What is the best word count for a science fiction novel. List of fiction genres, with word counts and examples. I have therefore made some averages, based on what ive heard from publishers and agents at childrens book events, and from research and reading. Unfortunately they dont have all books, but they do have the most popular ones.
Word counts of the most popular books in the world. If youre working on a novellength book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least but its better to aim for 90,000. Science fiction and fantasy are the big exceptions because these categories tend to run long. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. Most print publishers prefer a minimum word count of around 70,000 words for a first novel, and some even hesitate for any work shorter than 80,000.
The golden compass by philip pullman 112,815 words, prisoner of azkaban by jk rowling 106,821 words, and enders game by orson scott card 100,609 words. Aug 28, 2006 the publishers word count you mention, cshawns, is a quick way of getting a rough word count, by assuming an average page word count of 250 words. Nanowrimo asks that we write at least 50,000 words in one month, but they say that is more of a novelette. Word counts of the most popular books in the world foster. Anything above 70k but less than 115k science fiction and fantasy tend to run up around 100k115k words. Search for word count totals in books word counters. King, and lee child run well over 90k, sometimes going as high as 120k. The hunger games has a word count of 99,750 and my utility calculates it at 98,916. Now, they dont offer word count or running time for books, but they do have a search api. Science fiction and fantasy novels break the above word count rules and can be longer how many words are there in a scifi or fantasy novel. As best you can within the word count, find a balance between showing and telling. This is any fiction that includes strong themes of christian faith. The acceptance of a more ambitious word count in these two genres is the need to describe whole new worlds and presumably original.
You cant really tell if a novel is good by the word count. The sweet spot, according to donald maas, is 100,000 to. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books. Under the title the fireman in galaxy science fiction. Higher word counts are a bit less common, but values up to 100,000 are still well represented. Aug 05, 2019 all of these are average book word count ranges and should not be taken as the definitive word count you must reach in your book. Word count of popular fantasy and science fiction series. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a non fiction book. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook. 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.
Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. Updated 3116 a few years back, scifi lists published a list of the top 100 scifi novels of all time, tallied from this online poll. Aug 15, 2019 average word count for this book genre. None of them fit the industry standard in word count. I would limit the book at 100,000 words to be safe.
This graph shows that the most common word count is 76,00080,000, at the very upper end of the range usually cited. This is a lot harder because its not a specific field im receiving back i have to scrape the results and do some crazy parsing of the data. Word count matters more than it should in my opinion. Science fiction novels are those that take place in a futuristic society with advanced technology and occasionally otherworldly beings. However, we do not suggest writing a novel of 500,000 words unless you as established as stephen king is. Works in the middle grade or young adult science fiction or fantasy category shall have no word count requirements. We all know of outliers within each genre that have been published well under, or well over, these word counts. Heres our word count guide for 18 different book genres. 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. As for non fiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. If youve ever read a joke book or a book revolving around a humorous endeavor of some sort, it falls under this book category. Wot, but it could have been 23 of the word count without any real drop in quality. The science fiction and fantasy writers of america specifies.
Speculative fiction rochelle wisofffieldsaddicted to. For novels in general, the accepted word count is 7080,000 words. A word count guide for 18 book genres, including fiction and non. That has to be the first 5 books of the black company. An article on various word count methods in fiction publishing. I have often looked this up and got different results, which makes it very confusing.
As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. I have been rereading it, fixing it best i can before i look into finding editor. My precious published october 6, 2017 by rochellewisoff. For the book hatchet, the actual word count is 41,672 and i give you 41,212.
The actual word count for harry potter and the sorcerers stone is 78,792 and my utility calculates 77,876. Yet any piece of fiction climbing over the 110,000 word mark also tends to give editors some pause. Of course, rules are made to be broken, especially in literature. Books in this genre are also often gag gifts or are meant to be facetious. A good 20,000 more words would probably make a decent novel, but it still doesnt say if the novel is any good. The first book is around 95k words, so if every book is about that long, it should be closing in on a million words all told. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. Hello i have completed my first book, it a erotic, science fictionfantasy.
When writing a longer book that is aimed at 12yearolds and could maybe be considered tween, using the term upper middle grade is advisable. We will only consider sf, fantasy, horror or ya crossover novels. Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. If youre writing a nonfiction book, be sure to look up that category to find the length of similar books. Science fiction and fantasy books should be 90,000 to 125,000 words. It is not the method a publishers production department uses to format the ms. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for non fiction books. The time travellers wife, audrey niffenegger 155,717 words. For example, memoirs are generally 80,000 to 90,00 words.
On the lower end, anything above 56,000 words is golden. Of course, when youre writing the first draft of your story, you want to just get your words out on paper. Eligibility all works first published in english, in the united states, during the calendar year, in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, or a related fiction genre are eligible for the nebula awards in their respective. However, there are averages and rough word counts expected by publishers. Here are some word count guidelines major fantasy and science fiction publishers have given during open submission rounds.
As a reader i love the huge word count novels steven king has written and the very short gems tom robbins has penned. Everything you need to know about novel word counts nathan. For fantasy novels, you are allowed to go slightly above this limit, but unless you are an established author, i dont recommend going too far above. Traditionally published mysteries, like the books of sara paretsky, louise penny, laurie r. It has to do with all the descriptions and worldbuilding in the writing. Between and 8000 words is a short story also, most short story competitions will stipulate their required word length for entry between 5000 and 10,000 words is a long short story. The sweet spot, according to donald maas, is 100,000 to 115,000 words. With fun, lighthearted, simple middle grade youll want to stay around the 20k30k word count range. For young adult fiction, the word count is once again lower, with the ideal. With these genres, i would say 100,000 115,000 is an excellent range.
