Average word count ya novel

Writing towards a word count might not work for everybody, but having a rough goal in mind certainly helps me when im sketching out chapters and undertaking my first draft. This is due to the audience youre reaching preferring that length. All of these are average book word count ranges and should not be taken as the definitive word count you must reach in your book. The society of childrens book writers and illustrators scbwi does offer length guidelines in terms of the appropriate number of manuscript pages for various genres meaning the number of pages a writer would submit to a publisher. Do check your comparable titlesrecent debuts onlyto make sure your story falls in that range. By most peoples standards, 40,000 words would be pretty short for a novel. Although, if its over 110,000 words, some may call it an epic, not a novel.

The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. But remember, this is more of a guideline than a rule. Of course, word count wont matter if a story doesnt hook the target audience. A young adult goosebump book from rl stine is right under 20,000 words. Also, make sure your chapters are under 3,000 words. And ya novels, which have grown in popularity, can often be the same length as a standard novel 80,000 words. For most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. The average word count could be anywhere from 70,000 to 120,000 words. Now, the page count was dramatically higher using the courier font, but word count didnt change. If youre writing your first novel, the general rule of thumb for novel writing is a word count in the 80,000 to 100,000 range. I just did a word count of my ya novel in courier new 60,705.

Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. Again, higher word counts usually mean that the writer does not know how to edit themselves. Younger still, middle grade fiction ages 912 should come in between 30,000 and 55,000 words. Each genre and subgenre has its own word count range. For childrens fiction, the general rule is the younger the audience the shorter the book, and for ya novels the average is 50,00070,000 words. For debut books in this field the average word count tends to be 35k and it has therefore become the. How many words does it take to write a young adult book. Generally a 50,000word novel would be the minimum word count.

For novels in general, the accepted word count is 7080,000 words. But lists of ya word counts are hard to find, so i. If youre writing an adult fantasy novel or an epic fantasy novel like game of thrones, your word count can skew higher at 90,000 200,000 words. Ya manuscripts can have a word count anywhere from 55k to 90k. Word counting may be needed when a text is required to stay within certain numbers of words.

This article on writers digest also suggests a length of around 100115,000, and takes a good look at desirable word count ranges for different genres. I then did a word count after switching to times new roman 60,705. It has nothing to do with the number of pages in a published book. Book page count calculator how many pages is my novel. Ive been researching the word countspages of ya novels to make sure im not under or over. This 90,000word guideline for how many words in a novel is just that, a guideline. As a starting point, heres an agentmaintained list of word count guidelines. Nonfiction wordcounts sit between 70,000120,000 words. From picture books to ya information to get you started at. We all know of outliers within each genre that have been published well under, or well over, these word counts.

The average wordcount for adult fiction is between 70,000 to 120,000 words. But it shouldnt be word count for the sake of word count. Plus, its always nice to know if your novel will be fatter or skinnier than the latest shelf buster at barnes and noble. These numbers are subject to change, there is nothing that officially says anything cant be a novel at 59,000 words. Ya fiction for mainstream ya, anywhere from about 45k to 80k. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words.

The average mean word count was about 73,000 words. With a track record to back them up, established writers have greater flexibility. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. Word counts may also be used to calculate measures. Books for readers aged 58 typically sit around 20,000 words. As a general guideline, chapters should be between 3,000 to 5,000 words. The second or third in a particularly bestselling series can go even higher.

To give you a general idea of the average chapter length, the range is usually between 3,000 to 5,000 words. Some will tell you 2,500 words is the average, while others will say that 3,000 to 5,000 word chapters are more likely to be the norm. The word round the agent blogosphere is that these books tend to be trending longer, saying that you can top in the 80ks. Rowlings recordbreaking series began with two titles on the high end of that spectrum and finished with five that left the guidelines in the dust. Counting chickens a few words about word counts at hope vestergaards site. As persuasion progresses, jane austen seems to elongate hers, building them up on a crescendo. Writing middle grade a look at the numbers hannah holt. When i look for word counts, however, i like to cut right to the chase and see what is actually out there.

