Skip to content

So, what’s book length these days?

I’ve 100 pages of a manuscript at 700 words per page – ish.

70k words is book length? Or needs plumping out?

19 thoughts on “So, what’s book length these days?”

  1. Bit on the short side. 80 to 120 thousand words seems to be the average for fiction. Quick hack using Robert Harris’ Act Of Oblivion in hardback suggests about 360 words per page, 458 pages, so on the order of 160,000 words, a bit on the high side.

    But he’s obviously a quite well-known author.

  2. A quick Google and averaging the answers suggests 50-80,000 words for non-fiction, so you’re in the right ballpark unless you’re trying for only partially read doorstop territory.

  3. “If it’s word count you’re worrying about, then there’s something wrong with the actual content.”

    Marion Zimmer Bradley.

  4. 70k words is fine for non-fiction, I’d say. If you have what you want covered, don’t try to stretch it.

    Marion Zimmer Bradley

    The Rose West of fantasy fiction….

  5. There are more chapters – stories – that can be added.

    Save for volume 2 if the first volume is a best seller?

  6. Shirley the subject matter should determine word extent.

    Comprehensive Understanding of Wi-Fi Networks – several volumes

    Positives of Carbon Tax – answers on a postcard, in crayon (redirected to fiction dept.)

  7. I think it’s 70k for a Booker, OK non fiction, but still people don’t like paying full price for a slim volume. Look to see what your competition is running to.

  8. Lord Byron wrote: –

    ‘Tis pleasure, sure, to see one’s name in print;
    A book’s a book, although there’s nothing in ‘t.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *