fiction novel is around 95,000 words.
Over 55% of books came in around 80,000 to 105,000 words, making this a consistent genre for the length needed to sell well.
The average best-selling women’s fiction novel is around 93,000 words.
These bestsellers ranged in a similar word count to contemporary fiction: roughly 50% of the novels contained 87,000 to 105,000 words.
The average best-selling mystery, thriller, or suspense novel is a slightly shorter 91,000 words.
While almost all of the novels in this category topped the 70,000-word mark, all 6 books from the Nameless series by Dean Koontz made the list. Each of the books in the series is under 20,000 words.
The average best-selling romance novel is around 90,000 words.
The romance category actually had the “youngest” collection of books in the top 100. At the time of this writing, no book on the list was published before 2013.
When it comes to love, it seems like the fresher the publication is, the better.
The average best-selling crime fiction novel is around 89,000 words.
However, the top 10 in the bestseller list all ran slightly longer than this, coming in at just under 100,000 words on average.
The average best-selling religious fiction novel is around 75,000 words.
About 20% of the books in this genre were under 50,000 words, so there is a definite opportunity for some shorter works here.
The average best-selling erotica novel is around 57,000 words.
I found Erotica to be a unique category for 2 reasons. First, this genre had, by far, the most extensive range in word count among the top 100 books, fluctuating all the way from 5,000 to 150,000.
Secondly, erotica had the most boxed collections in the top 100 of any genre — almost 20 collections made the list.
The average best-selling short story is around 30,000 words.
Despite being called “short stories,” over 15 novels in this genre ended up being 50,000 words or longer, with one book pushing 100,000 words. Most of these longer works were collections instead of standalone stories.
The shortest story in this category? Only 4,200 words. That’s like… twice the length of this post.
If, after seeing all of this data, you are looking for actionable ways to increase your word count, here are some of the most effective tips:
- Send your mental editor on a short vacation. Write your whole first draft out and edit later. Not only will this increase your word count, but it will also keep you in the creative headspace instead of stopping mid-sentence from fixing a minor detail. Your book will be longer before you know it!
- Bring in a fresh face. Are there any new characters with opposing goals to your main characters that you could add to your story? What other obstacles could your hero overcome?
- Write adventures, not explanations. Are there any summaries or detailed descriptions that you “told” that you could “show” instead? Allow the reader to infer your point for themselves through action instead of spelling it out for them in a few sentences. You can learn more about outlining a story here .
As you increase your word count, let your imagination flow like this.
You can always go back and remove superfluous sections later.
If you suddenly realize your book is twice the length you need, here are some questions and suggestions to consider:
- Look for non-essential scenes, characters, or subplots that can be removed from your story. A great guiding question: Does this add something essential to my novel?
- Are there characters or scenes that accomplish the same goal? Most readers don’t need you to spell things out twice.
- Cut to the chase. Do you start your book scenes in the middle of the action, or are there long descriptions leading up to it? If you feel the need to explain every scene, try removing it and catching the character in the thick of things.
- Cut unnecessary adverbs or adjectives, and don’t be afraid of contractions. If you find your writing is full of adverbs and adjectives, you may want to find more striking word choices. Instead of a “very graceful and pretty,” could your character be “enchanting?” Did your character “move quickly,” or did they lunge? You don’t need more words to be descriptive, just clear ones.
- Learn your habits. Do you always preface dialogue with a lengthy description of the surrounding countryside? Do you start all your chapters with the inner monologue of each character? Noticing your natural tendencies can help you to edit yourself.
Though editing down your longer novel can feel tedious or even painful, remember the old Oscar Wilde quote, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Your book will be better for this process.
If you’re looking for tools to help you edit, we’ve tested and reviewed dozens of editing, outlining, and formatting tools, so you don’t have to.
Now that you know how many words should be in your book, you’re likely wondering how many words per page are in a novel?
The formatting and page count of a book varies, but it’s common to fit 250-300 words per page in a novel . The exact number per page is determined by the dialogue, spacing, and typeface you’ve chosen.
How many words does a 300-page book have? A 300-page book contains about 100,000 words when printed. The number of pages can also vary based on the size of the font.
Formatting your book can feel overwhelming, which is why Kindlepreneur users prefer Vellum . Who better to trust for design help than former Pixar employees?
Want even more ideas and details? Kindlepreneur has an in-depth video on the right number of words per page for your book. Check it out below.
Using the charts above, you should now be able to pinpoint a more precise range for the length of your novel. We’ve also gotten your creative juices flowing on how to add to, or edit down, your manuscript.
If you’re searching for more inspiration to write and edit your novel, check out one of these related articles, or take a look around the Kindlepreneur blog :
- Grammarly Review [2021 Update]: Is Grammarly Worth It?
- Best Writing Tools for Authors Pos
- The Best Book Writing Software
It's worth noting that some books find success in multiple genres. I'd encourage you to write with your ideal readers in mind and simply enjoy any success your book happens to find in non-target genres.
With excellent writing, the right length, and an understanding of readers’ expectations, you’ll hopefully join one of these best-seller lists soon. Good luck, and happy writing!
Jordan Lyons
When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.
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3 thoughts on “ How Many Words Are in a Novel? Word Count by Genre & More ”
Interesting Article. I write Romance in several sub-genres and find it differs in these areas considerably. Conversation among small publishers is to target 75K for a full novel but the emphasis is not so much word count as content. No surprises there. The story ends where it ends. Indies I am working with are all over the place with their interpretation of the “correct” length. Anywhere from 40K, the reasoning here is it is the minimum word count to maximum return on price point, less work, same income. But for those of us who love the story and are in the middle, we don’t look at the word count as much as the storyline. I find I do the rough draft without any other consideration but getting the story told. Then, when I go back, I focus on hitting 50K knowing edits and re-writes will flesh the book out, often finishing at mid 60’s to mid 70’s and I have had no complaints. I have written longer and told it is too long. My readers want to feel it was a satisfying story they can finish in a couple of 2-3 hour sittings. Bottomline, know your audience. Great insight/information. Thanks.
Interesting and insightful article, thanks for posting. I’ve written five books, a series fitting in the Religious (Christian) Fiction genre. Interestingly, with my first book, I set a target of 275 pages, not a word count. The word count ended up being 70,000, which is not far off your calculation of 75,000 for this genre. However, what also caught my attention in your article was the paring down of word counts.
After writing the fifth book earlier this year (still to be published), I felt that it was necessary to revise the first four books. The reason for doing this was because I felt that they needed to flow better, and follow the way I had written the fifth book, not the first one! When I started the revisions, I actually adopted the opposite attitude to when I first wrote them. With the first editions, I purposely included fill-in in the chapters. With the revisions, I purposely went about removing what I felt was truly unnecessary fill-in, or slowed the movement of the stories. Although I also included a whole new section in the first book, the end results for the first three books (fourth is still to be revised) was interesting:
1. First = 70,000. Second = 82,000 (3000 words removed). 2. First = 85,000. Second = 80,000 (5000 words removed; two chapters merged). 3. First = 90,000. Second = 83,000 (7000 words removed; twice two chapters merged).
Book One, Law & Grace: Journey to Calvary, was published a couple of days ago (available free), with Book Two, Law & Grace: Divine Intervention, to follow in about a week’s time. Thereafter I’ll tackle the revision of Book Four, while Book Three is being reviewed. With the word count for Book Four currently at 83,000, it should be interesting to see the outcome, but my objective will not be to match a word count, just to improve the flow of the story!
Thanks again for the insightful article.
Oh wow…excellent work and thanks – glad you liked it.
Comments are closed.
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Book Word Count Calculator
Here's a table to give you an idea of the word count range for different types of books:
Please note that these word count ranges are approximate and can vary based on individual writing styles, genre conventions, and the specific story being told. Word counts for books can be shorter or longer than the ranges mentioned above, and there is no strict rule for the ideal length of a book.
Estimating the word count of a book can vary depending on several factors such as genre, target audience, writing style, and font size. However, a rough estimation can be made using some common guidelines.
- How do you estimate the word count of a book? To estimate the word count of a book, you can count the words on a few sample pages and then calculate the average number of words per page. Multiply the average by the total number of pages to get an approximate word count.
- How many words is a 2-hour book? The word count of a book cannot be accurately determined based solely on its duration. The word count varies widely based on factors like writing style, font size, and formatting.
- How many words is a 300-page book? The word count of a 300-page book can vary significantly depending on the factors mentioned earlier. On average, a page may contain around 250-350 words, so a 300-page book could have around 75,000 to 105,000 words.
- How long is a book with 70,000 words? A book with 70,000 words is generally considered to be of moderate length. It would likely result in a book of around 200-300 pages, depending on the formatting and other factors.
- What is the average word count in a 100-page book? An average 100-page book might have around 25,000 to 35,000 words.
- What is the average word count in a 500-page book? An average 500-page book might have around 125,000 to 175,000 words.
- How long should it take to read a 200-page book? The time it takes to read a 200-page book can vary depending on reading speed and the complexity of the content. It might take an average reader around 4-6 hours to read a 200-page book.
- Is 20,000 words too short for a book? 20,000 words might be considered short for a full-length book, but it could still be suitable for novellas, short stories, or certain non-fiction works.
- How long should it take to read a 300-page book? It might take an average reader around 6-9 hours to read a 300-page book.
- How many pages should your first book be? There is no strict rule for the number of pages a first book should have. It should be as long as it takes to tell the story or convey the message effectively.
- How many chapters should a 300-page book have? The number of chapters in a 300-page book can vary depending on the author's preference and the pacing of the story. It could have anywhere from 10 to 30 chapters or more.
- How many chapters should a book have? The number of chapters in a book can vary widely depending on the author's style and the genre. Some books may have just a few long chapters, while others might have numerous short chapters.
- How many words is Harry Potter? The word count of the Harry Potter books varies in each installment. The first book, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," has around 76,000 words, while the last book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," has around 198,000 words.
- How long should a first book be? The length of a first book can vary, but it's generally recommended for debut authors to aim for a standard word count typical of their genre. For novels, this might be between 70,000 to 100,000 words.
- What is considered a long book? A long book can have over 150,000 words or more, and it often falls into the epic or high fantasy category.
- Is 30,000 words enough for a non-fiction book? 30,000 words can be enough for a shorter non-fiction book, such as a guide, memoir, or self-help book.
- How many pages is a chapter? The number of pages in a chapter can vary widely, but it's common for chapters to be between 5 to 15 pages long.
- How many pages is a 200k word book? A 200,000-word book might be around 500 to 700 pages or more, depending on the formatting.
- How long are most books word count? The average word count for most novels is around 70,000 to 100,000 words.
- Can you read 500 pages in 2 hours? It is highly unlikely that someone can read 500 pages in 2 hours. Reading speed varies, but even fast readers might take several hours to read such a volume.
- How long does it take to read a 500,000-word book? Reading a 500,000-word book would take a considerable amount of time. At an average reading speed of around 250-300 words per minute, it could take around 2,000 to 2,500 minutes (approximately 33 to 42 hours).
- Can you read a book in 2 hours? Reading an entire book in 2 hours would be challenging and depends on the book's length and the reader's reading speed.
- Can you read a 250-page book in a day? Reading a 250-page book in a day is feasible for many avid readers, depending on their schedule and reading speed.
- Can you read a 400-page book in one day? Reading a 400-page book in one day is possible for some readers, but it would require a significant time commitment and a fast reading speed.
- How long should a self-published book be? Self-published books can vary in length, but authors often aim for a standard word count typical of their genre.
- Do short stories count as books? Short stories are a form of literary work but are usually considered separate from full-length books or novels due to their shorter length.
- How many chapters does the average book have? The number of chapters in an average book can vary widely, but it's common to see books with 10 to 30 chapters or more.
- How many books does the average person read? The number of books the average person reads can vary significantly from individual to individual. Some people may read a few books a year, while others may read much more.
- How many pages can an average person read in a day? The number of pages an average person can read in a day depends on factors like reading speed, reading habits, and available time. Some may read 50 pages a day, while others can read over 100 pages or more.
- How can I become a fast reader? Becoming a faster reader involves practice and various techniques, such as using a pointer or focusing on reading in phrases rather than word-by-word. Taking reading courses or practicing regularly can help improve reading speed.
- How many pages are in the average book? The average book may have around 250 to 400 pages, but this can vary widely depending on the genre, target audience, and content.
- Are books single or double-spaced? Books are typically single-spaced, which means there is no extra space between lines of text. Double-spacing is more common in manuscripts or drafts.
- How many words is "The Great Gatsby"? "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald has approximately 47,000 words.
- Can you read 100 pages in an hour? Reading 100 pages in an hour would require a fast reading speed, at least 250-300 words per minute.
- How much can the average person read in an hour? The average reading speed for adults is around 200 to 300 words per minute. So, the average person might read around 1,200 to 1,800 words in an hour.
- How long does it take an author to write a 300-page book? The time it takes an author to write a 300-page book can vary widely. It depends on factors like writing speed, research required, and the complexity of the story.
- How many writers actually finish a book? Many aspiring writers start writing books but never finish them. The number of writers who complete and publish a book is lower compared to those who begin the writing process.
- How many chapters should a book have? The number of chapters in a book is up to the author's preference and the pacing of the story. Some books may have just a few long chapters, while others might have numerous shorter chapters.
- How many chapters should a non-fiction book have? Non-fiction books can have varying numbers of chapters, depending on how the information is organized. Some may have several chapters, while others might be structured differently.
- How many words is a 300-page book? The word count of a 300-page book can vary significantly based on font size, formatting, and other factors. As a rough estimation, a 300-page book might have around 75,000 to 105,000 words.
- Is 20,000 words too short for a book? 20,000 words might be considered short for a full-length book but could be suitable for novellas, short stories, or certain non-fiction works.
- How many words is a 100-page book? A 100-page book might have around 25,000 to 35,000 words, but it can vary depending on the factors mentioned earlier.
- Is 10 pages a good chapter length? Chapter lengths can vary widely depending on the author's style and the pacing of the story. Some chapters may be just a few pages long, while others might be much longer.
- Is 10 pages enough for a chapter? The length of a chapter depends on the author's style and the content being presented. Some chapters might be shorter, and others could be longer.
- Is 30,000 words enough for a non-fiction book? 30,000 words might be enough for a shorter non-fiction book, such as a guide, memoir, or self-help book.
- How big is a 20k word book? A 20,000-word book might result in around 50 to 80 pages, depending on factors like font size and formatting.
- How many words is Harry Potter 1? "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (Book 1) has around 76,000 words.
- Can I read a 600-page book in one day? Reading a 600-page book in one day would be a significant time commitment and require a fast reading speed.
- Can you read a 300-page book in 2 days? Reading a 300-page book in 2 days is possible for many readers, depending on their reading speed and available time.
- Is 70,000 words enough for a novel? 70,000 words could be sufficient for a novel, particularly in certain genres like Young Adult fiction.
- How big is a 700k word book? A 700,000-word book would be quite lengthy and likely result in a book with several volumes or parts.
- How long should it take me to read a 400-page book? The time it takes to read a 400-page book can vary depending on reading speed and the complexity of the content. It might take an average reader around 8-12 hours to read a book of this length.
- Is it possible to read a whole book in a day? Reading an entire book in a day is possible for some fast readers or for shorter books. However, it would depend on the book's length and the reader's reading speed.
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Is 20,000 Words A Good Length for Publishing a Book?
Posted by Doris Booth | Apr 1, 2021 | Writing Insights , Written | 0 |
In the traditional publishing world, 20,000 words isn’t considered a book-length story. Even if you are self-publishing, you may want to follow the tried-and-true guidelines for storytelling.
The traditional rule of thumb still pretty much applies to the length of an adult trade novel: between 80,000–120,000 words, or 320–480 pages. A typical page holds 250 words per page in 12 point Times New Roman, double spaced with one-inch margins.
Some novels can be shorter at 50,000 words or 200 pages. Anything over 480 pages may flag the work as needing to be edited; below 50,000 words can indicate the story has been rushed or not adequately fleshed out. A short book is called a novella. Historically, these standard lengths are based on the space required to develop an adequate story arc, reader expectations and—especially in the old days—upon the publisher’s printing and budgetary constraints. Digital publishing has made this third issue a little less important. Still, there is a per page cost of developing a digital book.
In the self-publishing world, you may not be as concerned over budget (though sometimes Amazon Kindle charges extra in certain markets based on the file size of the book). Audiences are conditioned to expect stories within the traditional range. So, book length may make a difference in whether a story is perceived to be well-developed or poorly put together.
Rules are made to be broken, however. If you are a new writer, it helps your publishing chances to stick to tried and true guidelines.
If you find this answer helpful, consider sharing the information with your writing colleagues. Authorlink
About The Columnist
Doris Booth
Doris Booth is founder and president of Authorlink®, the news and information magazine for editors, agents, writers, and readers, ranked among top websites for writers. The company’s separate literary agency represents some bestselling authors, both domestically and abroad. Doris has sold projects to St. Martin’s Press, Simon & Schuster, Sterling Publishing (Barnes and Noble), Berkley Books/Penguin, Farrar Straus Giroux and other dominant houses. She has also been involved in rights negotiations for two hit Netflix docuseries, as well as with other production studios. The agency is not accepting new authors at this time, but writers are encouraged to use Authorlink® as a comprehensive resource.
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Last updated on Feb 07, 2023
How Many Words in a Novel? (Updated for 2024)
Many authors are gearing up to weave worlds, characters, and stories into novels with their words. But… how many words does a novel make? And when it comes to creating art, just how important is it to stick to the rules — such as standard word counts?
Well, if your goal is to publish and sell your novel, those rules are pretty darn important. As with many publishing standards, word count guidelines exist for a number of reasons — including marketing and sales — but also to help create stories that are free from plot or pacing issues that can exhaust readers. You wouldn’t be reading this article right now if a quick scroll down showed an apparent 10,000 words, would you?
Why does word count matter?
“Word count limits sometimes seem as though they are stifling artistic flow, but they are usually there for a reason,” says Freelance Editor Lisa Howard .
If you’re hoping to land a book deal with a traditional publisher, you don’t want to give an editor a reason to turn your book away. That’s why Freelance Editor Jessica Hatch urges you to follow their rules. “In the New York agencies I worked for, it was rare to see a 120,000-word manuscript avoid the slush pile. This is because we were groomed to understand that, even if a long manuscript is strong from start to finish, it would take considerable work to convince an editor to buy it at auction.”
Similarly, if your book is published and lands in a bookstore, you don’t want to turn away prospective readers with a bizarrely small or large book spine. Word count signals to people what kind of book they’re dealing with. Readers looking for a good beach-read in the ‘Mystery’ section will not likely gravitate towards a 1,000-page book.
Regarding the value of adhering to standard word counts, Jackie Bates , a former Managing Editor at AA Publishing, adds: “Like everything in writing, you may write a work of genius that smashes all the rules. But for print publishing, the physical cost of producing the book is an issue, and the market does generally know what it likes. I do find if someone has written a very short or overly long novel, they often don't quite have a grip on their story. Word counts give writers something to aim for and an idea of what a reader's expectations might be.”
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How many words should my novel be?
The average word count for a standard novel is between 70,000 to 100,000 words. A minimum of 50,000 words is usually considered the threshold for a novel, while the maximum word count can range from 100,000 to 140,000, depending on your book's genre.
Keep in mind, however, that this isn't a hard and fast range. It differs from book to book and organization to organization. According to NaNoWriMo, manuscripts must be over 50k words to qualify. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, on the other hand, classifies submissions for its famous Nebula Awards series into four categories:
- Short story: under 7,500
- Novelette: between 7,500 and 17,500
- Novella: between 17,500 and 40,000
- Novel: over 40,000
Is 40,000 words enough for a novel?
A story that is over 40,000 words is generally considered a novel. However, it will be on the short side, as the average length of a novel hovers around 50,000-70,000 words.
That said, if your book is around 40,000 words, you're in good company. C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe , Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , and George Orwell's Animal Farm all came in under the 40,000 mark (38,421 words, 30,644 words, and 29,966 words, respectively).
But before you celebrate and race to send your manuscript off to the presses as a novel, there's something else that you should consider. Whether a word count is "enough" for a novel depends on one thing and one thing only: its genre.
PRO-TIP: If you're curious about how long a chapter should be, check out this post that's all about chapter length . Or if you're more a fan of short fiction, click here to find out how long is a short story?
What are the standard word counts by genre?
You should be aware that word count standards differ vastly by genre. Could you, as a first-time novelist , get an agent or publisher to bite at your 200k-word YA epic? Maybe — but it would be tough.
To find out whether your novel falls above, below, or in the ideal word count for its genre, take a gander at the recommended word counts from Reedsy’s editors below.
(And if you'd just like the quick and dirty answer, take this 15-second quiz to check how long your novel should be, given your specific genre.)
How long should your book be?
Find out what word count the industry expects for your genre — it takes 15 seconds!
How many words should a fiction novel be?
Commercial and literary novels are generally 80,000 to 110,000 words. Some examples for this category include: The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (85,199 words), The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (91,419 words), Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (97,364 words), Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery (119,394 words), and Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (119,394 words).
How many words should a fantasy novel be?
Fantasy and science fiction novels are known to be lengthier than other books. Fantasy, in particular, takes the cake: some books in a fantasy series end up exceeding 140,000 words. That said, the average word count for science fiction and fantasy novels generally lies between 100,000 and 115,000. Examples include: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (112,815 words), Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling (106,821 words), and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (100,609 words).
How many words should a romance novel be?
Romance novels tend to be shorter, lying between 80,000 and 100,000 words. However, since romance has many sub-genres, this figure may vary. (For instance, regency romances and paranormal romances must be above 40,000 words). We recommend researching the niche and checking specific imprints before you start writing your romance book.
How many words should a middle-grade novel be?
Middle-grade novels are generally 20,000 to 55,000 words. Chapter books will come in at the lower end of the spectrum, while middle-grade books meant for older readers may even slightly exceed 55,000 words. For more information on word counts for children's book, check out this post .
And, in case you're wondering, here are the average word counts for other popular genres:
- Young adult: 55,000 – 70,000
- Mystery: 75,000 – 100,000
- Thriller: 90,000 – 100,000
- Memoir: 80,000 – 90,000
- Western: 45,000 – 75,000
Of course, there will be books that smash these "rules." George R.R. Martin’s longest novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series is A Storm of Swords , at 424,000 words. JK Rowling’s longest novel is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , totaling 257,045 words. And The Fellowship of the Ring sits at 187,790 words. However, they have one similarity: they were all published by authors after they’d already become famous and built a huge fanbase, making the companies that published them lots of money.
This is not to say that epic novels are a form of storytelling reserved only for bestselling writers. Diana Gabaldon’s debut novel, Outlander , totals a cool 305k words. But if you’re still getting your start, proceed into the 100K+ word count with caution.
How do Reedsy books compare?
While writing this article, we became curious about how the length of manuscripts submitted to editors through Reedsy compared to industry standards. This is what we found:
Overall, manuscripts received by Reedsy editors seem to fall squarely within the industry averages, with a few minor outliers.
“Like with anything, an exceptional manuscript can result in exceptions to the rule,” says Jackie Bates. However, working with a professional editor is really a rule of thumb for ensuring your manuscript is in tip-top shape — and that includes your manuscript’s word count.
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What’s important to remember is that a word count that exceeds industry standards is not merely an arbitrary reason for publishers and agents to refuse a query or pitch . Most of the time, an overly long word count is a symptom of major plot or pacing problems in a novel — issues that need to be solved during the revision process.
Of course, hiring a professional editor does come with a price tag, and most freelancers calculate their costs based on the number of words. In light of this, several Reedsy editors have been kind enough to offer tips for authors who are in the revision process and looking to cut down on word count.
How to stick to word count guidelines
The rule of thumb is that you shouldn't worry about word count when you're writing your first draft — and it should be even less of a concern in the outlining phase. If you'd like to learn more about that topic, we write extensively about how to outline a novel here.
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However, if you're done with your first draft and you're shocked by the amount of words in it, it might be time to cut down. Let the words of Truman Capote be your revising mantra: “I’m all for the scissors. I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil.” Grab your scissors and take these tips into account.
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1) Don’t edit until the first draft is completed "Put your manuscript aside for a few weeks before going back to it. With a little distance, you'll be able to see where there are superfluous scenes or unnecessary purple prose ." — Alli Brydon , former Associate Editor at Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
2) Send extraneous movement of characters to the cutting room floor “Extraneous movement of characters through space is something that beginning writers tend to be loyal to. It’s challenging to figure out how to move characters from one scene to the next. But readers don’t need to see every step a character makes. It’s good to leave some things to the imagination, and the reader in their own mind can fill in the blanks between scene cuts.” — Kelly Lydick , Associate Editor at Immanence Journal
3) Ask yourself, “Does the reader really need to know this?” “One bad habit that inflates word count in historical fiction especially is the tendency to info-dump historical facts into the narration. This is a tough habit to break. In order to create a world of verisimilitude, the writer has to research all of this information, and so it's difficult for them to believe the reader doesn't need to know it, too. I recommend curtailing historical information to those tidbits that further the plot or help to develop a main character. This can be applied to any genre, however: if a detail doesn't serve a purpose, it's extraneous and should be cut.” — Jessica Hatch
4) Avoid the “brother and sister explaining family life to each other” exposition “Be aware of what characters would know about each other/themselves, and try to be creative when imparting this information to the reader. It is possible to explain all sorts of things without being obvious or writing it directly into dialogue . Some things can be inferred.” — Jackie Bates
5) Edit out adverbs in favor of stronger verbs "Instead of 'walking quickly,' why can't your hero 'stride' across the room? This is especially something to keep in mind when you're writing fight scenes ." — Jessica Hatch
6) Be aware of your over-used words “I think every writer has 'pet' words they use all the time, often without realizing it. Words I tend to notice and always flag include frequently starting dialogue with 'Well,' — I often see more than one example of this per page, even in traditionally-published novels. I also always suggest authors do a search of their manuscript for the word ‘that’ and really question the necessity of each one. It’s a useful word but often unnecessary.” — Jackie Bates
7) Too many adjectives are not necessarily a good thing “Great writing creates a skillful balance between what the writer provides on the page and what the reader brings to the story with their own imagination. One lean but carefully chosen, perfect-for-the-context description is much more valuable than fluffier, or lengthy descriptions of character or scene. Knowing what to keep and what to cut should be driven by voice and tone — they will dictate the cadence of the language used in the story.” — Kelly Lydick
8) Don’t shy away from contractions “People frequently avoid contractions, both in narrative and dialogue, and this often (depending on when a book is set and what the characters are like) gives a sense of formality that I find quite intrusive. If appropriate to the text, I always encourage writers to use more contractions for a more direct and natural feel.” — Jackie Bates
CHEATSHEET: What Should My Word Count Be?
To make all of this info easier for you to digest, we created this cheatsheet for you to refer back to whenever you need.
It has everything you might want to know about word counts — even how long a chapter should be. Unlock it below!
Reedsy's Guide to Word Count
How long should your book be? Get all of your answers here.
To bend or not to bend the rules
We said it already, but it's worth repeating: authors should not underestimate the value of staying within standard word counts. Editors in traditional publishing houses believe that it’s easier to market books that meet genre expectations, and if you’re hunting for a book deal or for an agent, you want to eliminate any reason for them to eliminate you . Not to mention that the longer your book is, the more time it will take to write it .
These sentiments acknowledged, these days self-publishing has given authors the ability to play around with the rules. A good example of this is is John McCrae’s (aka Wildbow’s) novel, Worm , which was published as a web serial and is 1.75 million words long. And — in the vein of four-letter titles that start with “W” — there’s Hugh Howey’s Wool , which was originally self-published as a series of e-novellas.
While sticking to standard word counts is definitely important from a sales or marketing standpoint , a greater pool of publishing options means that writers do not need to view “the rules” as entirely rigid and unbendable — especially when going against the grain ultimately serves the story. As Kelly Lydick, advises, “Adhering to standard word counts can be important — but even more important than that is the telling of a good story. Even better — a great story.”
What are your thoughts on publishing standards, such as word counts? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
21 responses
jobacon says:
26/09/2017 – 14:20
These word counts are far too long. For an unknown author, 60,000-70,000 words should be the maximum.
↪️ Janet Garber replied:
26/09/2017 – 15:54
hope so. I'm coming in at 65k for my literary fiction novel.
↪️ jobacon replied:
26/09/2017 – 16:36
Absolutely right. Publishers' readers are lazy, they won't plough through a War-and-Peace-style odyssey.
↪️ Brian Fairbanks replied:
01/10/2017 – 18:53
The maximum?? That's the exception to what gets published today in commercial fiction. A 65,000 word book is somewhere between 200-300 pages. I can't think of a novel I've bought recently that was that short -- The Nix, The Son, The Nest... only Woman No. 17 is that short and it's basically all dialogue.
Pedro Chavez says:
26/09/2017 – 15:20
Thanks. Good topic. Been cutting and adding to my supposedly finished novel. Nice to know that at 75k words I'm okay.
Craig McDonough says:
26/09/2017 – 15:43
As stated at the very very end of the article. The importance is the telling (showing) a good story. If it takes 20,000 words or 200,000 words to convey, then that's what it is. I also wonder if today there is a need to adjust these so called "standards" as I think readers are more inclined to shorter books especially of lesser known's.
↪️ David A. Tatum replied:
27/09/2017 – 05:34
For indies, the sales statistics (check the Smashwords surveys the last few years) tend to dispute that; their best-selling sized books are over 100k in length.
↪️ Eloise McInerney replied:
27/09/2017 – 12:28
That's interesting to know!
Euan Lawson says:
26/09/2017 – 17:24
My personal preference for crime fiction is towards the shorter end - around 60,000 is often a sweet spot but it is completely dependent on the story. The word counts being described here are still being driven by the traditional publishing industry that likes book spines of a certain thickness. Readers have, to some extent, been conditioned to think of this as being the 'right' length but I don't think it stands up to scrutiny. Crime fiction is my interest and I've read so many books of 75,000-100,000 that are far too long with meandering uninspiring sub-plots. Many authors would be happy to cut these extraneous scenes but they are obliged to submit manuscripts of a certain length. Thanks for the post - it is useful to have guides and discuss this but that last para should be writ large. Indie published authors need to make story their number one priority.
Tiara Kikyo Giles says:
26/09/2017 – 18:45
What about New Adult?
Heinz Rainer says:
26/09/2017 – 20:10
Talent is essential when writing a book - knowledge is key. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/375d93434d56b27306b8c2459c1566b3dee1e27465b18baaaccc3b2b0edb47a6.jpg
Eloise McInerney says:
27/09/2017 – 12:27
Maybe it's because I'm an avid fantasy reader as well as a writer of fantasy fiction, but I LOVE big, fat epic length books. I love spending a long time in a world, really getting to know the characters. The same translates into my preference for TV series over films. I hardly ever watch movies. They seem unsatisfyingly short to me (although there are, of course, plenty of great movies out there). My first novel currently sits at 163K and will probably push 200K by the time it's finished. And it's only the first book in a series. At the moment, I don't see how I could really make it shorter without compromising the story arc, and neither do I want to. My modes have always been the likes of Tolkien, Robert Jordan or George Martin. But yes, it does worry me that no agent or publisher will want it because it's so hefty for a debut author :-/
↪️ Margaret P. Ritter replied:
02/10/2017 – 12:59
Well done, Eloise McInerney, for being true to your vision instead of trying to fit your story into the Procrustean bed of industry-standard word lengths. I, too, love nice fat novels and often come away from skimpy reads feeling "books don’t have enough in them”—like Maggie Tulliver in one of my favourite novels, The Mill on the Floss (word count 205,616). My debut novel, too, is very robust. In its first form it was pushing 300,000 words. Successive revisions brought it down almost 30%. But this is what I’m still hearing from agents: “The premise of DS is captivating but a novel this long by a début author is sure to garner a rejection from publishers.” If there’s a way to further halve this generation-spanning family saga without jeopardizing the integrity of the whole, I hope my wonderful reedsy editor, H. Demchick, will help me get there! However I am very happy that he believes "every story has its natural length" and that "the most important thing is the quality of the novel itself.” After watching my brother die of anorexia a year ago, I don’t want to see my book do the same. Less is not always more. So more power to you, Eloise, and let’s be thankful for resources like reedsy!
02/10/2017 – 13:11
Glad to hear that someone else shares my love of big books. We'll just have to convince those publishers that big really is better ;-p Good luck with your novel, I hope it succeeds. I agree that stories all have their natural length, and epic is called epic for a reason!
↪️ Shirley Gilmore replied:
12/11/2017 – 00:34
Just self-published my first novel on Amazon -- 164,000 words. It's a contemporary fantasy. I had several reasons for taking the self-publish route and length was one of them. I had read too mant articles that expressed the same sentiments as this one. None of my beta readers complained about the length. In fact, most commented that they weren't ready to say goodbye to the characters and they want a second book. One drawback of self-publishing a hefty book, though, is that it costs more for the physical copy.
Fitch says:
10/10/2017 – 10:32
My first novel (thriller) came in at 129,000 words after the first edit. I worked hard and cut it down to 105,000. I hesitate to cut it more but I'm sitting it sit while I write the sequel before I take another look. I read a lot of books every year, and I read fast. Checking my Kendal library, I've read 423 books over the last two years. Choosing between books, if several pass the blurb and 'look inside' tests, I almost always buy the longer one. I love finding a good story that lasts 450 pages, or longer. I feel cheated if a book is only 250 pages.
Isabella says:
19/10/2017 – 09:10
Does anyone have any idea about word count for the Mind, Body and Spirit genre. I have just finished a book (in collaboration) and have received some feedback that it's too short. The book is 28,000 words.
↪️ Savannah Gilbo replied:
28/04/2018 – 21:08
I have read that "new age" fiction should be between 60k-85k words. Hope that helps!
Adam James says:
12/11/2017 – 04:46
Great, solid advice for all writers!!😎
Jonatan says:
05/08/2019 – 14:21
I was worried because I hit 240k , now I know what I am capable of.
Heatherdawn HetrickBrowne-Brochu says:
26/12/2019 – 13:31
Very Informational, Thank you
Comments are currently closed.
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How Long Should Your Book Be? A Word Count Guide to Getting Published
Author: Natalie Harris-Spencer Updated: July 25, 2023
How long should your book be? Does it even matter? Isn’t the art as long as the art needs to be for you to tell your story? Book length is a technical question a world away from the craft , but yes, having a word count guide absolutely matters—even at the earliest stages of drafting your novel. A draft becomes a manuscript, which quickly becomes something to send to literary agents and then editors , and then suddenly, voila! It becomes a book. And a book is a product, and every page is a dollar amount and a time value investment to publishers . If you’re coming in way under or over, publishers won’t want to invest in your product. See why it matters to consider word count at the early stages, and to move away from thinking about book length in terms of “art”?
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule (more below), but publishing has standards which you should meet if you expect to be taken seriously as a professional author. Otherwise, it just screams maverick, lazy, or obtuse. As mentioned several times on Aspiring Author , publishing is a business, with rules to follow. If you submit a 30,000 or 130,000-word manuscript to an agent or publisher when the sweet spot is 80,000 words, you’re giving them a very easy reason to simply pass on your work (perhaps without even reading it).
When should you start thinking about your word count?
Don’t worry too much about word count before you have a first draft, otherwise you might get tripped up or get writer’s block. However, once you have that draft in your hands, now is the time! There’s no exact science behind the word count, but there is a sweet spot, which can vary by genre . If you’re a couple of thousand words over: no big deal. Any more than 5,000 over or under, then it’s time to do some work. And if you’re way under or over, then something’s gone seriously wrong (see below for how to address). Additionally, as readers we have certain expectations—you might balk at reading a 100,000-word picture book (unless perhaps it was an adult graphic novel). You certainly wouldn’t buy it. Check out our word count guide to getting published below.
The sweet spot
When drafting your adult fiction manuscript, aim for 80,000 words. My first drafts tend to be around the 60,000-word mark, and then grow longer with each edit. I also know of writers whose first drafts go way over, after which they have some serious cutting to do. Let the warning bells sound at 90,000. Do not go over 100,000. This is the sweet spot for standard adult novels for a very good reason. That’s around 250-350 double-spaced, typed pages (which equates to about the same when printed, depending on font choice, font size, and whether the book is published in paperback, hardcover, or digitally). Studies have shown readers are most comfortable with this number of pages for a standard fiction book. So keep that 80,000 words echoing in your head like a mantra.
Word count guide for debut authors
If you’re a debut author , you should follow the sweet spot recommendation above especially closely. Ever notice how the first Harry Potter was considerably slimmer than those that followed? That’s because even J.K. Rowling was a debut author once, and publishers are less likely to publish a longer book written by an unestablished author. However, even Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was much longer than a standard middle grade book, at 79,000 words. Again, there are always exceptions to every rule.
Word count guide for novellas
Novellas fall somewhere between a short story and a novel and can range from 10,000 to 40,000 words. However, novellas are notoriously difficult to sell, which is why publishers buy far fewer novellas than novels. Unless you’ve been published by The New Yorker or are very well known, it’s highly unlikely you’ll get a debut book deal with a novella.
Word count guide for longer fiction
Despite the sweet spot argument above, audiences are still buying and reading very long books. Look at George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series , for example. When there’s hype or buzz around a series, publishers are willing to gamble on a longer tome. However, you have to prove yourself first, and you probably can’t do that if you’re a debut author . For anything else in adult fiction (that isn’t fantasy), agents and publishers might be concerned about the effort involved in editing such a meaty manuscript, or they might find a problem with the pacing, or exposition, or they simply might prefer to push a shorter, more marketable book out on to the shelves. There’s an inherent risk in writing longer fiction—this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t, just that you should be wary.
Word count guide for shorter fiction and children’s books
- Picture books: 100-600 words; no more than 1,000 words
- Chapter books: (five-to-nine-year-olds): 4,000-20,000 words, with word count scaling by age
- Middle grade books (for eight-to-twelve-year-olds): 30,000-50,000 words, with word count scaling by age
- Young adult, or YA novels: 40,000-80,000 words, with YA fantasy at the top of the scale
- Graphic novels: 20,000-75,000 words
Word counts by genre
Fantasy, sci-fi, and the historical fiction genres can get away with more words due to the extensive world building involved. It’s acceptable to go up to 125,000 words in these genres (with plenty of bestseller authors going way over). However, debut authors should exercise caution and still consider keeping things to the 100,000-word mark, just at least while you’re querying literary agents or while your book is out on submission . Always err on the side of caution. Check out the word count guidelines per genre below:
- Commercial fiction: 70,000-100,000 words, with the sweet spot at 80,000
- Historical fiction: 80,000-110,000 words; absolute maximum is 125,000 words
- Literary fiction: 55,0000-100,000 words; the lower end will be a trickier sell
- Memoir and narrative non-fiction: 70,000-90,000 words
- Non-fiction (how-tos, self-help, and business): 50,000-70,000
- Romance: 50,000-100,000 words, with category romance on the lower end
- Science fiction and fantasy: 90,000-110,000; absolute maximum is 125,000 words
- Thriller and psychological suspense : 70,000-90,000 words, with the sweet spot at 80,000
- Women’s and upmarket fiction: 80,000-100,000 words
How long should your book be: Final thoughts
These are just guidelines intended to increase your success rate of getting published. There are always exceptions to the rules. However, if your manuscript falls way under or way over these brackets, it might be worth going back to your story’s structure, world building, and pace. Yes, you’re trying to get a book deal , but you’re also writing something that connects with your audience and conforms to their expectations. This is where the art and the product coalesce.
Recommended reading
Here at Aspiring Author , we love recommending bestsellers and fawning over hot new releases. On this real time recommended reading list, you will find a list of top rated books on the publishing industry, craft, and other books to help you elevate your writing career.
Complex World of Love: The Story of Master and Mistress
When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II
The Design of Books: An Explainer for Authors, Editors, Agents, and Other Curious Readers (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)
Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century
Writing To Learn
About the author.
Natalie Harris-Spencer
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How Many Pages is 20000 Words: The Ultimate Page Count Guide
A 20,000-word document could fill roughly 40 to 80 pages, depending on various factors such as font size, line spacing, and margin size. Determining the exact number of pages requires additional details on formatting preferences.
Nevertheless, a 20,000-word content can generally be expected within this page range. Word count plays a significant role in determining the length of a document. For instance, in academic writing, essays or dissertations often have specific word count requirements. Similarly, authors need to meet certain length guidelines for books or articles.
Understanding how many pages a specific word count may fill is crucial for planning and organizing written content effectively. Factors such as font size, spacing, and formatting choices may affect the final page count, and should thus be taken into consideration.
Credit: wordcounter.net
Unraveling Page Counts: The 20000 Words Benchmark
The 20000 words benchmark serves as a guide to determine the number of pages for a given written content. It provides insights into what to expect in terms of page counts and helps writers plan their work more effectively.
Factors Influencing Page Count
When it comes to determining the number of pages in a document, various factors come into play. These factors not only affect the page count but also influence the overall appearance and readability of the content. Let’s explore some of the key factors that can impact the page count of a document.
Estimating With Word Processors
In this digital age, word processors have become indispensable tools for writers. These software applications offer features that help in estimating the page count based on the number of words. By using a word processor’s editing and formatting functions, you can easily get a rough idea of how many pages your document of 20000 words will occupy.
While estimating with word processors, it is important to consider the page setup, font type and size, line spacing, and margin settings. These formatting choices will directly impact the page count. Some word processors even provide a real-time page count, giving you instant feedback on the length of your document.
Role Of Formatting Elements
Formatting elements play a vital role in determining the page count of any written content. These elements include headings, subheadings, paragraphs, bullet points, images, and tables. Factors like font size, line spacing, and margins can make a seemingly small difference in page count but have a significant impact on the readability and overall structure of the document.
For instance, using subheadings and bullet points can break down the content into easily scannable sections, increasing the amount of information that fits on each page. On the other hand, longer paragraphs or excessive spacing can result in more pages being required to accommodate the same amount of text.
Importance Of Document Purpose
The purpose and nature of a document also play a crucial role in determining its page count. Academic papers or reports typically require more detailed explanations and supporting evidence, leading to longer text and subsequently more pages. On the other hand, promotional materials like brochures or newsletters often utilize visuals and concise text, resulting in fewer pages.
Additionally, the layout and design choices made for the document can affect the page count based on the intended purpose. For example, a book with smaller dimensions may have more pages compared to a larger format book with the same word count.
Considering these factors, it becomes clear that estimating the page count of a document is not a straightforward task. It requires assessing various elements such as word count, formatting choices, and document purpose. By being mindful of these factors, you can better plan your content and ensure it fits the desired page count while maintaining readability and visual appeal.
Understanding ‘how Many Pages Is 20000 Words’
Welcome to this informative blog post where we aim to help you understand ‘How Many Pages is 20000 Words’. Whether you are a writer, student, or simply curious, it’s always helpful to have an idea of the page count for a given number of words. In this article, we will explore the standard publishing and academic formats, provide page estimation examples across formats, and discuss the influence of genre and content type on page count.
Standard Publishing And Academic Formats
When it comes to determining the number of pages for a specific word count, it is important to consider the formatting and layout of the text. In standard publishing formats, such as novels and fiction books, a word count of 20,000 typically translates to approximately X pages. This calculation is based on an average of X words per page, considering factors such as font size, line spacing, and margins.
On the other hand, in academic formats such as research papers, essays, or dissertations, the page count for 20,000 words can vary depending on the specific guidelines provided by the educational institution or journal. Usually, academic papers require a specific formatting style, such as APA or MLA, which includes specific rules for font size, line spacing, and margins. These formatting guidelines can influence the final page count of a document with 20,000 words.
Page Estimation Examples Across Formats
To provide you with a clearer understanding, let’s consider some estimation examples across different formats:
- Fiction Book: Considering an average of X words per page, a 20,000-word story would generally span around X pages. However, it is important to note that the actual page count may vary depending on the genre, writing style, and other factors.
- Research Paper: In an academic context, a 20,000-word research paper may be formatted according to APA guidelines, which typically include double-spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and 1-inch margins. Considering these parameters, the paper is likely to span around X pages.
- Essay: Similarly, when writing a 20,000-word essay following MLA guidelines, which commonly include double-spacing, 12-point font, and 1-inch margins, the page count would generally be around X pages.
The Influence Of Genre And Content Type
It is important to note that the page count can be further influenced by the genre and content type of the written work. For instance, a book with heavy dialogue or shorter paragraphs may have a higher word count per page compared to a book with extensive descriptions and longer paragraphs. Similarly, academic papers with complex theories, tables, and charts may require more space, resulting in a higher page count for the same word count.
In conclusion, understanding how many pages 20,000 words will occupy depends on various factors such as the publishing or academic format, specific guidelines, genre, and content type. Keep in mind that these estimations are based on averages and can vary in practice. Nonetheless, having a rough idea of the page count can help you plan your writing projects or gauge the length of a given text. So, next time you’re faced with a 20,000-word challenge, you can now better visualize how many pages it might span.
Page Components And Word Density
When it comes to determining how many pages a certain number of words will equate to, there are several factors to consider. In this section, we will delve into the impact of various page components on word density. By analyzing font size and type, margins and line spacing, as well as headers, footers, and images, we can gain a better understanding of how these elements contribute to the overall page layout. Let’s explore each of these factors in more detail.
Analyzing Font Size And Type Impact
The font size and type used in a document play a significant role in determining the number of pages required to accommodate a certain word count. Different fonts have varying widths and proportions, which can affect how many words fit on a single line. Additionally, the size of the font itself can impact the overall length of the document.
Generally, a smaller font size will allow more words to fit on a page, resulting in a higher word density. Conversely, a larger font size will take up more space, resulting in a lower word density and potentially requiring more pages to accommodate the same word count. It’s important to strike a balance between legibility and word density when selecting a font size for your document.
Similarly, different font types can have varied widths and spacing, affecting the number of words that can fit within a given space. Sans-serif fonts, such as Arial or Helvetica, tend to have a more compact appearance and can fit more words per line compared to serif fonts like Times New Roman or Georgia, which generally have wider letterforms and more prominent serifs.
The Effect Of Margins And Line Spacing
Margins and line spacing are key design aspects that influence the overall presentation and readability of a document. However, they can also impact the word density and the number of pages required to fit a specific word count.
The size of the margins determines the amount of white space surrounding the text within a page. Wider margins will result in fewer words on a page, whereas narrower margins will increase the word density. It is important to strike a balance between aesthetics and maximizing the use of space when considering margin sizes.
The spacing between lines, also known as line height or leading, influences how condensed or spacious the text appears. A larger line spacing will increase the vertical space between lines, resulting in fewer lines of text on a page. Conversely, a smaller line spacing will condense the text, allowing more lines and ultimately increasing the word density. Choosing an appropriate line spacing is crucial in achieving the desired balance between readability and word density.
How Headers, Footers, And Images Contribute
To create visually appealing and informative documents, headers, footers, and images are often included. These elements can enhance the reading experience and provide additional context. However, it’s essential to consider how they contribute to the overall word density and the number of pages required to accommodate a specific word count.
Headers and footers typically contain repetitive information such as page numbers, document titles, or author names. While they enhance document organization and navigation, they do not add to the overall word count significantly. Their inclusion adds a slight increase in height to each page but does not significantly impact word density.
Images can be an effective way to convey information, break up text, and make the document visually appealing. The impact of images on word density depends on their size and placement. Larger images will occupy a considerable amount of space and reduce the available area for text. Consequently, this may result in a lower word density and potentially require more pages to accommodate the same word count.
In conclusion, the combination of font size and type, margins and line spacing, as well as headers, footers, and images, all contribute to the word density and the number of pages required to fit a specific word count. Taking these factors into consideration when formatting your documents can help you optimize the readability and overall layout while ensuring the accurate representation of your intended content.
Variables Defining The Ultimate Page Count Guide
When it comes to determining how many pages a certain word count will create, there are several variables and considerations that authors and students should take into account. This will allow for a more accurate estimation of the ultimate page count, be it for a digital or print text. In this section, we will delve into these variables, which include considerations for digital versus print text, word-to-page conversion intricacies, and practical tools that can assist authors and students in calculating their page count.
Considerations For Digital Versus Print Text
Understanding the differences between digital and print text is essential when estimating the page count of a document. While both formats share similar factors, such as font size and spacing, there are key distinctions that impact the final page count.
In the digital realm, the layout and formatting of text are more flexible. For instance, readers can adjust the font size and style according to their preferences. Additionally, digital texts often utilize responsive designs, allowing the content to adapt dynamically to various screen sizes. These factors mean that the same word count may result in more or fewer pages depending on the device used for reading.
In contrast, print text is typically presented in a fixed format, where font size, spacing, margins, and other elements play a crucial role. These factors contribute to a standardized reading experience but limit flexibility. Therefore, the same content in print format may yield a different page count compared to its digital counterpart due to these fixed formatting constraints.
Word-to-page Conversion Intricacies
Converting the number of words into the corresponding number of pages can be a challenging endeavor, primarily due to various factors that influence the density of the text. Some of these factors include the font type, size, line spacing, and margins used.
It is important to note that there isn’t a universally standardized conversion rate between words and pages, as it can vary significantly depending on these text formatting choices. For instance, a document with larger font size, wider margins, and double spacing will occupy more pages compared to using smaller fonts, narrower margins, and single spacing.
To get a more accurate estimation of the page count, authors and students may consider using online resources and practical tools.
Practical Tools For Authors And Students
Fortunately, there are several practical tools available to help authors and students calculate their page count more efficiently. These tools take into account various formatting parameters and render an estimated page count based on the inputted word count.
One popular tool used by many is the Word-to-Page Converter . This online tool allows for adjustments in font type, size, line spacing, margins, and even paper size. By inputting these variables along with the word count, authors and students can obtain a more accurate estimation of their page count.
Another useful resource for writers is the Page Layout Calculator . This tool takes into account the specific requirements of different publishing formats, such as novels, academic papers, or articles. By specifying the desired formatting details and word count, authors can obtain an estimation of the expected page count within the chosen format.
These practical tools empower authors and students to better plan their writing projects, ensuring the expected page count aligns with their intended goals and objectives.
Estimation Techniques And Tools
One of the essential aspects to consider when writing and formatting a document is the word count and its corresponding page count. Estimating the number of pages for a given word count helps in planning and organizing our content professionally. In this section, we will explore estimation techniques and tools that can assist us in determining how many pages 20,000 words would occupy. By understanding these techniques and utilizing the right tools, we can ensure our content is appropriately structured.
Manual Word Count To Page Calculation
Before delving into the world of software tools and professional formatting services, it is crucial to understand the manual technique of word count to page calculation. This technique allows us to estimate the number of pages based on certain assumptions and formatting preferences.
Typically, the standard rule of thumb for estimating the number of pages in a document is that there are approximately 250-300 words per page. By dividing the total word count (in this case, 20,000 words) by the average number of words per page, we can attain an approximate page count. For instance, using the 250-word-per-page rule, 20,000 words would result in around 80 pages.
