On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic. Word count for famous novels organized commonplace book. Popular guardian best novels books showing 150 of 1,033 little women paperback by. But i was looking at steven kings the mist, which is over 50,000 words, but considered to be a novella. Following the 1987 initial release of games workshops warhammer 40, 000 wargame, set in a far future science fantasy universe, the company began publishing background literature that expands previous material, adds new material, and describes the universe, its characters, and its events in detail since 1997 the bulk of background literature has been published by the affiliated imprint black. Young adult novels have a wide variation in lengths.
The mountain shadow is a little shorter, listed at 880 pages, making that around 180,000 words. The red badge of courage by stephen crane 50,776 words. A manuscript over 40,000 words is considered to be a novel. The great gatsby slaughter house five fight club less than zero to name a few. The pair learn later that graces brother cretein and a girl he meets in college, justine macnamara, are integral to that destiny in ways that defy mere coincidence. Further down the page, youll find more great novels.
The number of pages it translates to depends on the formatting. It organizes almost every common word in the english language by vowel and consonant placement, and is used to help any student of speech pathology, e. Finding that place is difficult, however, so be honest. Broken wheel, iowa has never seen anyone like sara, who traveled all the way from sweden just to meet her bookloving pen pal, amy. The following is a list of the novels for the warhammer 40,000 universe. One month, 50,000 words if fyodor dostoevsky and sir arthur conan doyle can do it, why cant any budding novelist. On average, young adult novels usually fall around 55,000 and 70,000 words. This 90,000word guideline for how many words in a novel is just that, a guideline.
The figure was found through looking at a number of books text stats, until brave new worlds 64,531 word count landed in the exact center of all books50% of books have fewer words and 50% of books have more words. This book is the number one resource of my speech pathologist. Thats the level where publishers may suggest dividing a story into multiple volumes. The other day i was feeling pretty exasperated with myself. The old man and the sea was about 25 to 30,000 words. Word count for novels and books is something i dont think about too often until i travel to a writers conference, and then someone asks a simple, innocent question. All extremely long novels, especially considering most novels i pick up in the new release scection hover at about 80,000 or less. For pre1980s novels, longer chapter lengths are pretty common.
I truly cannot see how i can make more and such drastic edits without ruining the story. That said, if your book is around 40,000 words, youre in good company. Each genre and subgenre has its own word count range. It is about a sixteen year old orphan, portia quayne, who moves to london to live with her halfbrother tho. This number to words converter can also be useful for foreign students of english esl who need to learn both how to write and how to pronounce the cardinal and ordinal numbers. Nobodys stopping you, of course especially if you think your 100,000word novel justifies the word count. However, very few novels these days are as short as that.
In outlining your book in 3 easy steps, editor shawn coyne says, the average novel today is about 90,000 words. However, when you check the word count, it says 20,000 words. Perhaps, you have reached us looking for the answer to a question like. As ebooks became a viable business model, the rise in popularity of books in the 20,000word range opened the door for authors to publish books about topics that didnt require a full 60,000 word treatment. In my experience, this is never the case for a first draft. Here are our suggestions for 40 books that every man over the age of 40 should make the time to read or read again, and then place on his shelf for all the world to see. The death of the heart is a 1938 novel by elizabeth bowen set between the two world wars. Its a fantastic book, like much of fitzgeralds work, but no one would ever feel like theyre flying through it. With that in mind, ive tried to put together the definitive post on word count for fiction novels, young adult, middle grade, childrens books and even memoir. My novelettes tend to be on the long side for short fiction 10,00012,000 words is about average, with three distinct acts and a structure loosely based on the conventions of mystery or suspense fiction, though with a scientific twist. For a typical paperback format, it might be around or 140 pages. Ive been pushing myself to write every single night in order to get to my goal on time and overcome my procrastination when it comes to writing. Are short novels likely to be published, say, 40,000 words.
Will include het, slash, femslash, creature, dark, light, elves, humans, everything. Theyre novels in miniature, or embryonic novels, and have more in common with their longer equivalents. How many words in a novel vary depending on genre, audience, and the story itself but in general, the average words in a novel is between 60,000 and 90,000 words for most genres. Im 10,000 words into the first draft of my first novel. A published author in 10,000 words or less writeraccess. For much of the 20th century, novels averaged 75,000 to. It is a corner stone for speech language pathologist or stutterer in professional or home stuttering therapy. When i started to work on novels i wanted to keep an estimate of. By most peoples standards, 40,000 words would be pretty short for a novel. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook. Even if you do not need for medical reason it is a gem to find tens of thousands of words to recite and learn. Scott fitzgerald, published in 1920, has an average of 8,100 words per chapter. How many of you have written a toolong manuscript and. The modern library 100 best novels by modern library.
