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Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » word count

word count

Commercial Writing (The Word Count Question)

By Dan Balowon February 27, 2025
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One of the common questions I get as an agent relates to how long a book should be. Many aspiring authors think about a target number of pages and chapters when they need to focus on word count.

Using pages as a metric for book length likely comes from those who self-publish and are accustomed to being charged per page for their book.

Depending on the type of project, there is an optimum word count that affects the length of a project. There are some variations; but generally, they all fall into a range that gives authors an idea of how to proceed.

There are some dramatic exceptions to whatever general guidelines exist.

A generation ago, chapter books for grade schoolers were generally about 20,000 words and put into formats with larger print and paperback covers. Then along came Harry Potter, and the assumptions about what a ten-year-old would read went out the window. Harry Potter books started at 76,000 words for the first in the series, and another was over a quarter million words.

I have seen proposed projects that are significantly too long, like the 800,000-word memoir that could only be published as a set of books costing $300 to replace where you used to store a Funk & Wagnalls encyclopedia set on the bookshelf. Maybe there could be a payment plan to get a new volume monthly for twelve months?

I’ve also seen “books” that are too short, like the insightful 1,200-word info-piece that should be a free download PDF or a booklet given out on the street corner.

Neither of these examples is commercially viable. The first is too expensive to publish, and the second would not command a selling price that would make it worthwhile. In other words, they cannot be published and make financial sense for a publisher.

There are 800,000-word projects, like biblical commentaries, a history of human civilization, or the Bible (yes, it is around 800,000 words). But they are not the story of your family.

The specifics of commercial-length projects vary from category to category and by publisher.  So, what is commercial length?  It’s the word count that allows a publisher to create it for a reasonable and optimal price so it can sell the most copies and meet their financial targets.

These are broad generalities, of course, but here’s a start on word counts for your consideration:

Children’s board books – about 100 words

Early readers (ages 5-7) – 1,000-3,500 words

Chapter books – 15,000-35,000 words

Middle grade – 30,000-45,000 words

YA fiction – 50,000-80,000 words

Adult fiction novellas – 35,000-45,000 words

Other adult fiction – 70,000-100,000 words

Sci-fi/fantasy – 80,000-100,000 words

40-day devotionals – 30,000-40,000 words

90-day devotionals – 45,000-60,000 words

365-day devotionals – 90,000-100,000 words

Bible studies – 10,000-20,000 words

Memoirs – 40,000-70,000 words

Academic/reflective – 50,000-100,000 words

Other adult nonfiction – 40,000-70,000 words

These are general guidelines, not chiseled-in-stone laws. It’s always OK to do what you think is best, but the publisher may ask you to cut or expand.

Just stay away from books written either at blog or biblical length!

 

 

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Category: Book Proposals, Pitching, The Writing LifeTag: word count

Book Proposals: Word Count

By Steve Laubeon May 7, 2018
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There is an important question that needs to be answered in your book proposal in the “Manuscript Status” section. What is the length of your book? This information is important whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction. How Long is Your Book? Think carefully before you declare a word count in your proposal. I don’t know how often I’ve seen someone propose a 280,000 …

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Category: Book ProposalsTag: book proposals, word count

Unnecessary Words

By Dan Balowon November 14, 2017
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From my earliest days writing and communicating, I’ve needed to fit whatever I wrote or spoke into space and time required by the medium in which I was using at the moment. In electronic media, a clock runs everything. If you have 90 seconds to fill before the radio newscast, you actually have 89 seconds to make a point. Not 91 or 105 seconds…89 seconds, so the network feeds are picked up without …

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Category: Craft, Writing CraftTag: word count, Writing Craft

The Right Number of Words

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon May 26, 2016
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More times than I’d like, my office must send out letters advising aspiring authors that their manuscripts are too short or too long. Much of the time, the author is talented but hasn’t investigated the market well enough to know if the word count is right. Submitting a project that’s simply the wrong word count wastes everyone’s time – including yours. If we mention that your book is the wrong …

Read moreThe Right Number of Words
Category: Book Proposals, Craft, Get Published, Rejection, Writing CraftTag: book proposals, Get Published, word count

News You Can Use – June 5, 2012

By Steve Laubeon June 5, 2012
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Six Tough Truths About Self-Publishing (That the Advocates Never Seem to Talk About) - Rob Hart writes an insightful and cautionary tale.

22 Rules of Story Telling According to Pixar - This is an excellent article for every novelist to read.

10 Great Science Fiction Novels for People Who Don't Read Sci-Fi - I have to say that I agree with only four of their choices. Such is the nature of …

Read moreNews You Can Use – June 5, 2012
Category: News You Can Use, SteveTag: Amazon, Craft, science fiction, Self-Publishing, speed reading, story, word count

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