Martin and harper lee keep things more evenly paced in a game of thrones and to kill a mockingbird, respectively. Shorter novels such as fahrenheit 451, the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, the great gatsby, and slaughterhousefive are between 4050,000 words. This video is all about word counts for your novel, in particular word counts for ya novels. Learn the differences between middle grade and young adult fiction. Put simply, the sweet spot for a novels word count is generally said to be around 8090k. Go by the word processors word count and ignore page counts altogether. My upperlevel ya novel is 211 pages, 61,078 words, tnr 12 pt. For young adult fiction, the word count is once again lower, with the ideal being 55,000 80,000 words. Also remember because there are a bunch of new novel imprints opening their doors, a novella is 40k or less. For fantasy novels, you are allowed to go slightly above this limit, but unless you are an established author, i. Try not to completely tether yourself to word counts. Longer, more complex stories, which contain a handful of main characters and peripheral characters, tend to run at about 60,000 to 95,000 words.

Famous novels have been extremely long, like 530,000 words for vic. For example, if youre writing for genres that have a word count range of 80,00089,999 words i. I keep hearing that houses are looking for books around 200 pages long. The word count is the number of words in a document or passage of text.

The average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range. Anything over 110,000 words is considered too long for a fiction novel. A novel is usually defined as anything over 40,000 words. There are exceptions, like ya books that exceed 250,000 words, but. And as youve probably guessed it is sitting pretty right in between middle grade and adult. A single novel can be longer, but once the length is above 110,000 words publishers may look at cutting it back, unless it is a particular kind of book books over the 110k word count are usually considered epics. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. On average, there are about 300 words per page in a book. Use these numbers as a baseline for your writing goals. The word count at big five publishers had a slightly narrower range. Here are the average novel word counts in the top five genres in the book publishing industry in no particular order. Go to the library and look at the top you define top ya books similar to what you are writing. Mainstream, thriller, horror, romance, suspense, mystery, and literary and you.

Thats the level where publishers may suggest dividing a story into multiple volumes. Word count for novels and childrens books at the guide to literary agents blog. Some books, however, go up to 150,000 to 180,000 words. Remember that a light novel is under 20,000 words but more than 15,000 words, so if ever wanting to publish it, be sure to convince the publisher that this is not a kids book. I am on the record as saying i dont really care about word counts unless they are so offthe wall out of bounds that it is absurd. The highest word count was 115,000, the lowest was 47,000, and the average was 75,000. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic. Upper ya 1418 reader is typically longer and more complex. While anything over 40,000 words can fall into the novel category, 50,000 is considered the minimum novel length. Writing for young adults a look at the numbers hannah holt.

You know this, i know this, and ive done my damndest to cut it i shaved 12k off in the past two weeks. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. My own past research on ya word count turned up 5080,000 as an average guideline. Bestselling author caleb carr may write novels of 250,000 words, but when you pitch your novel and offer up that number, be prepared for a glacial reception. Count the pages in each chapter and divide by 250 to get an answer for what is the average number of words per chapter. Novella or young adult novel 7,500 words to 17,500 words. Perhaps more than any other, ya is the one category where word count is very flexible. All of these are average book word count ranges and should not be. A 90,000 word count signals to professionals that you know what you are doing. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000word range. Today we write in word processors that can count words. Young adult fiction allows for a lot of flexibility in word count. Plotting a novel by the numbers live write breathe. A books word count does matter and if you get it wrong, this can impact your.

I once entered a competition that set a maximum word limit of 80,000 for young adult novels and 100,000 for adult novels. Younger still, middle grade fiction ages 912 should. Basically, instead of applying a formula for word count, we apply the final format and see what results. At a writers conference i recently attended, publishing veteran jane friedman said 80,000 words is good for most fiction, below 60,000 isnt novel length territory, and above 120,000 is likely too much.

These word counts assume that a novel is more for commercial consumption, and for adults. Most middle grade novels are not pitched as a series. Most young adult novels fall between 50,000 and 80,000 words. On average, young adult novels usually fall around 55,000 and 70,000 words. She is currently querying her epic fantasy novel heirs of war with a word count at 7k. That gives us a rough range of 61,00089,000 words, with about 3 out of 4 queried ya books falling into that range. Word counts of popular ya books as i started drafting my new wip a ya scifi thriller i began wondering what word count i should aim for. If you dont know what that might be, read publishers submission guidelines at their sites. Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. Most middle grade novels are between 40,000 and 69,000 words long. How many words should there be per chapter in the average. Word count is commonly used by translators to determine the price of a translation job. That said, this figure differs from book to book and organization to. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction.

This may particularly be the case in academia, legal proceedings, journalism and advertising. Although the median word count of those novels was 73,000 right around where conventional wisdom would suggest the existence of. Mostly, it will depend on the story you want to tell. If youre writing a young adult fantasy novel, you should keep your word count below 90,000 words or 300 book pages.