However, it is important to note that the actual page count may vary depending on various factors such as font size, spacing, margins, and the inclusion of images or tables. It is always advisable to consider these factors and adjust the estimation accordingly for better accuracy.
Software Tools For Word Count Management
In today’s digital era, numerous software tools are available at our disposal to simplify the word count to page estimation process. These tools not only eliminate human error but also provide more accurate results by considering multiple variables affecting the page count.
One such popular tool is Microsoft Word , which is widely used for writing and formatting documents. It provides a built-in word count feature that calculates the number of words, characters, paragraphs, and pages present in the document. Simply open your document in Microsoft Word, go to the ‘Review’ tab, and click on ‘Word Count’ to access this feature.
Another efficient tool for word count management is Google Docs . Similar to Microsoft Word, Google Docs offers a word count feature that can gauge the total word count and page count. Access this feature by going to the ‘Tools’ menu and selecting ‘Word count’.
When To Utilize Professional Formatting Services
While manual calculations and software tools can give us a general idea of the page count, there are instances where professional formatting services become necessary. These services ensure that your document’s formatting adheres to industry standards and enhances the overall presentation and readability.
When handling complex documents such as academic papers, research reports, or important business proposals, it is advisable to seek professional assistance. Formatting services can provide expert knowledge in aligning your content with specific guidelines and requirements, such as margin sizes, font types, line spacing, and paragraph indentation.
By entrusting your document to professionals, you can rest assured that the final result will be polished, visually appealing, and optimized for readability. This enhances the overall impact of your content and makes it easier for readers to navigate through your document effectively.
The Real-world Application Of 20000 Words
In the world of content creation, word count can often dictate the scope and depth of a piece. Understanding how many pages 20000 words can occupy is crucial for writers, publishers, and academics alike. In this article, we will explore the real-world applications of 20000 words and delve into case scenarios in publishing and academia, the importance of planning and outlining long-form content, and the significance of concise writing practices. Let’s dive in!
Case Scenarios In Publishing And Academia
In the realm of publishing, 20000 words can take on different shapes and sizes, depending on the purposes and format of the content. Whether you are writing a short ebook, a research paper, or a novella, understanding the page count is essential for determining the ideal length for the intended audience.
In academia, for instance, a 20000-word research paper might span around 40-50 pages, considering the use of sections, citations, and figures. This length is often suitable for addressing complex topics in detail, allowing authors to explore diverse perspectives and present comprehensive arguments.
On the other hand, in publishing scenarios focused on fiction, a 20000-word story might result in a shorter book or novella, ranging from 60 to 80 pages. This length is commonly aimed at capturing the attention of readers with concise and impactful storytelling, ensuring a satisfying reading experience without overwhelming them with unnecessary details.
Planning And Outlining Long-form Content
With a substantial amount of words like 20000 at your disposal, efficient planning and outlining become crucial to maintain focus and coherence in your long-form content. Taking the time to carefully structure your thoughts and ideas will not only enhance the overall flow but also ensure each section of your piece contributes to the main argument or story.
One effective technique is to create an outline that includes main headings, subheadings, and bullet points for each section. This visual roadmap allows you to organize your ideas, identify any gaps or repetitions, and make necessary adjustments before diving into the actual writing process. By doing so, you can streamline your writing and maintain a consistent pace, minimizing the risk of getting lost in the vast expanse of 20000 words.
The Significance Of Concise Writing Practices
While 20000 words may seem like a hefty amount, it is essential to remember the significance of concise writing practices. In both publishing and academia, the ability to convey complex ideas concisely is highly valued. Every word matters, and as a writer, your goal should be to provide essential information and elicit emotional responses efficiently.
To achieve this, consider cutting out any unnecessary fluff or tautologies. Trim down sentences, re-evaluate the use of adjectives and adverbs, and choose impactful and precise words. By doing so, you not only maximize the impact of your writing but also engage and captivate your readers, keeping their attention throughout the entire 20000 words.
Ultimately, understanding the real-world application of 20000 words is crucial for writers and content creators in various industries. Whether you are aiming to publish a book, present an in-depth research paper, or engage your audience with a compelling novella, grasping the length and implications of 20000 words allows you to effectively plan, outline, and craft your content into a cohesive and valuable piece.
Frequently Asked Questions For How Many Pages Is 20000 Words
How many pages is 20000 words in a book.
A 20,000-word book would have approximately 80 pages. However, the actual number of pages may vary depending on factors such as font size, margins, and spacing. It’s always a good idea to check formatting guidelines or consult with a publishing professional for more accurate page estimates.
Can A 20000-word Essay Be Considered Long?
A 20,000-word essay is considered long and falls into the category of a sizable research paper or a thesis. Such length allows for in-depth analysis and extensive coverage of the topic. However, it is essential to ensure that the content remains coherent and well-structured throughout to keep the reader engaged.
How Many Pages Would A Double-spaced 20000-word Document Have?
A 20,000-word double-spaced document would have around 40 pages. When double-spacing, each page can accommodate more words due to the increased line spacing. It is worth noting that the number of pages may still vary slightly depending on other factors, such as font size and margins.
Understanding the number of pages in a 20,000-word document depends on various factors, including font size, page layout, and spacing. However, it is safe to estimate that a 20,000-word document can comprise approximately 40-80 pages, depending on these factors. Remember, it is always recommended to consider the specific requirements and guidelines provided by the target audience or the purpose of your document.
Plan accordingly to ensure your content fits within the desired page count.
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How many pages is 1000 words.
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How Many Pages Is 20000 Words In A Book?
“How many pages are 20000 words in a book?” It’s one of the questions we get to hear all the time.
The number of words of course affects the length of the book , which in turn may affect the price and sales.
And so, how many pages should you expect a 20000-word book to be?
Using standard font, margins, and spacing, a 20000-word count will result in about 40 pages. This is of course if you’re using single spacing. If you use double spacing, that would approximately be 80 pages.
In other words, a 20000-word book is not too long, and would likely fit comfortably on your shelf or within your carry-on luggage.
While the number of pages in a 20000-word book is important to know, don’t get too caught up on it.
The most important thing is that you’re writing a book that’s enjoyable to read, and one that will engage your audience from start to finish. And so, whether your book is 40 pages or 80 pages, make sure the content is well-written and engaging.
What Affects The Length of a Book?
Now that you know how many pages is 20000 words in a book, it’s important to understand what can affect the length of a book. Here are some factors:
The Number Of Words On Each Page
This will obviously affect the length of the book. If you have more words on each page, then the book will be shorter. Conversely, if you have fewer words on each page, the book will be longer.
When using the standard font, that is, Times New Roman, size 12pt, and double spacing, approximately 250 words will fit on one page. Of course, this may differ if you’re using a different font or spacing.
The Margins
The size of the margins also affects the length of the book. If you have smaller margins, then there will be less space for text on each page, which means the book will be shorter.
Conversely, if you have larger margins, then there will be more space for text on each page, and the book will be longer. The standard margin size is 1 inch (2.54 cm).
The Font Size
The font size also affects the length of the book. If you use a smaller font, then more words will fit on each page, which means the book will be shorter.
However, if you use a larger font, then fewer words will fit on each page, and the book will be longer. The standard font size is 12pt.
The Line Spacing
Line spacing also affects the length of the book. If you use single spacing, then more words will fit on each page, which means the book will be shorter.
However, if you go for double spacing, then fewer words will fit on each page, and the book will be longer. But the standard line spacing is 1.5.
Is A 20000 Word-Count Good For Novels?
No, a 20000 word count is not good for novels. The average length of novels is around 80,000 words. But if you’re just starting out, don’t worry too much about the length of your novel. Just focus on writing a good story that’s enjoyable to read. And as you get more experienced, you can increase the length of your novels.
How Many Paragraphs Are In 20000-Word Essay?
A 20000-word essay will have about 100 – 200 paragraphs. Of course, this depends on how long you make each paragraph. If you make them too long, then your essay will be difficult to read.
And so, a good rule of thumb is to keep each paragraph to around 200 words. This way, your essay will be easy to read and digestible for your audience. 200 words is about 5-6 sentences .
How Many Sentences Are In A 20000-Word Essay?
A 20000-word essay will have about 1000 – 2000 sentences. This also depends on how long you make each sentence. If you make them too long, then whatever you are writing will be difficult to read.
And so, a good rule of thumb is to keep each sentence to around 10 – 20 words. This way, your audience will be able to read your essay without getting bogged down.
How Many Characters Are In a 20000-Word Essay?
There’s no definitive answer to this question because it depends on the words you use. However, the average English word has about 4.7 characters. Adding spacing after each word brings it to 5.7 characters.
Therefore, a 20000-word book should have at least 94000 characters without spacing and about 114000 characters with spacing. Even so, it’s worth noting that this number can vary greatly.
How many pages is 20000 words in a book is about 40 – 80 pages. This depends on several factors such as the number of words on each page, the font size, the margins, and the line spacing.
Of course, this is just a rough estimate. The actual number of pages will vary depending on the individual book. But this should give you a general idea of how many pages 20000 words is.
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How Many Pages Is 20,000 Words?
20,000 words is 40 pages single-spaced or 80 pages double-spaced . Typical documents that are 20,000 words include include novels, novellas , and other published books. It will take approximately 67 minutes to read 20,000 words .
A 20,000 word count will create about 40 pages with single spacing or 80 pages double-spaced when using normal 1-inch margins, 12 pt. Arial font, and a standard A4 (letter size) page size.
However, the number of pages will vary depending on your margins, font family, font size, whether you use multiple spaces after a period , and your paragraph spacing settings. For example, 1 page single spaced created using Arial font will generate only 0.9 pages with Calibri or Times New Roman font.
Table of Contents
How many pages is 20,000 words single-spaced.
20,000 words single-spaced is 40 pages. A standard single-spaced page contains 500 words.
How Many Pages Is a 20,000 Word Essay or Paper?
A 20,000 words essay will be 40 pages single-spaced or 80 pages double-spaced. A standard single-spaced page contains 500 words.
How Many Pages Is 20,000 Words Double-Spaced?
20,000 words double-spaced is 80 pages. Teachers may ask you to write an essay using double spacing so that it's easier to read and easier to add comments/feedback to. A standard double-spaced page contains 250 words.
How Many Pages Is 20,000 Words Handwritten?
20,000 words handwritten and single-spaced produces 80 pages. Handwriting is about twice as large as words typed in 12 point Arial or Times New Roman font which makes single-spaced handwritten pages equivalent to double-spaced pages.
How Many Paragraphs Is 20,000 Words?
20,000 words is about 100-200 paragraphs for essays or 200-400 for easier reading (to allow skimming). A paragraph length typically has 100-200 words and 5-6 sentences.
How Many Sentences Is 20,000 Words?
20,000 words is about 1000-1334 sentences. A sentence typically has 15–20 words.
How Many Words Is 40 Pages?
40 pages is 20,000 words when single-spaced or 10,000 words when double-spaced. A standard single-spaced page contains 500 words.
Which Font Produces More Pages?
Of the standard fonts used in essays and other documents, Verdana will create the most pages. On average, Verdana will create 1.1 pages for every 1 page written using Arial and 0.9 pages for every page written with Times New Roman or Calibri in Microsoft Word or Google Docs. These are just estimates . If you're looking to write the fewest number of words for your school assignment to meet a page count, we recommend using Verdana (if allowed) or Arial. A good rule of thumb is to use Arial font unless your teacher provides different guidelines for font or spacing.
How Long Does It Take to Write a 20,000 Word Essay?
On average it will take approximately 8.3 hours for the average writer typing on a keyboard at a typing speed of 40 words per minute.
How Many Words per Page?
To quickly find out how many pages various word counts make, see the table below. You’ll be able to understand quickly how many words you need to write for your essays, blog articles, or memos with page limits:
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What’s the Best Word Count for a Self-Published Novel?
Last Updated on May 16, 2023 by Michael Brockbank
Is your book too long, or is it too short? What’s the perfect word count for the novel you plan on writing? Today, we’ll dive into the word counts of various genres and why they’re important for setting your writing goals.
It’s all about who you’re writing for and how you convey your story. Statistically speaking, not every genre has the same success with the same number of words.
Unfortunately, writing a novel doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all answer. In fact, there are a lot of variables that come into play to gauge a book’s success.
Style, genre, layout, author popularity, and even the font will greatly influence how well any novel performs with its audience.
Table of Contents
Why Does a Novel Word Count Matter?
When I started my writing career, I was always curious as to why other authors spent so much time agonizing over word count. At the time, I was interested in publishing a book that looked good on the shelves. Doesn’t that deal more with page count?
Yes and no.
I’ll go into pages in a moment, but the overall word count of a novel has several facets to consider.
Reducing the Risk of Seeming Long-Winded
Keeping the word count at a reasonable number helps prevent the book from seeming long-winded and uninteresting. Although there is more that goes into a novel to make it more engaging, the length could signify some editing might need to be done.
If scenes in a book are so drawn out that a reader gets easily distracted, then it’s too long. You want a reader to be engrossed in the tale, not thinking about what to have for dinner.
Time to Publish
The longer a book is, the longer it’s going to take to get it published. Not only do you need to consider writing time, but then you have an editor who’ll need to go through the materials as well.
And this says nothing about using beta readers, who will also need time to read the book.
Cost to Print the Book
Although you have the option to publish an eBook , some of you might want printed copies. A longer book is going to be more expensive to print. This makes it more expensive to buy, especially if you’re trying to earn a bit of profit through self-publishing .
Unless you have an amazing marketing team or have established yourself as a popular author, people are less likely to fork over $20 for a lengthy horror novel.
Expectations from the Target Audience
In today’s bite-sized, quick content, environment, a lot of your readers would rather have entertainment that doesn’t take long to finish. In fact, many publishers and agents view shorter works as easier to market.
This is one of the biggest reasons why TikTok is so popular today, and why YouTube is trying to jump on the short-format bandwagon. It also explains a bit of why Amazon is now offering Kindle Vella , which is a series format for authors.
This doesn’t mean that all of your works should be 1,000 words or less. It really comes down to the target audience and what they’re willing to spend money on. Luckily, there are a number of ways to get your stories out to readers today.
Take your favorite book. Then, ask yourself why you read it and why you enjoyed the experience.
Why Did I Read The Stand 5 Times?
I’ve read the uncut version of The Stand twice and the cut version three times. I know, it might sound a bit obsessive to some. But why is this book my favorite?
- I love post-appoclyptic tales…always have.
- The flow of the book kept me turning the pages.
- And, it’s Stephen King.
Mind you, I read this book before I even became a big fan of Stephen King. However, he did an amazing job of keeping me interested in the story regardless of the word count in the novel.
That’s what it’s really all about – can you keep a reader turning the pages ?
Major Genres for a Novel and Their Word Count – ish
Trying to find the perfect length for certain types of novels is quite difficult. Every “expert” on the Internet has his or her own lists and lengths that differ from the others.
However, most will still have a general consensus about how long certain genres need to be based on past successes.
Use this as a guide, but take it with a grain of salt. Because everyone will have an opinion as to what the best word count for a novel will be. And some just don’t really seem to have a firm grasp of writing.
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Science Fiction: 50,000 to 120,000
After going through a variety of blogs and websites from some of the top names in the industry, the length of science fiction is among the broadest in terms of word count.
In one instance, an expert states that 150,000 words is good for sci-fi, while another says that anything over 110,000 is too long.
This is a prime example of what I was talking about…every expert has a difference of opinion. Though, I usually side with experts who show examples of books that have been successful and their word counts.
Fantasy: 50,000 to 120,000
The word count for a fantasy novel is virtually identical to science fiction. In a lot of ways, the readers are quite similar. The variation of both numbers seems to mostly stem from the difference of a YA novel versus one for adults.
Young adult books tend to be slightly shorter than their adult counterparts.
Again, one expert says you can write an epic tale with 200,000 words while another provides warnings about anything over 120,000.
Thriller/Horror: 40,000 to 90,000
Horror novels seem to have one of the lowest gap ranges for writing. Most of the experts I’ve come across are in agreement that 90,000 words is a generally safe maximum for thriller and horror novels.
Though, one of my favorite books, “Night Shift” by Stephen King, has roughly 150,000 words.
However, Stephen King is more of an exception than the rule. People will buy and read his books simply because of his name. Night Shift is also an anthology , which often tend to be somewhat longer anyway.
Romance: 50,000 to 100,000
Romance is another that has a general consensus among experts. Most agree that 50,000 to 100,000 is a good length for romance, with subgenre romance starting at 40,000 words.
Apparently, “The Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks has around 52,000 words.
Self-Help: 30,000 to 70,000
According to experts, a self-help novel is among the lowest for word count, aside from children’s and general picture books.
Of course, this is going to vary greatly on the topic you plan to cover. Some personal issues are going to take much longer to dive into, especially if you plan on going into great detail regarding certain conditions.
Memoirs/Biographies/Autobiographies: 45,000 to 200,000
Non-fiction, especially those works based on a specific individual, has one of the widest gaps for word count. It doesn’t seem that experts can agree on the perfect high and low of these types of books.
However, most will generally agree that 80,000 is a good number to reach for memoirs, biographies, and autobiographies.
Mystery: 40,000 to 90,000
Generally speaking, experts seem to agree somewhat that a mystery book should range around the same as a thriller or horror novel. This makes a bit of sense considering the genres involved.
And it appears most will agree that the 80,000-word mark is ideal for this type of novel.
Young Adult: 40,000 to 90,000
Young adult books tend to be a bit leaner than adult alternatives but still retain a comparative length. Although the high-end is 90,000 according to some experts, most agree that 80,000 words is ideal for YA.
It really depends on how well you can keep a younger audience’s attention.
Middle-Grade: 20,000 to 55,000
Obviously, middle-grade books tend to be thinner as the age group is roughly eight to 12-year-olds. And although each expert has a differing opinion about low and high-end numbers, most generally agree that 40,000 words is the sweet spot.
This is mostly because of how difficult it is to keep a young reader’s attention. Tell the story as quickly as possible while still making it intriguing to a young mind.
Children’s and Chapter Books: 200 to 10,0000
This one makes me scoff slightly. It seems that experts really don’t have a clear grasp of children’s or chapter books in general. I mean, 200 words? That seems more like a picture book than a children’s book.
Are they writing pamphlets for kids, or what?
This is why you need to take “expert” advice with a grain of salt. Especially if that particular expert has never published a book and is just writing a blog post.
Picture Books: 300 to 800
Essentially, picture books are a child’s doorway to reading. They are usually quite short in terms of word count with vibrant graphics helping them understand the story.
If you plan on putting together a picture book, use extremely simple and plain text. The idea is to get a child reading, not bore them to tears by sounding like an IKEA manual on downers.
Word Count Estimations for a Novel Are Often Flawed
What a lot of these experts are failing to realize is that a lot goes into an estimate when trying to figure out the best word counts. You can’t simply assume a book as X amount of words based on its pages.
Case in point, I increased the page count of A Freelancer’s Tale just by making the font one point higher and slightly increasing the spacing between lines. It comes out to 147 pages and is 34,878 words long.
Font type, size, spacing, chapter heading layout, and more can greatly influence how many pages are in a book.
What I’ll do is:
- Count the number of words on the second line of any page, which gives words-per-line.
- Times the number of words against the number of lines of text on that page, which gives words-per-page.
- Times the result against the total number of pages in the actual story (not the foreward, intro, prologue, etc.), which gives the subtotal of words for the book.
- Then, take the number of words-per-page times the number of chapters. This is because a lot of books will use blank and half pages to start a chapter. This gives the total chapter words that are missing.
- Subtract the total chapter words from the subtotal of words.
I know, it’s a bit convoluted of a process. But it’s a much more accurate estimation as it helps you remove font size, spacing, and blank pages from the equation.
In the future, I plan on getting my own estimates for the word counts above based on sales and reviews. But until then, I suppose I’ll just have to rely on other experts.
Word Count per Novel Depends On Your Abilities to Tell a Tale
Keep in mind that the average word count in a book is just a rough guideline. If you can keep an audience reading, then you can get away with a 500,000 words masterpiece.
However, that will take an incredible amount of talent.
Why Not Focus on Number of Pages Instead?
In the beginning, I was more concerned with page count instead of words. I wanted my book to look comparatively to similar works of my genre.
This was indeed a flawed idea.
As I said earlier, a lot of things can influence the actual page count compared to the length of a written story. Adjusting the font and spacing alone added nearly 50 pages to my book.
And it still looks great on paper.
You also have to consider the app you’re using for writing your bestseller. Software renders fonts differently, so, a novel written in something like Libre Office can show anywhere from 440 to 750 words per page.
But in a formatting tool like Kindle Create , it’ll come out to 250 to 300.
And then also consider the format you plan on using. The difference between a paperback and an eBook can vary greatly. For example, my eBook is 124 pages on the Kindle, compared to the 147-page paperback.
My point is that you shouldn’t worry about the average number of pages in your novel, as word count is a better goal based on your story.
Write Until the Story is Told
In reality, the best length for a novel really depends on you and your target audience. If you can put together a riveting tale that keeps people reading into the wee hours of the morning, then you can get away with a larger word count.
But if people have a hard time getting into your book because it feels slow or if the details are too drawn out, you’ll lose their interest. Even a 20,000 word book can get quickly removed from someone’s reading list.
It comes down to a balance between what you can deliver and what they want to read.
Some people are simply better at quick-fire tales that range in the 30,000 to 50,000 range than they are with pushing out something in the 120,000-word mark. That’s nothing to be discouraged about, especially if your fan base prefers the faster reads.
So, you can use the guide above as an estimate for a novel length, but remember that storytelling is vastly more important than word count.
What Do Your Writing Goals Look Like?
Now that you have an idea about the best word count for a specific novel or book, does that change your goals for your current project? I am actually debating on adjusting mine for Kingmaker, the book I’m writing right now.
Still, I tend to write until the story is told. I guess I’ll wait to see what my beta readers think.
In any case, the numbers above are a bit helpful when you’re planning out your project. Just remember that every expert has their own ideas of what a good length for a novel will be.
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Book Design Made Simple
You can do it yourself.
Calculate book page count using word count
January 8, 2018 By Fiona Raven 34 Comments
Calculate book page count using your word count
You’ll use the word count in your Word document to calculate book page count. First of all, find your word count in Word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen:
Once you know your word count, follow one of our two methods below to estimate your page count.
Method 1: Use our formulas
We’ve typeset many books and therefore know how to calculate the number of words that fit on an average book page. Our formulas are based on book trim size, typeface, and type size. Here are the steps to using our formulas:
Choose your book’s trim size
The trim size of your book dictates approximately how many words fit on one page, so start by choosing a trim size. Some popular trim sizes for books are:
Fiction – 5″ × 8″ or 5.5″ × 8.5″ Nonfiction – 6″ × 9″
What about trim sizes for larger format books? Look at any book and you’ll see that the text never goes to the edges of the pages. It’s all contained within the margins, forming a text block. Most larger format books use the same size text blocks as regular fiction and nonfiction books so that they’re easy to read. For a larger format book, use the 6″ × 9″ formula to calculate book page count.
Formulas to calculate book page count
Find the trim size of your book below, then use the formula for the type size you envision for your book. We created the formulas by setting 10,000 words in Minion (a commonly used serif typeface that comes with InDesign), and using the page margins recommended in Book Design Made Simple (0.75″ on all sides except 0.85″ at the top).
To calculate the page count for a 5″ × 8″ book:
- 10 pt type – divide your word count by 400
- 11 pt type – divide your word count by 350
- 12 pt type – divide your word count by 300
To calculate the page count for a 5.5″ × 8.5″ book:
- 10 pt type – divide your word count by 475
- 11 pt type – divide your word count by 425
- 12 pt type – divide your word count by 350
To calculate the page count for a 6″ × 9″ book:
- 10 pt type – divide your word count by 600
- 11 pt type – divide your word count by 500
- 12 pt type – divide your word count by 425
Calculate the number of pages in your front and back matter
There are probably some pages that are not included in your word count, such as pages in your front and back matter. Look through the following list of front and back matter pages and make a note of the number of pages you’ll require for your front and back matter:
Half title, title page, copyright page, dedication, quote or epigraph, contents, list of illustrations, foreword, preface, acknowledgements, introduction, appendix(es), endnotes, glossary, bibliography, references, index(es).
The image below from Book Design Made Simple explains the order of pages for your front and back matter.
This excerpt from pages 24 and 25 of Book Design Made Simple should help you estimate the length of your front and back matter.
Calculate the number of pages your images will require
In addition to text, you may also include illustrations, photos, diagrams, charts, and tables in your book. An easy way to estimate the number of pages your images will require is to count them according to how much space they’ll use. For example:
5 full-page images = 5 pages 20 half-page images = 10 pages 4 quarter-page images = 1 page Total pages required for images: 16 pages
Calculate extra pages based on number of chapters and parts/sections
Chapters don’t usually begin at the top of a page, nor do they usually end at the bottom of a page. Therefore you should allow half a page extra for each chapter in your book. For example, if your book has 14 chapters, add 7 pages to your page count.
If your book is divided into parts or sections, you’ll probably add a part or section divider page (followed by a blank) between each part or section. So for each part or section in your book, add 2 pages to your book page count.
Calculate your book page count
Add together the following totals to get the final page count for your book:
Number of pages for word count (from formulas above): _______ Number of pages for front and back matter: ________ Number of pages for images: ________ Number of pages for chapters and part/section dividers: ________
Total number of pages estimated for your book: ________
Method 2: Use our InDesign document
You can estimate your page count the same way we calculated the formulas listed above—by using your book’s trim size, typeface, and type size in an actual InDesign document. Of course, you’ll need InDesign to use this document. If you don’t have InDesign, you can download it for a free one-week trial or use it at your local library.
Download our InDesign document by clicking here: InDesign Document for Estimating Page Count
This document is set to the specifications we guide you through in Book Design Made Simple (i.e., trim size 5.5″ × 8.5″, tx paragraph style with Minion Regular, 11 pt type size with 14 pt leading). And the document includes the first 10,000 words of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland .
Set the trim size and type specs to whatever you wish (see instructions below), and see how many pages the text runs to. Then use the following formula to calculate the average number of words per page:
10,000 divided by number of pages = words per page
Change the trim size and type specs to suit
Experiment with our InDesign document to get an accurate page count with whatever trim size and type specs you choose. Here are some suggestions for changes you can make:
Change the trim size : First click Layout>Margins and Columns, then check the Enable Layout Adjustment Box at the bottom left. Click OK. This will ensure that the text frames stay the same size as the margins, regardless of how large or small the pages are.
Click File>Document Setup to open the Document Setup dialog box. Choose your new trim size by changing the numbers in the Width and Height boxes, then click OK.
Your pages will now have the new trim size. Note that the margins are the same distance from the edges of the pages as they were before. As a result, the size of your text frames will have changed, causing your text to reflow and your page count to change.
Change the type specs : Double-click the tx paragraph style in your Paragraph Styles panel to open the Paragraph Style Options dialog box. Select Basic Character Formats on the left as shown below. Change the Font Family, Size, and Leading (linespacing) by clicking the arrows to the right of those drop-down menus and choosing alternatives.
Make sure the Preview box at the bottom left is checked. That way you’ll see all the changes you’re making to the text in real time. Once you click OK, InDesign will finalize those changes causing your text to reflow and your page count to change.
Calculate book page count … done !
Now that you know the average number of words per page in your book, you can calculate the page count with a little arithmetic. Simply divide the total word count from your Word document by the number of words per page.
total number of words in your Word document divided by number of words per book page = your page count so far
Then add in all the extra pages for your front matter, back matter, images, chapter titles, and part/section openers (see Method 1, above).
We hope one of these two methods works quickly and easily for you! There are lots of reasons why you might need to estimate the page count for books using the word count. Now you know two sure-fire ways to calculate book page count.
If you have any questions or problems, please let us know in the comments below. Happy designing!
Read more: An InDesign book template set up for you – including all the styles you’ll need » One more super-handy template: Your copyright page – what to include » Read even more: Front matter – what to include in the front of your book » Read still more: Book trim size – how to choose the right trim size » And even more: Is your image high enough resolution for printing? »
Book Design Made Simple. You can do it yourself.
August 25, 2022 at 10:39 am
What about a book with a ton of art and tables and boxes? Like a textbook?
August 30, 2022 at 5:41 pm
Hi Hugh, It can be challenging figuring out the probable page count for a textbook … believe us, we know! But we’ve broken it down for you in this article if you use “Method 1.” This way, you first estimate how many pages the text alone will occupy, then the images (photos, charts, illustrations, etc.), and finally allowing for the number of chapters and the front and back matter. There’s a lot to consider! But for an estimate, we find this method works the best.
Good luck with your upcoming book! Fiona
June 8, 2022 at 9:05 am
I’m writing a 2-volume history book with hundreds of footnotes – are these calculated in word count? Obviously they take up space on the page , but the font size is 9 as opposed to body type at 12. How would I calculate this?
June 9, 2022 at 4:35 am
Hi Suzanne, Here’s what you can do if the footnotes will take up a huge amount of space in a book. First, calculate the page count for your main text, ignoring the footnotes. (Use the instructions in the article.) Then calculate the page count for your footnotes separately. Method 1, if your footnotes are not yet complete and you’re doing an advance estimate: First figure out an average of how many words per page for the footnotes. You can do this by filling some pages in your InDesign book page (or a page of the expected size in Word) with footnote text and typesetting it at 9 point size with the expected space between the lines. Then count the words per page by using the tool in InDesign (go to Window > Info) or Word. You should also plan for the space between the main text and the footnotes on the pages. To do this, subtract a line or two from the number of lines on a hypothetical full page of footnotes. So, if a full page of footnotes would be 40 lines, then tell yourself that it will actually be 38 because of the white space. Then multiply the total footnote word count by the number of lines per page, and you’ll have your footnote page count. Method 2, if your footnote text is complete: Simply use all of your footnote text and typeset it at the appropriate size and with the appropriate margins to duplicate the final product. And then see how many pages you end up with. Don’t forget to allow for the 1-2 lines of white space on each page between the main text and footnotes, as described above. Then add your main text pages to your footnote text pages, and bingo! I hope this helps. Glenna
May 9, 2022 at 10:27 pm
Recently summed up a novel. Roughly 141k words, and was planning to print in 8.5 by 5.5. What do you consider a page? Is the calculator assumed by single line spacing or double? In my book, I currently have it set at font size 12 and single line spacing. However is there a way to estimate the page size with line spacing variables so I can play around? Thank you, good day
May 10, 2022 at 6:58 am
Hello Analise, To answer your questions in order: 1. A page is the same as when you read a book: page 1, page 2, page 3, etc. Both sides of each piece of paper are a page. Blank ones, too. 2. The calculator is assuming a normal amount of space between lines. In Word, a single space is kind of tight. You can increase the space between lines by a precise amount if you want to be more precise than single spacing and 1.5 line spacing. For 12-point type, try 15 points between lines for a readable, pleasant (normal) look. 3. If you’re using Word for your final layout, you can change the margins to a custom size. Try various settings to see how you like the look. If you’re going to use InDesign, simply follow the directions in Book Design Made Simple for optimal margins. (For 5.5 x 8.5″, we suggest top margin 0.85 in., bottom 0.75 in., inside—toward spine—0.75 in., outside—away from spine—0.75 in.). The larger top margin allows for a running head on each page or the main text. If you really want to lay out your book in Word, you might want to try a Word template for best results. But feel free to mess around with your margins. Simply check the word count per page for each set of margins and line spacing and compare them with each other. I hope this helps. Best of luck with your novel. Glenna
May 10, 2022 at 9:25 am
Thank you! Noted. I’ll be keeping that in mind
April 28, 2022 at 1:26 pm
I’d like to cite this article in something I’m writing about Vladimir Nabokov’s novel ADA. Would that be OK?
April 29, 2022 at 5:28 am
Hello William, Thank you for asking for permission. Yes, you may cite this article, and please let us know when it’s published. Thank you. Glenna Collett
June 21, 2021 at 1:23 pm
Hello there I have question if I have a manuscript of 18550 words how amnynpages would that add up to in a standard paperback format.
June 22, 2021 at 7:08 am
Hello Eric, The answer to your question lies in the article about calculating book page count. It all depends on the kind of book and how large you’d like the type to be. Almost every situation is covered in the article. Glenna
May 10, 2021 at 10:14 pm
Hello, This is my first time writing a book, and I’m an 8th/9th grader 😀 I’m planning to make my book about 250-300 pages (novel/short novel) and it’s a fiction book about a dog. Is it OK to have a 4×6″ cut for a fiction book? Or is it better if I have a 5×8″ instead? Also, I’m not planning on publishing it to the world, but rather making about 10 copies for my closest friends. Also, is a size 10 font in Arial acceptable? I have 1.5 line spacing, as I feel that single is too small, and double is to large. I don’t recall ever reading a book where an author chose a 1.5 line spacing (or so I have observed). Do you know if 1.5 line spacing is pretty common?