That means that should the average word count per book remain the same, it will be 4 200 000 words long when finished. But genre books fantasy, scifi, or historical fiction are often longer. Ill do my best to provide word counts for all of these over time for now, ive hyperlinked the titles where the word counts are available. Length of a book is typically associated with its sizespecifically page countleading many to assume the largest and thickest book equates to its length. Picture book word count, and other rules that are meant to be. Book length word count science fiction and fantasy world. The publishers word count you mention, cshawns, is a quick way of getting a rough word count, by assuming an average page word count of 250 words. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a nonfiction book. The number of characters, the number of subplots, the pacing are all affected by word count. Daniel murphy has selfpublished three books and appeared in writers edits anthology, kindling 2.
And normally something in the range of 70k 150k depends is considered over the first publishing hurdle. This is a story that is between 10,000 and 40,000 words. A 95,000 word bookeven by page countis a different story than a 70,000 word book. If youre working on a nonfiction picture book or an informational or educational picture book that deals. Coyne uses the nanowrimo wordcount length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. May 14, 2018 literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction.
Apr 02, 2008 all summer in a day is a 1954 science fiction short story by ray bradbury. A word count guide for 18 book genres, including fiction. Mar 20, 2018 precise word count definitions will vary, but as a general rule of thumb, a short story is anything up to about 7500 words sometimes 10,000, with higher word counts typically called novelettes, and short novels called novellas. Apr 05, 2015 hello i have completed my first book, it a erotic, science fictionfantasy. If yours is too short, restructure it and add more tightly written stuff. Id guesstimate that non fiction books generally yes, this is very rough run perhaps 150450 pages, and at about 350 wdpage that works out to something like 50150k words.
Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. That said, the average word count for science fiction and fantasy novels generally lies between 100,000 and 115,000. Word count for famous novels organized commonplace book. This specific genre has a lot of flexibility with word and page count due to the variety of plot types and story arcs. Jul 24, 2009 a 95,000 word book even by page count is a different story than a 70,000 word book. This is due in large part to the variety of subgenres within it and the trend for a book series with an ever greater word count. 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. Jun 15, 2017 this is a general list of age categories and word counts for childrens books. And remember, keeping to word counts is important, but what makes or breaks your chances with a publisher is the quality of your manuscript. Picture book word count, and other rules that are meant to.
There are a lot of books that fit nicely into this range, such as enders game with 100,609 words and the martian with 104,588 words. All summer in a day by ray bradbury the best science. Within short stories, there is a further breakdown to define supershort stories as flash and microflash. All summer in a day is a 1954 science fiction short story by ray bradbury. Currently living in port augusta, his spare time is dominated by sports rehab and. But the word count of a chapter matters if you want your story to flow right.
Apr 23, 2018 of course, if you mean i can add together the word counts of all genres in the novel im writing, then thats another story. Christian fiction may also be referred to as inspirational fiction. That means that should the average word count per book remain the same, it will be 4. But can you guys think of any published scifi novels the skirt these limits. Realize it over the maximum word count for erotic, science fictionfantasy genre. Compiling a list of longest novels yields different results depending on whether pages, words or characters are counted. Oct 18, 2017 therefore, the word count of a novel is crucial if you want your book to be fit for publication. Precise word count definitions will vary, but as a general rule of thumb, a short story is anything up to about 7500 words sometimes 10,000, with higher word counts typically called novelettes, and short novels called novellas. As you can see, word count for science fiction books vary widely.
What is the recomended wordcount for a fantasyfiction book. Use these numbers as a baseline for your writing goals. Science fiction books typically have between 50,000 and 150,000 words, like fantasy novels. Science fiction and fantasy novels typically have a word count between 90,000 to 125,000 words. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a wordcount guideline. But for mainstream ya it is always best to stick to under 80k. There is no definitive word count guide for nonfiction books due to the many subgenres. As a nonfiction writer myself, i know this is tough. There are no hardandfast rules when it comes to what word count a novel in a particular genre should be. Therefore, the word count of a novel is crucial if you want your book to be fit for publication. The sa books have a total of 1 261 000 words at the moment. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. I found some disagreement about the ideal length of mystery novels. Mar 18, 2016 science fiction and fantasy novels break the above word count rules and can be longer how many words are there in a scifi or fantasy novel.
And what are the word counts of some famous novels regardless of the range above. The first book is around 95k words, so if every book is about that long, it should be closing in on a. Michaels, melisa 2005, focusing on the wrong things, science fiction writers of america, archived from the original on april 17, 2009 an article on the relative importance of various word count methods in fiction publishing. In many works of christian fiction, the characters overcome a crisis of faith andor become closer to god at the end.
Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. Science fiction and fantasy are the big exceptions because these categories tend to run. Word count for famous novels organized by hawthorn mineart, under books, writing. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. It is about a class of children on venus who are eagerly awaiting the one day every seven years when the rain will briefly stop and the sun will shine. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction.
The best thing that you can do is look over comparable books and try to judge word count by their size, average wordspage, and illustration content. The first book is around 95k words, so if every book is about that long, it should be closing in. How to write a killer synopsis for your novel writers edit. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. Jun 27, 2019 fantasy and science fiction novels are known to be lengthier than other books. Fantasy and science fiction novels are known to be lengthier than other books. For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. Miranda is an awardwinning author of more than a dozen fiction and nonfiction books for children. Word count of popular fantasy and science fiction series vol. Aug 03, 2017 word counts of the most popular books in the world. Historical fiction, internet footprint, lifes ephemeral nature, love and more love, make every word count, science fiction, speculative fiction. Larson writes science fiction with a word count around 100k. A word count guide for 18 book genres, including fiction and. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a word count guideline.
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