An ebook could be 3,000 words or as long as a full length book. 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. I was curious to the public reaction to shorter novels as they are not physically picking up a printed book in a bookstore and can assess the length. So 50,000 words is the minimum for a nonfiction book. I have answered similar questions in the past, and i will post the text and link to them below. Oct 18, 2017 from these numbers, we can establish some guidelines. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. By 2017, however, that number has dropped to 273 pages. You definitely dont need to write the equivalent of the 300,000 word novel that you might pick up when youre going on holiday.
Sep, 2012 one of the biggest factors to consider in pricing your ebook is the percentage of sales youll receive from the retailers. But another question you should be asking is if the average kindle book size is something you should worry about. Although the length of fiction is genredependent to an extent fantasy novels, for example, tend to be on the thicker side, sticking to the ideal novel length is still the best advice. How to stand out from the crowd so your ebook has no competition.
You can use comparable, successful books as models to determine the length you book should be. The ten awful truths and the ten wonderful truths about. Although readers seem to buy longer ebooks, theres a trend toward shorter. In the ebook world, the skys the limit or the readers attention span is anyway. However sometimes, like today, the reverse happens. The ideal book length depends not only on your content, but on strategy. 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. Nonfiction page length is much more variable depending on the topic and positioning for the book. In fact, the majority of printed books are turned into ebooks.
May 11, 2009 word count and book length one of my biggest problems as a publisher is having authors deliver more than was agreed to. I got a lot of questions about how long ebooks should be. And as you can see, it varies, depending on the story. How to price an ebook and which factors affect price. The average fiction book is about 80,000 to 100,000 words, which is about 246 to 307 ebook pages. Ebooks come with a lot of price flexibility because, once the fixed costs formatting. In my opinion, if your nonfiction book is fewer than about 30,000 words. Jul 14, 2011 book length average length of a non fiction book a 10 minute training video from video discusses how to determine the av. In past times, books of this length would have been classed as novellas. Length for print books mattered a lot, but what about ebooks.
Every category will have an average length, including childrens books, young adult, business books, etc. In the traditional publishing world, its a length that publishers would avoid due to increased printing costs. 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. Reading is an active, participatory activity between reader and book. The book length on kindle is rather useless since you dont get a real book length. I have often looked this up and got different results, which makes it very confusing. In this article youll discover the average number of pages for four different types of book. Are you going to write a popular howto and use a traditional publisher. Here are seven writing secrets ive learned over the past 10 years as ive written over a dozen books and ebooks. 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. The average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range. Martin and harper lee keep things more evenly paced in a game of thrones and to kill a mockingbird, respectively. Non fiction archives download free ebooks, legally. So, what is the average length of a nonfiction book.
The graph shows the average length of the top 100 bestsellers in each of the 30 main amazon kindle categories, measured in terms of the number of pages. I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an ebook at a short length at least for non fiction. For most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 to 75,000 words, but this can vary depending upon category. Its no easy task to decide to write a decentlength nonfiction ebook, much less glue your butt to a chair and act on your decision. The average income from a published book bizfluent. If youre new to selfpublishing on amazon and wondering, just how much should i write for my kindle book. But as an ebook has no dimensions, it hardly matters what it is called now. If a publisher has controlled their costs in production, editorial, and the author contract, they should be profitable if they sell 20,000 copies. On my blog, i encourage people to ask me all of their questions about ebooks. This difference is significant because it illustrates the nature of the commercial publishing side of the industry. If you want to know how long your ebook should be, this video is for you. The question of fiction and nonfiction was not introduced into the story so that brings another question as to the length of nonfiction v fiction and whether there should be a separate category for nonfiction ebooks so that we can remove these ebooks from the general population for data assessment purposes or simply provide another set.
I heard 10,000 words can be accepted as an e book at a short length at least for non fiction. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. Non fiction requires more thinking time from your reader, so you need to consider the role of your book. Does this mean that every chapter must end up somewhere in this range.
How to find the best topic for your ebook its not onesize fits all. 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. This looks like a simple question, but you have to look at several factors before you can determine optimum length. Plus, shorter attention spans and eyestrain from luminous screens mean readers stay with. The sweet spot range i suggested 40k70k words seems to work well for both formats. In the publishing industry, 250 words is considered a printed page of text. Reader preference for longer form ebooks speaks well for the future of books. He claims that 121,000 is the average successful ebook length.
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. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a non fiction book. How to write a highquality ebook in 30 days copyblogger. As an interesting side note, amazons text stats show that the average length of all books on amazon is about 64,000 words. Nonfiction readers, in particular, want value fast. You might be more surprised if a ya novel required olympianlevel arm strength to lift. If you are only interested in developing an ebook, you can comfortably go to the lower end of the wordcount range. Until an author sells 5,000 copies of his book, he makes more from royalties than he will with a selfpublished book, according to authors. Amazon has worked very hard to drive down the pricing on kindle books, which has wreaked havoc for all ebook publishers. Jul 23, 2012 so 50,000 words is the minimum for a non fiction book.
For most publishers, a book is novel length when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. Jun 15, 2017 this is a general list of age categories and word counts for childrens books. Book length varies according to genre, but a print nonfiction book length. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. The average kindle book size measured in page length is about three hundred pages, and the average kindle ebook file size is 2. However part why the new writers, the answer is difficult to identify because the answer is so difficult. What if, 30 days from now, you had a finished, wellcrafted ebook sitting on. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length klytics. Have you ever wondered how the average ebook page length or word count. Oct 10, 2016 the right answer to how long should my book be. Mar 20, 2020 is there a correct length for an ebook.
If the content is stepbystep and high quality, 15 pages is enough for a 99 cent kindle book or a freebie used for lead generation. Book length average length of a non fiction book a 10 minute training video from video discusses how to determine the av. Follow this stepbystep proven ebook writing system for fast results. Alternatively, this is an acceptable length for a short work of non fiction. The 1 thing you need to do to write a new york times. The answers should help shed some light upon your question, but i would like to add that there is no right answer. Books with much shorter sections become bestsellers all the time.
Make it actionable, helpful, and great value and the length wont matter. 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. For example, are you going to write an ebook and give it away as a bonus. Are you mosting likely to compose a preferred howto and also utilize a. Or are you going to write a textbook and sell it through university bookstores. I noticed way too many nonfiction kindle books around 3040 pages. Its no easy task to decide to write a decent length nonfiction ebook, much less glue your butt to a chair and act on your decision. I dont know what i can say to add to what has already been said.
Before diving into the specifics of genrebased word counts, lets look at the broader picture of average book length. Kindle finally updated the page count to 276 from 114. When planning your nonfiction book it helps to have an idea of how long a book needs to be to be marketable. Writing a first novel that doesnt represent too much of an economic gamble for a publisher makes it so much easier for the publisher to say yes. I have therefore made some averages, based on what ive heard from publishers and agents at childrens book events, and from research and reading. Happy browsing, reading or sharing, however you want to utilize this list, we shall leave it up to you. How long will it take to write your nonfiction book. Recently i got asked this question, what is the ideal length word count wise for my first book. Book length average length of a non fiction book 29th june 2018 posted in. I noticed way too many non fiction kindle books around 3040 pages. Is it a magnum opus and the cornerstone of a highpriced.
If your ebook is short, best practice is to indicate the word count or page count in your online description so readers dont feel misled. The trade paperback is 314 which is at least 350 on a standard paper book. A list of free ebooks for the most popular nonfiction titles of all time. Non fiction books tend to be shorter, and written in a way that they can be read in chunks. Most of the other ebook retailers have similar price banding. This might mean cutting out unnecessary tangents, juggling sections or.
Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a nonfiction book. In my free cheat sheet, i tell people not to worry about the length of their ebook when they are just starting. For instance, are you mosting likely to compose an ebook and also offer it away as a perk. What if, 30 days from now, you had a finished, wellcrafted ebook sitting on your. Book length varies according to genre, but a print nonfiction book length averages 50,000 words and commercial fiction averages 80,000 110,000 words. Add screenshots or other graphics and youve got a nicesized ebook. Thanks morriss003, thats the kind of information i needed to know. Jun 24, 2019 thus the word average can be problematic. Available in ebook, print, audiobook and workbook formats. The length can vary greatly between genres, though. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels.
If the topic really justifies length and especially if your credentials are highly impressive you can go longer, but check that you remain interesting, even at length. This is about the length readers want for general nonfiction, and it keeps publishers happy given the high cost of paper. The magic whether the readers desire is to achieve pleasure or knowledge or both takes place inside the readers. Indeed, most traditional publishers limit nonfiction authors to 80,000 words for standard 6 x 9 books, between 240 and 280 pages. Novel 50,000 110,000 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. Bestselling books are getting longer, study finds mental. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books.
However, many authors, frustrated with the low price of ebooks, have taken to writing ebooks that are between 40,000 and 50,000. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. If you plan to turn your ebook into a print book at some point, you might want to consider length. 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 dont know if the question is meant as a mentalstatistical exorcise. As persuasion progresses, jane austen seems to elongate hers, building them up on a crescendo. Book length average length of a non fiction booki youtube. A check of some of the bestseller lists on kindle reveals that ebooks at around 100 150 pages are selling very well. For years ive thought writing short books was better than long books. If your ebook is short, best practice is to indicate the word count or. So 50,000 words is the minimum for a non fiction book. Many authors want to know how long it will take to write their book.
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