Thanks so much! -Natalia
May 11, 2021 at 4:48 am
Dear Natalia,
Good for you for writing a novel! Your idea to print enough for your family and friends makes your plans more flexible than if you were publishing for the world, so yes, you may use a 4 x 6″ trim size. But before you settle on that, I suggest printing out some type on paper and then cutting a block of type to about 2.5″ wide and 4.5″ high. Then cut out some pieces of paper to 4 x 6″ and stick the type on the paper. Then handle the pages as if they were a book. You might find that your hand covers a lot of the type area. You might find also that very few words fit on each page. Arial is a very readable typeface, but it’s mostly used for shorter works such as advertising, or at a small size for reference books. Most novels use a serif typeface such as Minion, Century, Caslon, so try whatever you have on your computer that looks comfortable and not too fancy or frilly. As for the type size, 10 point would be fine for Arial. If you use another typeface you might discover that you need 11 point to get the same amount of readability. 1.5-line spacing is a bit unusual for a novel, but fine. You might discover, though, in your experiment above, that you can’t fit very many lines on a 4 x 6″ page. Your readers won’t want to have to turn the page every few seconds. It seems that you’ll be using Word. If so, I believe you can change the line spacing to whatever you want by going to Format > Paragraph > Spacing > Line spacing, and then set it to Exactly 14 points or whatever you want to use. Experiment with the best look. Once you find something you like on the screen, be sure to print it out to see how it will look in your book. I hope this helps. Feel free to write to us again as you progress with your project. Good luck! Glenna (coauthor)
April 25, 2021 at 1:55 pm
51840 words being handwritten about size 13 font which size book would be optimal? (A5 is what i was going to use) and how many pages would this be? thanks
April 26, 2021 at 7:28 am
Dear Lily, My best advice would be to write on two pages of A5 paper, figuring out some margins before you start. Then simply count the words on those 2 pages and do the math from there. I have never worked with a handwritten book before, and everyone’s handwriting is different. Also there’s the factor of how much space you use between the lines. Good luck, and let us know what you figure out. Glenna
January 12, 2021 at 4:20 am
Hi, I am a first time writer and on the verge of final submission. It is for lower middle grade..10 yrs apx. I have done 25,000 words and about 10 illustrations. How many pages in a book does this qualify for? Thankyou so much.
January 12, 2021 at 6:05 am
Hello Suzanne, Your question is hard to answer because there are several factors involved: your audience, your genre, and the size of your illustrations. So we’re sending you to our blog post that should help you answer this question for yourself: https://www.bookdesignmadesimple.com/calculate-book-page-count-using-word-count/ On the other hand, you could find a book that resembles what you think yours might look like, count the number of words per line for 10 lines, average them out to find out how many words per a typical line. Then multiply that number by the number of lines per page. That will give you the number of words per page. Then simply divide that into 25,000. After that, add space for your 10 illustrations, and some pages for the front matter of the book. Good luck with your book! Glenna
November 24, 2020 at 6:33 pm
My manuscript word count is 54,000 and I want the book size to be 6.14 x 9.21. I also want the side margins to be maxed out to around 0.6. I am not sure about the top and bottom margins but of course I want them to look good and go with the side margins. Normal gutter. Times New Roman font. Font size 13 points. Question, about how many pages do you think this book will be?
November 25, 2020 at 12:42 pm
Hi Larry, When I flow 54,000 words into your book size with your margins (except 0.75″ in the gutter, which is standard), Times New Roman 13/16, I get 132 pages. Fiona
October 15, 2019 at 10:53 pm
Hello, I am a first time publisher so I am super grateful for this website. My book, according to your helpful calculations, 20,000 words will be about 73 pages, 1.5 line spacing, 12p font and Times Romans. Do I have to get the exact amount of pages to download KDP cover template?
October 18, 2019 at 10:07 am
Hi Elizabeth, I often start by downloading a cover template for the estimated page count at the start of a project. So, for example, you could download a template for a 74-page book with the trim size you intend to use. That way, you can get started designing your front and back covers. Once your pages are finalized and you have a final page count, download a new template for that page count to get the exact final spine width. Copy and paste your front and back covers on to the new template, and design your book’s spine to fit. I hope this helps! Fiona
April 17, 2020 at 9:06 pm
Is there a template you recommend for a children’s book?
April 19, 2020 at 6:04 am
Hello Regina,
Since we are designers, we don’t recommend templates. Your best bet is to study as many samples of children’s books as possible, figure out a good size and page count for yours (paying attention to your printing provider’s guidelines), and then feel free to copy the layout of the most appropriate sample book, or mix and match with a few layouts.
Good luck with your book project!
Glenna (coauthor)
April 16, 2019 at 6:57 am
I am a first-time author and am just about ready to self publish on Amazon Kindle. I would like paperbacks available as well as ebooks – but am now worried that my $9.99 price point won’t cover my costs on the paperbacks…you see, my word count is 122,500 with much dialogue. My local print shop is printing my Advanced Reader Copies on 8.5×11 to reduce costs.
April 17, 2019 at 4:45 am
Hello Carmin, Your advance reader copies need to look as professional and complete as possible so that your readers will be convinced that this is an actual book. We advise against the 8.5 x 11″ copies. Before getting ARCs, you should have the book designed and laid out by a professional (unless you’re doing it yourself with help from Book Design Made Simple, of course), complete with a front cover and spine, though you may leave the back cover blank, as this is where your readers’ reviews will go. Then get just your ARCs printed by Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. You will probably find that it’s less expensive than printing at the local shop, plus you’ll see exactly what your book is going to look like and how much each copy is going to cost. (When you print on demand, every copy costs the same, no matter the volume. See our blog post on that topic here .) Your words are important, but the presentation is equally important, especially if you want to get good reviews. Good luck with your first venture into book publishing! Glenna
August 9, 2018 at 2:07 pm
Hi Glenna Thanks for the info. When calculating the ‘word’ count – would that be soley the text of the stoiry? (less the front and back portions etc. I ask because the word count usually lists ALL words. I am finishing a novella and don’t want to exceed 40,000 words
August 9, 2018 at 4:38 pm
Hi Stephen,
Whenever anyone talks about word count, they mean the body of the story. You can figure out the front matter simply by counting the pages you want to have there.
In order to get Word to count only the story text, you will need to put that text into a separate document, or you can highlight the story text only and Word will count only the highlighted words.
Best of luck with your story.
March 15, 2018 at 12:15 pm
I can’t be more grateful for finding this article. This is one area that is so important but seems to be left out of all of the major self-publishing platforms. I have been at this for over a week, maybe more and have become so discouraged. It was easier writing novels than trying to set them up for pod. Most blogs show the calculation process for standard 5×8 and so on but not one of them shares a formula for smaller books. I am trying to print 15,000 and 30,000 word books on a 4×6 .. I really wish I could figure our the formula for determining the page count. Each platform asks for a page count instead of providing an embedded calculator to aid in completing the form. You can’t get past the screen to generate a pdf template for a book cover without knowing this. It’s like a vicious circle….. I’ll try some of what you have written here. If you know anything that I might be missing please let me know. Thanks so much!
March 15, 2018 at 9:28 pm
Hi Michelle, it’s definitely a challenge to calculate your page count when your book has a trim size smaller than 5″ x 8″. I used the InDesign template provided in this blog post to estimate your page count, and here’s what I did:
I changed the trim size in the InDesign template to 4″ x 6″. I noticed that the preset margins look too big for this small trim size, so I reduced all the margins to 0.625″ except the inside margin (the gutter or spine edge), which I kept at 0.75″ to allow for perfect binding. There are 10,000 words in the template, and the type is 11 pt with generous leading or linespacing. At the 4″ x 6″ trim size, 10,000 words ran to 52 pages (that’s 192 words per page). So 15,000 words would run to 288 pages, and 30,000 words would run to 576 pages.
If you want to calculate any other word count for a 4″ x 6″ trim size, just remember there are approximately 192 words per page using 11 pt type and the margins noted above.
I hope this helps, and thanks for your great question!
January 10, 2018 at 10:11 am
For our project, this blog’s timing is perfect! The page count is much more of a concern with respect to this book than the last. This one is still a work in progress so your Method #1 was really helpful. I suspect that having a solid page estimate will also be a handy bit of knowledge to have, during the lead-up to the printing process. Thank you for another great blog! M & L
January 10, 2018 at 4:32 pm
Hi M&L, our most faithful readers, Thanks for your comments. Fiona did most of the work on this one, and her 2 methods do work perfectly. You get the point exactly, which is to be able to plan for printing costs. Glad to be able to help out! Glenna
[…] page count variations among these well-known novels illustrate the rich tapestry of literature, with each work offering […]
[…] Based on the formula used here, I determined 300 pages for the paperback and 257 pages for the hardcover. This is equivalent to a book of around 90,000 words. For the e-book size, I took 3 MB, as this seems to be the size of a novel around this size. […]
[…] website ( https://www.bookdesignmadesimple.com/calculate-book-page-count-using-word-count/ ) gives you the ability to estimate the page count based on word count and approximate trim size. […]
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20,000 words: Spelled and divided for quick reference 7th Edition
- ISBN-10 0070373930
- ISBN-13 978-0070373938
- Edition 7th
- Publisher Gregg Division, McGraw-Hill
- Publication date January 1, 1977
- Language English
- Print length 250 pages
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- Publisher : Gregg Division, McGraw-Hill; 7th edition (January 1, 1977)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 250 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0070373930
- ISBN-13 : 978-0070373938
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31 Places to Publish Novellas and Long Short Stories — Paying markets
Erica Verrillo
Curiosity Never Killed the Writer
If you’ve written a longer piece of fiction, but not as lengthy as a novel, you may be wondering where to get it published. (As it happens, I am too, because I just wrote one.) With so many literary journals preferring a “sweet spot” of about 3,000 words, a short story of 5,000 words, much less 8,000 words, can be a challenge to publish. Once you get over 10,000 words, finding a home for your work can be daunting.
Nevertheless it is not impossible. There are literary journals and publishers that accept longer short stories, novelettes, and novellas. In case you are wondering what the word counts are for these categories, Duotrope uses these guidelines:
Short story = 1000 to 7,500 words
Novelette = 7,500 to 15,000 words
Novella = 15,000 to 40,000 words
While guidelines can be useful, word counts are hardly fixed for short fiction. A novelette can be anywhere between 7,000 and 20,000 words. But while novellas usually have a top range of 40,000 words, there is no fixed bottom range. What’s more, there is a no-man’s-land between 40,000 and 60,000 words. Most novels under 60,000 words are deemed “unmarketable” by agents. So, what happens to works between 40,000 and 60,000 words? It’s a question for the ages.
A word of advice: Resist the temptation to either pare down your work, or beef it up to meet someone else’s word count. All literary works determine their own length. To thine own work be true.
Here is an excellent ranking of literary magazines that includes word counts:
Erika Krouse’s Ranking of 500-ish Literary Magazines for Short Fiction
____________________
Length : No restrictions
Payment : $10 per printed (or printed-out) page
“At AGNI we see literature and the arts as integral to the broad, engaged conversation that underwrites a vital society. Our poets, storytellers, essayists, translators, and artists lift a mirror to nature and the social world. They not only reflect our age, they respond. We have no formula. We seek fresh vision and listen for dynamic voices that address our common reality.” AGNI accepts manuscripts between September 1st and May 31st.
Length : Up to 80,000 words Payment : 8–10 cents per word for short fiction (up to approximately 20,000 words), 6 cents per word for serials (40,000–80,000 words)
“Analog will consider material submitted by any writer solely on the basis of merit. We are eager to find and develop new, capable writers. We publish science fiction stories in which some aspect of future science or technology is so integral to the plot that, if that aspect were removed, the story would collapse. The science can be physical, sociological, psychological. The technology can be anything from electronic engineering to biogenetic engineering. But the stories must be strong and realistic, with believable people (who needn’t be human) doing believable things–no matter how fantastic the background might be.” Also accepts poetry.
A Public Space
Length : Novelettes and novellas
Payment : Up to $100
“A Public Space is an independent nonprofit publisher of an eponymous award-winning literary, arts, and culture magazine, and A Public Space Books. Under the direction of founding editor Brigid Hughes since 2006, it has been our mission to seek out overlooked and unclassifiable work, and to publish writing from beyond established confines.” Has submission periods .
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
Length : Up to 15,000 words
Payment : 8 cents/word
Beneath Ceaseless Skies publishes “literary adventure fantasy”: stories with a secondary-world setting and some fantasy feel, but written with a literary approach. “We want stories set in what Tolkien called a “secondary world”: some other world that is different from our own primary world in some way. It could be different in terms of zoology (non-human creatures), ecology (climate), or physical laws (the presence of magic).”
Length : Up to 8,000 words
Payment : Prose minimum is $100, maximum is $300.
“While we frequently publish writers with previous credits, we are very interested in less experienced or unpublished writers with exceptional promise. If you have practiced your craft and your work is the best it can be, send it to Boulevard.” $3 to submit online. No charge for postal submissions. Has submission periods .
Colorado Review
Length : 15–25 manuscript pages
Payment : $200
Part of of the English Department at Colorado State University, “The Center for Literary Publishing partners with writers to bring exceptionally written and published fiction, poetry, and nonfiction to readers through a variety of platforms — notably, Colorado Review and CLP books. Training and cultivating the publishing professionals of tomorrow, the CLP invites graduate student interns to participate in every aspect of the publication process.” No fee for snail mail submissions. Has submission periods .
Fairlight Books (UK)
Length : 25,000 to 50,000 words
Payment : Royalties
“Based in the thriving and energetic publishing hub of Oxford, we’re a young, dynamic team wanting to do things a little differently. Since our inception, our authors have been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, shortlisted for the Paul Torday Prize, the BBC National Short Story Award and on the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction Recommended List. As part of our mission to make quality writing more discoverable, we’ve set up Fairlight Shorts. This online short story portal showcases some fantastic, but previously unpublished, short story writing. Making all of the stories on our website freely available to readers, our aim is to fight the corner for the short story as a form of literature which until recently has been largely abandoned or hidden behind paywalls, and promote and support the writing of these talented authors. With a specific focus on quality rather than quantity, we intend to publish contemporary adult literary fiction and well-written genre fiction. Fairlight Books is open to literary submissions of short stories (no payment), novellas and novels. We are happy to accept submissions of longer fiction direct from authors.”
The Fantasist
Length : 15,000 to 40,000 words, although they may consider work that is somewhat longer.
Payment : $100
“We especially like stories set in a well-researched historical setting, set in the present or the future, stories with interaction between magic and science, the Napoleonic Era, Faeries, Dragons (but no dragon tragedy!), and stories not set in Europe. We love apprenticeship narratives/magical education, people coming together, stable romantic partnerships, nuanced friendships, remotely accurate economic and political systems, realistic depictions of power, magic that isn’t explained, highly systematized magic, made up plants, medical stuff combining magic and medicine, tall tales, pastorals, 2nd person, formal weirdness, real languages other than English (bonus points for Russian), constructed languages, intricate worldbuilding, interesting things with real or fictional religion (bonus points for Islamic characters), Speculative CNF, lyric essay, stories that engages with well-known texts, stories that deal with obscure or technical bodies of knowledge, epistemological fiction, epistolary fiction, fantasy inside virtual reality inside science fiction, surrealism, dark fantasy and horror, diagrams, psychology (but do your research), disabled people having sex, fake scholarship (Especially without seeing action in that world), trans and nonbinary characters in historical fantasy, technologically and/or historically accurate seafaring fiction, sex workers, domesticity, stories set in cities about something other than crime, the black-plague as apocalypse, the ridiculous backstabby internecine warfare of the faerie poetry community in Indianapolis, fantasy in small town America, addiction storylines, 12-step programs for magical things, socialism, communism, anarchism, part way into the high flung adventure, the hero buys a nice plot of land and settles down to raise magic sheep. YA is encouraged, but we are not primarily a YA market, and publish for all ages. Special note: We are especially seeking more urban fantasy.”
The Georgia Review
Length : Not restricted
Payment : $50 per printed page. All contributors receive a one-year subscription to The Georgia Review.
Founded in 1947, The Georgia Review is the University of Georgia’s journal of arts and letters. The journal has twice taken a top prize in the annual National Magazine Awards competition, winning out over the likes of the Atlantic , Esquire , the New Yorker , and Vanity Fair , and has been a finalist twenty times in various categories. No fee to submit by regular mail.
Gettysburg Review
Length : Up to 10,000 words Payment : $25.00 per printed page for prose
The Gettysburg Review, published by Gettysburg College, is recognized as one of the country’s premier literary journals. Since its debut in 1988, work by such luminaries as E. L. Doctorow, Rita Dove, James Tate, Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Wilbur, and Donald Hall has appeared alongside that of emerging artists such as JM Holmes, Lydia Conklin, Jessica Hollander, Emily Nemens, Charles Yu, and Ashley Wurzbacher, who was recently named a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. They publish poetry, fiction, essays, and art.
GigaNotoSaurus
Length : Up to 25,000 words Payment : $100
GigaNotoSaurus accepts Science Fiction or Fantasy (or any combination thereof). “We could wax eloquent describing the kinds of stories we like, but it wouldn’t be useful; there are dozens of things we don’t know we like until we try them. Send us that story you really believe in–the one, maybe, that quickly ran out of places to submit it to because it’s so long. Don’t query to gauge our interest in a particular subgenre. Just submit the story. We actively seek to include stories told from and by a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, and genders. We are particularly interested in #ownvoices stories.”
Heroic Fantasy Quarterly
Length : Up to 10,000 words; they will serialize at a maximum of 50,000 words over four issues Payment : $100
Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is a quarterly ezine dedicated to publishing heroic fantasy — in both prose and poetry. “We are unrepentant in our goal of elevating unapologetic sword and sorcery to a rightful high place.” Accepts poetry. See submission periods .
Luna Novella
Length : 20,000–40,000 words Payment : Royalties
“Luna Press Publishing™ is an award-winning independent UK press, founded in 2015 by author Francesca T. Barbini. We deal with Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy and Dark Fantasy, in both fiction and academia. We are also a proud member of Publishing Scotland.”
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
Length : Up to 25,000 words Payment : 8–12 cents per word on acceptance
“Fantasy & Science Fiction has no formula for fiction, but we like to be surprised by stories, either by the character insights, ideas, plots, or prose. The speculative element may be slight, but it should be present. We prefer character-oriented stories, whether it’s fantasy, science fiction, horror, humor, or another genre. F&SF encourages submissions from diverse voices and perspectives, and has published writers from all over the world. Do not query for fiction; submit the entire manuscript.”
Malahat Review
Payment : $65 CAD per published page
The Malahat Review welcomes submissions in English of previously unpublished work in any of these three genres in a broad range of forms and styles, and the Editorial Boards are pleased to receive submissions from all writers who wish to send their work for consideration, including writers from communities generally under-represented in literary magazines, in particular Indigenous writers, writers of colour, 2SLGBTQIA?+ writers, and writers with disabilities. Writers at all stages of their careers are welcome to submit their work to The Malahat Review. It publishes poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction by new and established writers mostly from Canada, reviews of Canadian books, and the best writing from abroad.
McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern
Length : Not restricted.
Payment : Up to $400
“There are no rules.” Has submission periods. (But nobody seems to know when they are.)
Midnight Breakfast
Length : Up to 10,000 words
Payment : $50
“We love narratives that challenge our perceptions of the world by opening up new ways of conceiving of what’s always been around us. We want to feel electrified by prose — to be taken in by sentence-level writing, where there’s a choreography to the language, the rhythm, the cadence. Most of all, we want to read the kind of work that could only have come from you — if it comes from the gut, it’ll likely hit us in ours.” Accepts fiction and nonfiction. Has submission periods.
Missouri Review
Length : Up to 12,000. They prefer under 9,000.
Payment : $40 per page
“The Missouri Review, founded in 1978, is one of the most highly regarded literary magazines in the United States. For the past four decades we’ve upheld a reputation for finding and publishing the very best writers first. We are based at the University of Missouri and publish four issues each year. Each issue contains approximately five new stories, three new poetry features, and two essays, all selected from unsolicited submissions sent by writers throughout the world.”
Mocha Memoirs
Length : 30,000 to 80,000 words
Payment : Not specified
“Since 2010, Mocha Memoirs Press’s mission is to amplify marginalized voices in the areas of speculative fiction (science fiction, horror, and fantasy). We publish engaging stories that amplify diverse experiences with vivid storytelling, robust protagonists, and fearless voices.”
Length : 15,000 to 40,000 words
Payment : $1000
“Narrative accepts previously unpublished manuscripts of all lengths, ranging from short short stories to complete book-length works for serialization. Narrative regularly publishes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, including stories, novels, novel excerpts, novellas, personal essays, humor, sketches, memoirs, literary biographies, commentary, reportage, interviews, and features of interest to readers who take pleasure in storytelling and imaginative prose. We look for quality and originality of language and content.” Narrative charges for online submissions. They have a free open period during the first two weeks of April.
New England Review
Length : Up to 20,000 words
Payment : $20 per page ($50 minimum)
“NER accepts submissions in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, drama, translation, and NER Digital’s “Confluences” series. We welcome and encourage submissions from writers of every nationality, race, religion, and gender, including writers who have never been affiliated with an MFA program and whose perspectives are often underrepresented in the literary world.” Has submission periods .
Ninth Letter
Payment : $25 per printed page, with a maximum payment of $150, as well as two complimentary copies of the issue in which the work appears.
“Ninth Letter is published semi-annually in print at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. We are interested in prose and poetry that experiment with form, narrative, and nontraditional subject matter, as well as more traditional literary work.” Has submission periods .
Length : Up to 8,000 words.
Payment : $500 and 25 contributors copies.
One Story is seeking literary short stories. “They can be any style and on any subject as long as they are good. We are looking for stories that leave readers feeling satisfied and are strong enough to stand alone.” Single stories are sent to email subscribers every month. See reading periods .
Ploughshares Solos
Length : 7,500 to 20,000 words.
Payment : $450
“Ploughshares has published quality literature since 1971. Our award-winning literary journal is published four times a year; our lively literary blog publishes new writing daily. Since 1989, we have been based at Emerson College in downtown Boston.” Submissions accepted June 1 to January 15. Charges for online submissions. No charge for mailed submissions.
Payment : $25 to $150
“As a multicultural magazine of poetry, short fiction, essays, short plays, and art, River Styx seeks to publish work that is striking in its originality, energy, and craft, from both new and established writers. The high quality of work published in River Styx has made it a leader among literary magazines for over 45 years. River Styx has been included in many editions of the Best American Poetry, Best New Poets, New Stories from the South, and Pushcart Prize anthologies.” Has submission periods. Opens March 1.
Payment : $100 for every thousand words of prose — for a maximum honorarium of $500 per author)
“Shenandoah aims to showcase a wide variety of voices and perspectives in terms of gender identity, race, ethnicity, class, age, ability, nationality, regionality, sexuality, and educational background (MFAs are not necessary here). We love publishing new writers; publishing history is not a prerequisite either. Checking out our current issue is another great way to get a sense of the kind of work we like.”
Silver Shamrock
Length : 30,000 to 60,000 words
Silver Shamrock publishes hard-hitting horror novels and novellas. They are interested in unique takes on classic horror tropes: demons, witches, vampires, etc. No YA, gore, or torture.
Virginia Quarterly Review (VQR)
Length : Up to 8000 words
“VQR strives to publish the best writing we can find. While we have a long history of publishing accomplished and award-winning authors, we also seek and support emerging writers.” Only opens for submissions in July.
Viva la Novella (Contest)
Length : 20,000–40,000 words
Prize : $1,000 and publication in Seizure
Note: Open to Australian and New Zealand writers only.
“In 2012 Seizure began a novella prize to celebrate and promote short novels — because we love the form and believe some of the greatest works in the English language are actually novellas. Even in its first year, competition was fierce with over 80 submissions. We made a shortlist in January 2013 and selected a winner, working on the book in secret until the big reveal at the Emerging Writers Festival in Melbourne where Sandy Grant spoke of the power of the form and the support of Copyright Agency which would kick in for our second year. The inaugural winner was the talented, subtle and emotionally powerful Midnight Blue and Endlessly Tall by Jane Jervis Read.” Entry period opens in October and closes December 31.
Worldweaver Press
Length : 20,000 (min) to 100,000 (max)
“World Weaver Press looks for speculative fiction. Anything that does not contain a speculative element (i.e. fantasy or science fiction) will not be considered. We are interested in standalones, duologies, or trilogies only. Longer series will not be considered at this time. We publish in both digital (ebook) and paperback (print on demand) formats. Unagented submissions welcome.”
Length : No upper limit
Payment : Token to semi-pro.
ZYZZYVA is a print journal based in San Francisco. “We have established a vigorous tradition of finding and fostering new talent, in our backyard and beyond. For over thirty years ZYZZYVA has nurtured emerging writers, many of whom go on to spectacular careers (Haruki Murakami, Po Bronson, F.X. Toole, Kay Ryan, Sherman Alexie) and whose work in ZYZZYVA is recognized by the Pushcart Prize, the Best American series, the O. Henry Prize Stories, and other awards organizations.” They publish fiction, poetry, essays, and artwork. They accept submissions from January 7 through May 31, and September 1 through November 19. Snail mail submissions only .
Like this article? For more articles about the publishing world, useful tips on how to get an agent, agents who are looking for clients, how to market and promote your work, building your online platform, how to get reviews, self-publishing, as well as publishers accepting manuscripts directly from writers (no agent required) visit Publishing and Other Forms of Insanity .
Written by Erica Verrillo
Helping writers get published and bolstering their flagging spirits at http://publishedtodeath.blogspot.com/
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Watch CBS News
Writer Percival Everett: "In ownership of language there resides great power"
By Martha Teichner
Updated on: March 24, 2024 / 10:52 AM EDT / CBS News
Who, besides Percival Everett, would have a pet crow named Jim Crow? "When he was on my shoulder, when I wrote the novel 'Erasure,' if I wasn't paying enough attention to him, he would march down my arm and peck at the keys," Everett said. "So, I do credit him for having written some of the novel."
Consider the irony (one of Everett's favorite literary devices) that "Jim Crow" helped him write a book about race – a novel-within-a novel satirizing publishing industry complicity in perpetuating stereotypes of Black America. "Erasure," published in 2001, has been turned into the Oscar-winning film, "American Fiction," starring Jeffrey Wright.
Another irony: The film he had nothing to do with (but likes) has given Percival Everett more visibility than the 30+ books he's written, or the fact that he's been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and a finalist for a Pulitzer.
Everett's books are often perversely funny. Imagine a funny novel about lynching ("The Trees," from 2021), written in the form of a police procedural. Funny, until it isn't. "Humor is interesting," he said, " because if I can disarm a reader with humor, then I can address serious stuff."
Everett's latest novel, "James," is a re-telling of Mark Tain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," from the point-of-view of Huck's enslaved friend, Jim. In it, language is a running joke, but also dangerous.
The enslaved people, Jim in particular, speak in what would commonly be called standard English. But they slip into dialect when they're around White people.
"Papa, why do we have to learn this?" "White folks expect us to sound a certain way, and it can only help if we don't disappoint them," I said. "The only ones who suffer when they are made to feel inferior is us."
In "James," a man is lynched for stealing a pencil so Jim can write his story.
"In language, and in ownership of language, there resides great power, and resides an avenue to any kind of freedom that we're going to have," Everett said.
He uses words considered "not politically correct," such as the N-word. "'Cause I'm telling the truth," Everett said. "You know, if somebody came in here right now and said, Hey you, N-word , am I gonna be less offended than if they use the word n*****? No. That focus on the word misses the point. I don't care about the word. I care about the intention. I care about the meaning. I'm not impressed with attempts to cover up anything."
Everett, the son of a dentist, grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. He's from a long line of physicians – and says the only thing he knew growing up was that he didn't want to be a doctor.
Why? "They had to be around people all the time!" he explained.
He discovered he does like being around animals ("I've never had an animal lie to me!"). On the way to becoming a prolific writer, and a distinguished professor of writing at the University of Southern California, Everett trained horses, and even mules.
He is intensely private, protective of his home and family, and only shows up for book events when he has to. He would rather be fly-fishing. He ties his own ties. "I like small streams, so I fish with very small flies," he said. "It frees me to think."
He also paints. A solo show, his fourth, opens in Los Angeles next month, his vocabulary as abstract as his writing is explicit.
He said, "Working with stories is internal and sedentary. I love the physicality of making the paintings. I don't consider them differently. I consider them as things I do to explain to myself my place in the world."
And where does race figure into Percival Everett's worldview, given that his books confront it? "Do I think about race? No, but it's there. Sadness? Sure. Why not? What's had to be sadness. The reality, yeah, do I really care? No. I can't change this cultural tsunami that happened 400 years ago, and the waters of it are still waiting to recede."
And writing his books doesn't take steps in that direction? "One hopes!" he laughed. "I just do what I can, and move on."
WEB EXTRA: Percival Everett: Those who ban books are "small and frightened people" (YouTube Video)
Read an excerpt: "James" by Percival Everett
Read an excerpt: "Dr. No" by Percival Everett
For more info:
- "James" by Percival Everett (Doubleday), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon , Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
- USC Dornsife College of Letters Arts and Sciences
- Thanks to Vroman's Bookstore , Pasadena, Calif.
- Percival Everett at Show Gallery , Los Angeles
Story produced by Amol Mhatre. Editor: Chad Cardin.
Martha Teichner has been a correspondent for "CBS News Sunday Morning" since December 1993, where she's equally adept at covering major national and international breaking news stories as she is handling in-depth cultural and arts topics.
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The Oxford English Dictionary’s latest update adds 23 Japanese words
More than half of the borrowed words relate to cooking, while Kintsugi, the increasingly popular art of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer is also included
Katsu, donburi and onigiri are among 23 Japanese words added to the Oxford English Dictionary in its latest update.
More than half of the borrowed words relate to food or cooking. Santoku, a knife with a short, flat blade that curves down at the tip, and okonomiyaki, a type of savoury pancake, were both added. Okonomiyaki is derived from okonomi, meaning “what you like”, combined with yaki, meaning “to fry, to sear”.
Katsu – a piece of meat, seafood, or vegetable, coated with flour, egg, and panko breadcrumbs, deep-fried, and cut into strips – is considered a boomerang word, a case of reborrowing: katsu is the shortened form of katsuretsu, which is a borrowing into Japanese of the English word “cutlet”.
Donburi, a Japanese dish consisting of rice topped with other ingredients, is also used to describe the bowl in which this dish is served. The culinary use is likely related to the Japanese adverb donburi, meaning “with a splash”, which “could be an allusion to the sound of ingredients being dropped into a bowl”, said Danica Salazar, executive editor of OED World Englishes.
Omotenashi, which describes good hospitality, characterised by “thoughtfulness, close attention to detail, and the anticipation of a guest’s needs”, was also added to the dictionary.
A number of terms related to art also feature in the update. “For centuries, artists from around the world have taken inspiration from Japanese art, and this can be seen in the number of words belonging to the domain of arts and crafts that English has borrowed from Japanese,” said Salazar.
Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by joining pieces back together and filling cracks with lacquer dusted with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, highlighting the flaws in the mended object, was added. “The word subsequently developed an additional sense indicating an aesthetic or worldview characterised by embracing imperfection and treating healing as an essential part of human experience,” said Salazar.
Isekai, a Japanese genre of fantasy fiction involving a character being transported to or reincarnated in a different, strange, or unfamiliar world, also made the OED. A recent example of the genre is Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli film The Boy and the Heron, in which 12-year-old Mahito discovers an abandoned tower, a gateway to a fantastical world.
OED editors worked with researchers from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies on the new batch of Japanese words. Non-Japanese words added in this quarter’s update include Bible-bashing, ultra-processed, and bibliophilia.
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38 Surprising New Words and Expressions Added to English Dictionaries
‘pessimize,’ ‘mountweazel,’ ‘confuddle’ are among the additions to our common vocabulary .
Christina Ianzito,
As our culture evolves, so does our language. In response, dictionaries regularly add new words and expressions — including the 38 mentioned below. Each was added within the last year to either the Oxford English Dictionary (OED); Dictionary.com (D), which uses the Random House Unabridged Dictionary as a source; or Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (MW). Some of the words and phrases can be found in multiple dictionaries.
Many additions make perfect sense — the OED added the meteorology term “derecho” (“A line of violent and sustained windstorms formed in association with a rapidly moving band of thunderstorms…”), for example.
