I guess 50,000 is a short novel and some early novels before goes as low as 40,000 which can be considered to be a novella. The following is a complete list of books published by stephen king, an american author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction, and. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a nonfiction book. I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an e book at a short length at least for nonfiction. Synonyms for book at with free online thesaurus, antonyms, and definitions. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000 word range. For nonfiction, you need a proposal that gives an overview of the project, a breakdown of the. The crisis in nonfiction publishing books the guardian. Slates list of the definitive nonfiction books written in english in the past.
At the other end of the spectrum a book of 80,000 to 100,000 words has significant heft, 320400 pages. The disproportion between the size of the question proposed, and the. One of the questions that new writers always ask is how long should my nonfiction book be. The easy part of this question is the writing part. 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. That was the formula in the good old days when courier was the only typeface and typewriters were king. The number of words in a novel will vary depending on the genre. When i know exactly what i want to say, 3k5k words a day is pretty easy. For all writers i would work on your back of the book pitch a couple of hundred words that really crystallises what the book is about. When it comes to highcalibre nonfiction, riskaverse trade publishing houses are.
How to make a living with your writing is my shortest nonfiction book at 27,000 words and looks fine in print. The 50 best nonfiction books of the past 25 years slates books team selects the definitive works of reporting, memoir, and argument of the past quartercentury. Inappropriate the list including its title or description facilitates illegal activity, or contains hate speech or ad hominem attacks on a fellow goodreads member or author. 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. That doesnt mean you can submit a manuscript twice the length a publisher recommends. That would be the length of a novella in mainstream fiction. Self publishing and writing a nonfiction book means youre an expert in your industry and that you have an important message to share. King has published 63 novels, including seven under the pen name richard bachman, and five nonfiction books.
Do you want to write a nonfiction book but dont know whe. Specifically, an accessible nonfiction book might be anything between about 30,000 words and 50,000 words. Your chapter structure needs to be in proportion to the overall length of the book. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. So 50,000 words is the minimum for a nonfiction book. Still unsure of how long to make your nonfiction book. According to gleick, we are all creatures of the information, from the words that make up. In this article im going to attempt to answer that question. The best weird,unusual and different nonfiction books.
Spam or selfpromotional the list is spam or selfpromotional. Be honest about how many agents you are submitting to and spell the. If you stick to these when youre writing your nonfiction book, youll be fine. A word document with all the key words and features of nonfiction texts. Are you ready to help other people and change your own life with your words. A list of books with titles beginning from az excluding x because who needs x. Incorrect book the list contains an incorrect book please specify the title of the book. By 2017, however, that number has dropped to 273 pages. Go out and find similar books to the one you want to write and figure out how many words. Part poetry collection, part memoir, part booklength critical essay.