Average pages in a nonfiction book

It feels like ive covered pretty much everything but 50,000 seems a little slim. Easygoing, fairly light, userfriendly, nonfiction book for the masses. At above average reading speed you would need about 8 hours of above average reading speed to complete it. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. For every available bookstore shelf space, there are 100 to 1,000 or more titles competing for that shelf space.

When writing a book, is there a minimum amount of pages that it should have. If you have an idea for a nonfiction book, its better to write a couple of chapters and then pitch a book proposal. Generally speaking, traditional publishers expect completed nonfiction book. Professionals in the publishing business use word count for the size of stories, because rega. Well, different publishers look for different lengths for different genres.

If you opt to write short nonfiction books, the point truly is to do this quickly. A nonfiction book attractive to publishers of bestsellers starts at around 75,000 words. At the other end of the spectrum a book of 80,000 to 100,000 words has significant heft, 320400 pages. Apr 07, 2014 if youre concerned about the final page count for your book, you should know that the average 6.

These are just some of the questions we get on almost a weekly basis. A book can be 25,000 words and still be of incredible value if it is priced appropriately. If you picked up a scifi or historical novel from a bookshelf, you wouldnt be surprised if it was pretty hefty and probably had a dragon on the cover. There is no single formula for calculating the price of a book because there are many considerations. Ive poked around the web and keep coming up with different answers. That means 75,000 words equals 300 pages, which is just about perfect for a first novel. With longer books, you can get a rough count by adding up the number of words on an average page and multiplying by the total number of pages. One of the smallest books i have read this year was only 380 pages, and had 120,000 words. Have you had lots of questions over the years about words mirrored margins. A book has far less than a 1% chance of being stocked in an average bookstore.

Oct 10, 2016 the right answer to how long should my book be. Sep 29, 2014 ive written many posts about how to write a short nonfiction book, and to do so fast. Find the top 100 most popular items in amazon kindle store best sellers. Learn how to estimate your page count and how long your book should. Frequently, checking how many pages already are there helps them know when they are done, or if their books are too long or short compared to the average book in their chosen genre. If you want to get a target for your nonfiction book, the best thing may be to look at a dozen or so bestselling books in the genreniche youre aiming at and see what their word counts are.

Jun 07, 2017 in my opinion, if your nonfiction book is fewer than about 30,000 words 120 pages, it does not feel substantial enough to be real book. And for every book that sells 20,000, there is one that is a disaster. Ford, glen book length average length of a non fiction book. If perhaps it had even more pictures it would be even a lot better. Calculate book page count using the word count from your word document. Build your book format a paperback manuscript word for. The figure was found through looking at a number of books text stats. Word count for novels and books is something i dont think about too often until i travel to a writers conference, and then someone asks a simple, innocent question.

Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. A type of popular business book runs from 25,000 to 75,000 words. May 11, 2009 word count and book length getting published was indeed a good blog post. In the publishing industry, 250 words is considered a printed page of text. Thats approximately 300 pages of doublespaced type. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a non fiction book. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 words.

We explain two easy methods to estimate your books page count. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000. How to finally write your nonfiction book the new york times. That should give you about 200250 pages in a final manuscript. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. As long as the book is written well and keeps the readers attention, the length doesnt matter. When a book is printed, all pages are trimmed to the selected trim size by cutting 0. Its a perennial question asked by writers of all genres. However part why the new writers, the answer is difficult to identify because the answer is so difficult.

That means your manuscript must be at least 3540,000 words long. How to set the retail price of your book mill city press. Jul 17, 2017 not necessarily, according to a new study by book in a box of 272 nonfiction books that hit the new york times best sellers list between 2011 and 2017. Elizabeth said, for nonfiction books, it depends on the kind of book. In 2011, the average length of a bestselling nonfiction book was 467 pages, but that dropped to 273 pages in 2017. One of the questions that a new writer often asks is how long should my book be. How to make a living with your writing is my shortest nonfiction book at 27,000 words and looks fine in print. Ive written many posts about how to write a short nonfiction book, and to do so fast. Nonfiction ebook pricing in the kindle store by joel friedlander on april 25, 2011 61 comments pricing of ebooks is a constant source of discussion online, and weve seen the rebellions in the kindle store when publishers were allowed to start setting their own prices last year. In 2011, the lists average length peaked at 467 pages. Sep 03, 2017 amazons most sold charts rank books according to the number of copies sold and preordered through, amazon books stores, and books read through digital subscription programs once a customer has read a certain percentage roughly the length of a free reading sample.

You can easily calculate book page count using the word count from your word document. Amazons most sold charts rank books according to the number of copies sold and preordered through, amazon books stores, and books read through digital subscription programs once a customer has read a certain percentage roughly the length of a free reading sample. Jul 24, 2006 but over the last 5 years, the number of pages has regressed to the point where only 200400 pages is now considered the upper limit of the book publishing spectrum. Since 2011, the average length of a bestseller has dropped steadily from year to year. Setting the retail price for your book shouldnt be an arbitrary decision. This book has 144 pages, so it contains about 28,800 words. It is the story that will determine how many pages, not any particular average. Prices for 2007 adult nonfiction do not include reference titles ytd this is the reason for the large difference between 2006 and 2007.

Trim sizes in this post were updated on january 30, 2015 as soon as you get serious about selfpublishing a book, you are confronted with the choice of what size your book ought to be for instance, if you want to get a price on how much a book will. Roughly how many pages would 50,000 words produce in a. The figure was found through looking at a number of books text stats, until brave new worlds 64,531 word count landed in the exact center of all books50% of books have fewer words and 50% of books have more words. How to really make money as a book author even if you dont sell a single copy average book authors dont make a lot of money. Short and punchy books are 40,000 to 60,000 words, but many nonfiction books are lengthy. Jul 23, 2012 less than 100 pages and it becomes difficult for a printer to print the title of the book on the spine. So with your 34 a book a day you would need to read 6 hours a day to read 53 books that were 120,000 words each in 74 days. Book writing and publishing faq how long should my. Nonfiction books also vary tremendously in word count. Long book length at the other end of the spectrum a book of 80,000 to 100,000 words has significant heft, 320400 pages. Id guesstimate that nonfiction books generally yes, this is very rough run perhaps 150450 pages, and at about 350 wdpage that works out to something like 50150k words. I asked agents elizabeth pomada and michael larsen of larsen pomada literary agency to add their thoughts to the subject. Before we go any further, stop thinking about pages. If youre concerned about the final page count for your book, you should know that the average 6.

You can find additional information on trim and bleed at the bottom of the page. May 04, 2018 to figure out how long it will take to read a book that is 100, 200, or 300 pages long, lets assume the average word count per page is 250300 and that your reading speed is 300 words per minute. Selecting the right one for your book one of the decisions you have as an independent publisher, taking the real selfpublishing path is what book size youll have. For more or fewer pages, just redo the math above and adjust the running totals accordingly. This price is a function of trim size, binding, cover stock, colors, etc all the. Aug 05, 2019 thats approximately 300 pages of doublespaced type. If you stick to these when youre writing your nonfiction book, youll be. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing stack. How long does it take to write a 300500 page non fiction book. How to really make money as a book author even if you don. Well explain two easy methods to calculate book page count. The ten awful truths and the ten wonderful truths about. In a nutshell, the trim size dictates your page count. Many people read in spurts, at lunch time, or on the subway to work, readers.

What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a nonfiction book. As a reader, ive never felt a good book was too long, even more than a thousand pages. If the average page has 250300 words, then the word count for a 100page book totals 25,00030,000. Id guesstimate that non fiction books generally yes, this is very rough run perhaps 150450 pages, and at about 350 wd page that works out to something like 50150k words. When writing a book, is there a minimum amount of pages. These sizes are only guidelines to approximate sizing, and should not be used in order to design an actual book or magazine. Following are factors to consider when setting the retail price for your book. In fiction, a book about between 50,000 and 80,000 words about 200 to 300 pages in paperback. Aug 14, 20 understanding book layouts and page margins joel, thanks a ton for all of your info. By 2017, however, that number has dropped to 273 pages.

As a nonfiction writer, you might feel a bit left out during november. Excluding endnotes and index, the book has about 200 pages of text, which means its total word count is about 74,000 words. An average fiction book novel has 50k to 80k words. The typical books wordsperpage count tends to range between 225 and 275an average of 250. In outlining your book in 3 easy steps, editor shawn coyne says, the average novel today is about 90,000 words. You might be more surprised if a ya novel required olympianlevel arm strength to lift. To figure out how long it will take to read a book that is 100, 200, or 300 pages long, lets assume the average word count per page is 250300 and that your reading speed is 300 words per minute. The smaller your trim size, the more pages will be required for your content.

Of course, your page count in the final book can vary greatly. All book publishers and book designers have a standard they go by to estimate page length. A short nonfiction book 120 pages will have approximately 30,000 words 250 words average per page, depending on font size and the number of graphic elements in it a standard size nonfiction book. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. If you still want to write your nonfiction book before you retain an agent or publisher, word count can vary greatly, but a good target for a business nonfiction book is 70,00080,000 words.

The 1 thing you need to do to write a new york times best. Or 20 pages of crap, filled with grammar and spelling errors. Although science fiction and some other kinds were now invasive and can exceed 400 pages 200,000 words. One of my biggest problems as a publisher is having authors deliver more than was agreed to. How to set the retail price for your nonfiction book. Only 62 of 1,000 business books released in 2009 sold more than 5,000 copies, according to an analysis by the codex group new york times, march 31, 2010. So if you write a 35,000 word manuscript, your formatted book will likely be around 140 pages. As a publisher who has laid out dozens of books for printinga 50,000 word manuscript should end up somewhere between 180 and 220 pages. Feb 19, 2020 jessica simpsons new memoir, open book, dominates nonfiction this week, headlining charts at no. Nov 07, 2016 and one advantage with ebook publishing is that you can adjust your pricing at any time. In order for objects on your page to reach all the way to the edge of the page, those objects must extend past where the page will be trimmed by 0. All the while, you want to write a nonfiction book in a month not a novel well, you can, and you should. Big, epic stories get anywhere from 120,000 to 200,000 words.

With that in mind, ive tried to put together the definitive post on word count for fiction novels, young adult, middle grade, childrens books and even memoir. For a book that contains a fair amount of research, statistics, endnotes, charts or graphs, a color interior, or other details that make it an extensive and unique book, its reasonable to price the book higher. Standard book sizes, dimension, and specifications chart. Everyone is talking about nanowrimo this and nanowrimo that. Book page count calculator how many pages is my novel. Jun 24, 2019 be aware that the word average means that for every book that sells 15,000, there is one that sells 5,000. Nonfiction authors dont always benefit from pricing lower. What is the average number of pages in a book of fiction. Roselynne asks, im writing a book on the computer and i wanted to know how many book pages there are per computer page. In most cases, you wont find any common novel over 400 pages these days, unless that author has established him or herself well. Dont decide to write a short book and then take a year to complete and publish it. Book length average length of a non fiction book one of the questions that new writers always ask is how long should my nonfiction book be. This is a fairly short book, but it packs a spiritual punchand the 5 x 8 trim size is perfect to read this book sitting on the beach or on park bench.

Im almost at 50,000 words for my career guide, and i think thats about where it will end up. So a 300 page manuscript will be roughly a 300page book. In my opinion, if your nonfiction book is fewer than about 30,000 words 120 pages, it does not feel substantial enough to be real book. This type of book should not go more than 200 pages, so 40,000 words is probably your max. The size of the book is referred to as the trim size. Jan 08, 2018 wondering how many word pages equal a book page. However, there are some general guidelines in this article that may help you determine the page count and chapter length needed for your book.

Each page contains about 34 lines, with an average word count of 11 words per line, thus 375 words per page. You should still factor the perbook printing cost into your considerations when setting your retail price. When the physical characteristics of your book such as page count, covers, binding, size, etc. Regardless of genre, there is no hard and fast rule about how many pages or words each chapter should contain or how many chapters should be in a book. According to amazons great text stats feature, the median length for all books is about 64,000 words.

Less than 100 pages and it becomes difficult for a printer to print the title of the book on the spine. Calculate the number of pages using your current word count and the appropriate formula below, calculate the number of pages you can expect in your finished book. In all cases, you can find an author who has successfully pushed the envelope one way or another. Be aware that the word average means that for every book that sells 15,000, there is one that sells 5,000. The wordcount of a nonfiction book will vary according to the subject and the type of audience its addressed to, but as a general guideline. If yes, then most publishers still work on specific word count lengths for books so youll probably be aiming for around 60,00080,000 words for nonfiction.

If youre creating collateral pieces like custom envelopes to go with your finished book, please refer to the book size chart below. Estimate your page count book designer fiona raven. Simpson singer, reality tv star, and the subject of thousands of blonde jokes reveals the ups and downs of her life spent so often on camera, as well as the toxic pressures of such a powerful lens. However sometimes, like today, the reverse happens. But over the last 5 years, the number of pages has regressed to the point where only 200400 pages is now considered the upper limit of the bookpublishing spectrum. How to make a living with your writing is my shortest non fiction book at 27,000 words and looks fine in print.