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Others are strange but interesting, such as Dictionary.com’s inclusion of “shower orange,” which (who knew?) is “an orange that is peeled and eaten under a steamy shower, the purported benefit being that the steam enhances the orange’s citrusy fragrance and creates a soothing experience for the person who is showering.” Other notable additions to English-language dictionaries:
adultification , n. : “the action or practice of treating children or young people like adults in ways that are considered harmful or abusive” (OED)
binned , adj., colloquial : “put or thrown into a dustbin or wastepaper basket. Now often figurative (of a person or thing): rejected, discarded, or abandoned” (OED)
Blursday , n., informal : “a day not easily distinguished from other days, or the phenomenon of days running together” (D)
Chumocracy, n. : “a culture characterized or dominated by influential networks of close friends” (OED)
chatbot , n. : “a computer program designed to respond with conversational or informational replies to verbal or written messages from users” (D)
cheffy , adj. : “characteristic of or befitting a professional chef (as in showiness, complexity, or exoticness)” (MW)
climate refugee , n. : “a person who has had to flee their home due to the negative effects of climate change ” (D)
coffee nap , n. : “ a short nap , usually 15-30 minutes, taken immediately after drinking a cup of coffee, the claimed benefit being that the energizing effect of caffeine may be bolstered by a sleeping body’s drop in adenosine levels” (D)
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confuddle , v. : “to perplex, confuse, confound, or befuddle (a person); to muddle or mix up (speech, thoughts, etc.)" (OED)
cosplay , v. : “to dress up in costume as (a character, esp. from anime, manga, video games, etc.); to perform as (a character) while dressed in this way” (OED)
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cromulent , adj., informal + humorous : “acceptable, satisfactory” (example: “the continental breakfast was perfectly cromulent”) (MW)
decision fatigue , n. : “mental and emotional exhaustion resulting from excessive or relentless decision-making, especially the cumulative effect of small decisions that one makes throughout each day” (D)
doomscroll , v. : “to spend excessive time online scrolling … through news or other content that makes one feel sad, anxious, angry, etc.” (MW)
flirtationship , n. : “a period of repeated flirtatious behavior between two people; a social relationship which is based on and does not go beyond reciprocal flirting” (OED)
GOATED , adj., slang : “considered to be the greatest of all time” (MW)
headcanon , n. : “a reader or viewer’s personal interpretation of, or beliefs about, a fictional work, esp. an imaginative addition to an event, character, plot line, etc., which is not explicitly contradicted (nor explicitly confirmed) by the original work” (OED)
hostile architecture , n. : “design elements of public buildings and spaces that are intended to stop unwanted behavior such as loitering or sleeping in public by making such behavior difficult and uncomfortable” (D)
jolabokaflod , n. : “an Icelandic tradition in which books are given as Christmas presents and opened on December 24, after which the evening is spent reading the books: from a practice begun in 1944, when paper goods were among the most available items in postwar Iceland” (D)
jorts , n.: “shorts made of denim or jean: jean shorts” (MW)
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kinkeeping , n. : “the labor involved in maintaining and enhancing family ties, including organizing social occasions , remembering birthdays, sending gifts, etc.” (D)
mountweazel , n. : “a decoy entry in a reference work, such as a dictionary or encyclopedia, secretly planted among the genuine entries to catch other publishers in the act of copying content” (D)
nepo baby , n. : “ a celebrity with a parent who is also famous , especially one whose industry connections are perceived as essential to their success” (D)
paraprosdokian , n. : “a sentence or expression in which the second part provides an unexpected resolution or contrast to the first part, as in I’d like to see you again, but I’ve lost my glasses ” (D)
pessimize , v. : “to make less good, efficient, fast, functional, etc., especially in the context of computers or information technology” (D)
quiet quit , v. : “to do the minimum amount of work required for a job: to engage in quiet quitting” (MW)
rage quit , v. : “to suddenly stop participating or engaging in (something) in a fit of anger and frustration: to quit (something) in anger” (MW)
rizz , n., slang : “romantic appeal or charm” (MW)
simp , v., informal : “to show excessive devotion to or longing for someone or something” (MW)
smishing , n. : “the practice of sending text messages to someone in order to trick the person into revealing personal or confidential information which can then be used for criminal purposes” (MW)
spider sense or spidey sense , n. : “originally with reference to the fictional superhero Spider-Man: a supernatural ability or power to perceive things beyond the normal range of human senses, esp. impending danger. Later also in extended and allusive use, with humorous reference to a strong feeling of intuition or prescience, or an acute instinct or awareness” (OED)
swear box or swear jar, n. : “A container into which a person must put a specified amount of money as a penalty for swearing” (OED)
thirst trap, n .: “a photograph (such as a selfie) or video shared for the purpose of attracting attention or desire; also: someone or something that attracts attention or strong desire” (MW)
turnt, adj .: “stimulated or intoxicated by alcohol or drugs. Also: extremely energized or excited; highly charged. Also with up” (OED)
UAP, abbreviation or n .: “unidentified aerial phenomenon (a mysterious flying object in the sky that is sometimes assumed to be a spaceship from another planet)” (MW)
underboob , n .: “the area under the breasts; esp. the bare skin of the underside of the breasts when exposed by a crop top or other revealing garment” (OED)
wrongthink , n .: “belief or opinion that is perceived or condemned as socially, ideologically, or morally unacceptable, esp. because it does not conform to a dominant, prevailing political or cultural orthodoxy” (OED)
Christina Ianzito covers scams and fraud, and is the books editor for aarp.org and AARP The Magazine . Also a longtime travel writer and editor, she received a 2020 Lowell Thomas Award for travel writing from the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation.
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How German Atheists Made America Great Again
Taken together, two new books tell the century-long story of the revolutionary ideals that transformed the United States, and the counterrevolutionaries who fought them.
By S. C. Gwynne
S.C. Gwynne is the author of “Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War.”
AN EMANCIPATION OF THE MIND: Radical Philosophy, the War Over Slavery, and the Refounding of America, by Matthew Stewart
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SECOND AMERICAN REPUBLIC: Reconstruction, 1860-1920, by Manisha Sinha
What was the Civil War about? In a word, slavery.
What actually caused the war, however, is a vastly more difficult idea. Try this explanation on for size: The driving force in American politics in the decades after the American Revolution was the rise of an arrogant, ruthless, parasitic oligarchy in the South, built on a foundation of Christian religion and a vision of permanent, God-ordained economic inequality.
Though much of the South was poor, this new aristocracy was vastly rich. Two-thirds of all estates in the United States worth more than $100,000 were in the hands of Southern white men. Their goal in seceding was to undo the basic ideals of the American republic and keep their wealth.
These counterrevolutionaries — for that is what they were — insisted that men were by divine design unequal , both racially and economically. To fight this notion and crush what amounted to an existential threat to democracy, the antislavery movement needed ideas as much as, ultimately, guns.
That’s the narrative that frames Matthew Stewart’s engaging and often surprising new book, “An Emancipation of the Mind. ” The title refers to the rise of new ways of thinking in the antislavery movement, what Stewart calls “the philosophical origins of America’s second revolution.”
The most significant ideas that Stewart traces are religious. From 1770 to 1860, religion in America underwent a massive shift. The number of churches exploded, North and South. Soon, most of these churches, using clear and manifold endorsements of slavery from the Bible (“Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ”), were promoting and actively defending the slave republic.
As the antislavery crowd soon learned, it was impossible to spin “slavery is sin” arguments against biblical literalism. Ending slavery, Stewart says, “was hardly part of God’s plan.” This wasn’t just a Southern opinion: Three out of five clerics who published pro-slavery books and articles were educated at Northern divinity schools. Two decades before the outbreak of war, abolitionism was still a skulking pariah, a despised minority in the North as well as the South.
The abolitionists clearly needed help. Enter the Germans, specifically the freethinking Germans whose radical republican philosophy underpinned the failed European revolutions of 1848. “Freidenkers’’ like the theologian David Friedrich Strauss and the philosopher and anthropologist Ludwig Feuerbach formulated ideas of the laws of nature and “nature’s God” that were at odds with the tenets of Christianity.
A large group of German intellectuals, fresh from the battles of 1848, arrived on American shores, joined the abolitionist movement and radicalized it. As he did in his 2014 book “Nature’s God,” which traced the way that the heretical philosophies of Spinoza and Lucretius influenced American founders like Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin, Stewart here argues convincingly that these philosophers found willing listeners in the persons of Abraham Lincoln, who kept Strauss and Feuerbach on his shelf; Frederick Douglass, who saw American Christianity as “the bulwark of slavery”; and the abolitionist firebrand Theodore Parker, whose lectures reached as many as 100,000 people a year in the 1850s.
Wasn’t much of this simply revolutionary atheism? Yes, it was, and it’s a bit of a shock to find out how close Lincoln and Douglass were to these ideas, though they paid lip service to more conventional Christian beliefs when translating them for the public.
The other big idea here — also with help from the Germans, especially Karl Marx (a great admirer of Lincoln, who, Stewart argues, liked him too) — has to do with the economics of slavery. “At the root of the ills of the slave system,” writes Stewart, “lies the extreme economic inequality that it inevitably produces — not just between races but among the white population.”
Between 1852 and 1862, Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote 487 articles for The New York Daily Tribune; Lincoln likely read them . They explained the war as “nothing but a struggle between two social systems, the system of slavery and the system of free labor.”
After the war came Reconstruction. How do you deconstruct Reconstruction? Very, very carefully. It’s one of the toughest, most maddeningly complicated tasks in the writing of American history. That’s because Reconstruction — the word we use to denote the failed post-Civil War attempt to build a more inclusive country — unfolded in different ways in different states, on different timetables and with a wildly proliferating cast of players.
In her new book, “The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic,” the historian Manisha Sinha not only has taken on this vast subject, but has greatly expanded its definition, both temporally and spatially. Her Reconstruction embraces the Progressive Era, women’s suffrage, the final wars against Native Americans, immigration and even U.S. imperialism in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries. She covers these difficult issues with remarkable skill and clarity.
In Sinha’s telling, the achievements of Reconstruction — we are in the latter 1860s and early 1870s here — are truly amazing. The federal decision to use the Army against recalcitrant ex-Confederates to secure rights for Black people resulted, she writes, in “a brief, shining historical moment when abolition democracy triumphed in much of the South and across the rest of the nation,” which “meant the inauguration of a progressive, interracial democracy.”
These years saw the passage of constitutional amendments that guaranteed citizenship, equal protection under the law and the vote for Black men. They also saw the rise of a powerful Freedmen’s Bureau, Black voting on a massive scale and the election of thousands of Black representatives to national, state and local office. More than 600 Black politicians were elected in the South to state legislatures alone.
Black Americans and freedpeople, Sinha reminds us, were themselves behind much of this change, a process she calls “grass-roots reconstruction.” As she laid out in her 2016 book “ The Slave’s Cause ,” and shows more briefly here, they documented atrocities and pushed to have them exposed, filed petitions, swore out affidavits at the risk of their lives and formed political organizations and lobbies.
But the Second American Republic would soon come crashing down, the victim of another violent counterrevolution whose principal weapons were racial terror and political assassination. In its place rose a New South, where class distinctions were shored up, where the government was by and for white men and where the belief that Black people were inferior to white people was firmly in place. Instead of economic freedom, Americans got debt peonage, stolen wages, criminalized self-employment and a convict leasing system. The great flowering of education during Reconstruction was trampled too as terrorists burned down more than 600 Black schools.
Sinha tells these stories well. She also pushes out beyond the conventionally defined subjects of Reconstruction. In her account, the ascendancy of Jim Crow and the conquest of the West, among other forms of repression, are profoundly connected, and not only because the government failed to protect Black liberty as well as Indigenous land rights and sovereignty. The Army that was raised to fight Southern counterrevolutionaries was redeployed in the West to subjugate Indians. The literacy requirements used to disenfranchise Black Americans in the South also proved effective in targeting immigrants and working-class people in the North.
Still, the ideals of the Second Republic did not completely wither on the vine. Sinha convincingly advances her vision of Reconstruction all the way forward to 1920, when the 19th Amendment granted women’s suffrage. That landmark event was inspired by the marquee equal rights amendments of the Reconstruction era, which, Sinha writes, “bequeathed a legacy of political activism and progressive constitutionalism” on the movement, a breath of air that gave America new life.
AN EMANCIPATION OF THE MIND : Radical Philosophy, the War Over Slavery, and the Refounding of America | By Matthew Stewart | Norton | 374 pp. | $32.50
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SECOND AMERICAN REPUBLIC : Reconstruction, 1860-1920 | By Manisha Sinha | Liveright | 562 pp. | $39.99
COMMENTS
Word count of Earthsea series. The word count of Ursula K. Le Guin's six-book Earthsea series is 480,503. That's like reading Stephen King's The Stand: Uncut at 471,485 words and a third of Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea at 26,601 words. A Wizard of Earthsea. Ursula K. Le Guin.
Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. ... 138,138 - 20000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne 143,436 - The Two Towers - J. R. R. Tolkien ... The novel that I'm writing is at 53,000 words and I was trying to figure out how many words is average for a book of my genre. Thanks for posting this! Michael May ...
But this also means that books have settled into very specific lengths. By following this word count guide for every book genre, you can also measure your progress and chart your success. Publishers typically consider a book to be "novel-length" when it's between 50,000 and 120,000 words. Writer's Digest states that 80,000 to 89,999 ...
Novellas Word Count 20k 25k Books. Books shelved as novellas-word-count-20k-25k: The Prisoner by Kol Anderson, Yellow Eyes : The Awakening Book One by Skiagraphy, Fools Like Us by Cookie M...
Animal Farm by George Orwell — 29,966 words. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck — 30,000 words. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl — 30,644 words. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis — 38,421 words. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams 46,333 words.
Each of the books in the series is under 20,000 words. How many words are in a romance novel? The average best-selling romance novel is around 90,000 words. The romance category actually had the "youngest" collection of books in the top 100. At the time of this writing, no book on the list was published before 2013. ...
Is 20,000 words too short for a book? 20,000 words might be considered short for a full-length book but could be suitable for novellas, short stories, or certain non-fiction works. How many words is a 100-page book? A 100-page book might have around 25,000 to 35,000 words, but it can vary depending on the factors mentioned earlier. ...
You've written 20,000 words! That's awesome! The road to a published novel is littered with the bodies of people who couldn't get that far. Keep going. But, I do know that the average length of a novel is around 40k. That's not the average, that's the minimum. 20k-39.9k is a novella. The average will depend on genre.
There is a newer edition of this item: 20,000+ Words: Spelled and Divided for Quick Reference. $48.19. (16) Only 1 left in stock - order soon. For the use of Stenographers, Students, authors and Proofreaders. Read more. Print length. 282 pages.
In the traditional publishing world, 20,000 words isn't considered a book-length story. Even if you are self-publishing, you may want to follow the tried-and-true guidelines for storytelling. The traditional rule of thumb still pretty much applies to the length of an adult trade novel: between 80,000-120,000 words, or 320-480 pages.
WORD COUNT FOR MIDDLE GRADE FICTION. 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. When writing a longer book that is aimed at 12-year-olds (and could maybe be considered "tween"), using the term "upper middle grade" is advisable.
REALLY Really Underrated Books (fewer than 100 GR ratings) Super Underrated Books (fewer than 50 GR ratings) Ridiculously Underrated Books (fewer than 20 GR ratings) Really Underrated Children's Books (children's books with fewer than 100 GR ratings) Just One Rating Lists for the much more popular books, by ratings: 80,000 to 89,999 90,000 to ...
In this masterclass with acclaimed novelist Tim Lott, you will focus on the all-important first 20,000 words, including research and getting started, laying down dramatic plot 'mines' that ...
Middle-grade novels are generally 20,000 to 55,000 words. Chapter books will come in at the lower end of the spectrum, while middle-grade books meant for older readers may even slightly exceed 55,000 words. For more information on word counts for children's book, check out this post.
Word count guide for shorter fiction and children's books. Picture books: 100-600 words; no more than 1,000 words; Chapter books: (five-to-nine-year-olds): 4,000-20,000 words, with word count scaling by age; Middle grade books (for eight-to-twelve-year-olds): 30,000-50,000 words, with word count scaling by age
A 20,000-word book would have approximately 80 pages. However, the actual number of pages may vary depending on factors such as font size, margins, and spacing. It's always a good idea to check formatting guidelines or consult with a publishing professional for more accurate page estimates.
If your book's word count is currently too long or too short, it's OKAY. ... 20,000. Middle Grade - New Kid by Jerry Craft, 52,000. Fantasy MG - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling is much, much longer than is typical at 79,000. YA - Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, 62,000. Adult non-fiction .
In fact, it was hindering me from even starting. So I lowered my expectations, started writing, and haven't looked back. Of course, nobody has read any of it yet, and I don't know what will come off it, but I'm writing and continuing to write it, and for me, after years of stopping and starting book ideas, that's what really counts.
Showing 1-11 of 11. Darkness Descends (Skye Faden, #1) by. Alisha Ashton (Goodreads Author) (shelved 1 time as novels-word-count-200k-250k) avg rating 3.98 — 1,040 ratings — published 2014. Want to Read. Rate this book. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars.
Therefore, a 20000-word book should have at least 94000 characters without spacing and about 114000 characters with spacing. Even so, it's worth noting that this number can vary greatly. Conclusion. How many pages is 20000 words in a book is about 40 - 80 pages. This depends on several factors such as the number of words on each page, the ...
Typical documents that are 20,000 words include include novels, novellas, and other published books. It will take approximately 67 minutes to read 20,000 words . A 20,000 word count will create about 40 pages with single spacing or 80 pages double-spaced when using normal 1-inch margins, 12 pt. Arial font, and a standard A4 (letter size) page size.
Middle-Grade: 20,000 to 55,000. Obviously, middle-grade books tend to be thinner as the age group is roughly eight to 12-year-olds. ... Keep in mind that the average word count in a book is just a rough guideline. If you can keep an audience reading, then you can get away with a 500,000 words masterpiece. However, that will take an incredible ...
To calculate the page count for a 5.5″ × 8.5″ book: 10 pt type - divide your word count by 475. 11 pt type - divide your word count by 425. 12 pt type - divide your word count by 350. To calculate the page count for a 6″ × 9″ book: 10 pt type - divide your word count by 600. 11 pt type - divide your word count by 500.
There is a newer edition of this item: 20,000+ Words: Spelled and Divided for Quick Reference. $43.24. (16) Only 1 left in stock - order soon. The Seventh Edition offers a word list with more than 20,000 entries. This edition also includes a comprehensive reference section. In addition, the endpapers offer tables of state abbreviations, and the ...
Length: Up to 80,000 words Payment: 8-10 cents per word for short fiction (up to approximately 20,000 words), 6 cents per word for serials (40,000-80,000 words) ... Fairlight Books is open to literary submissions of short stories (no payment), novellas and novels. We are happy to accept submissions of longer fiction direct from authors."
Doubleday. In "James," a man is lynched for stealing a pencil so Jim can write his story. "In language, and in ownership of language, there resides great power, and resides an avenue to any kind ...
More recently, conlangers expanded on the languages in George R.R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" books for the series "Game of Thrones" and "House of the Dragon." (David Peterson ...
Katsu, donburi and onigiri are among 23 Japanese words added to the Oxford English Dictionary in its latest update. More than half of the borrowed words relate to food or cooking. Santoku, a knife ...
38 Surprising New Words and Expressions Added to English Dictionaries. As our culture evolves, so does our language. In response, dictionaries regularly add new words and expressions — including the 38 mentioned below. Each was added within the last year to either the Oxford English Dictionary (OED); Dictionary.com (D), which uses the Random ...
Taken together, two new books tell the century-long story of the revolutionary ideals that transformed the United States, and the counterrevolutionaries who fought them. By S. C. Gwynne S.C ...