Put simply, the sweet spot for a novels word count is generally said to be around 8090k. Your debut novel is 20,000 words long how not to self. Lewis the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe, roald dahls charlie. Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. This is likely a long shot, but when i get reading i want to sit in for a long story. For a firsttime novelist, it might be a little hard to pitch your ya manuscript to editors if your word count exceeds that number.
Book page count calculator how many pages is my novel. Im not putting up nearly there nicely because the amount of chapters currently up on this site does not surpass the 50k. Shorter novels such as fahrenheit 451, the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, the great gatsby, and slaughterhousefive. Well do more research on this, but if in doubt, shoot for 80,000 words. Depending on your genre, having too many or too little can not only hurt your book sales, but also cause fewer 5star.
Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. Whether youre just curious about how many words are in these books or youre writing a book and want to compare the length of your novel to these famous tomes, then read on to find the word counts of famous books and series. Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a. Word count for famous novels organized by hawthorn mineart, under books, writing. Never write a chapter longer than 4,000 words bookfox. However, most agents and writers say your mystery novel should be the same word count as general fiction, 80,000 to 90,000 words.
Guardians novels everyone must read show list info. Ive been researching the word countspages of ya novels to make sure im not under or over. It depends on the font you are using, of course, but in general, 250300 words per page. Is it easier to get your second book published than. A word count guide for 18 book genres, including fiction and nonfiction. Titles published prior to 1997 were originally published under the heretic tomes label, although several have. Generally, your book needs to hit the mark of 40,000 words. Why modern novelists need to watch their weight books. Most adult books are about 90,000 words, and no longer than 100,000 words unless youre jk rowling. Novels like the kite runner, the time travelers wife, and wonder are meaningful at any age. These are great quick reads for readers and writers alike. Blish, budrys, knight, norton, vance, silverberg, williamson, boucher, mcdonald.
For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. Youre most likely to make a nobel prizewinning discovery at 40 or at least do your most outstanding work, according to a study by the national bureau of economic research. Im sorry to be the one to tell you this, but 20,000 words is not a novel. My two novels are good, and i can hold them in my hands. Why modern novelists need to watch their weight this article is more than 8 years old.
Feb 18, 2016 novels that are around 50,000, which is the word count goal for national novel writing month. A lot of people are going to tell you that a story is as long as it has to be. Frequently asked questions getting published meg cabot. List of 50,000 word novels the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by douglas adams 46,333 words. Frazer and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. And if youre wondering how to get through this list before you reach your 50s, check out the amazing secrets of speed reading. And i mean rockandahardplace, upacreekwithoutapaddle hard.
Big, epic stories get anywhere from 120,000 to 200,000 words. A story should be precisely as long as it needs to be. Of course, word count wont matter if a story doesnt hook the target audience. Famous book series and novel word counts number of words. In 2009 the guardian created an exhaustive list of the best novels of all time.
Novella award organisers have defined a novel as being a piece of. Ive seen first drafts of 150 000 words that have been published. Here is a partial list of wellknown novels that contain roughly 50,000 words, which in turn is roughly 175 pages, and are thus comparable to the average size of a nanowrimo winners novel see also list of published authors who write quickly for published authors who consistently write at the nanowrimo pace or faster the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by douglas adams 46,333 words. These are books that resemble young adult in matter and storytelling, but still. A typical novel will normally be 60,000 to 100,000 words, with some of the larger thrillers and genre novels being much longer. The classics of mystery and science fiction were written at the length of 4050 thousand words or shorter. Liquid glass by zathyn priest, the night caller by clancy nacht, the ghost on my couch by l. Miao ling grace and siobhan llewellyn are seemingly destined to be together. When she arrives, however, she finds amys funeral guests just leaving. Organized by letter, sound, syllable by valeda blockcolsky, joan m. If youre looking for word counts of your favorite books or series, then youve come to the right place. With upper middle grade, you can aim for 40,000 55,000 words. According to amazons great text stats feature, the median length for all books is about 64,000 words.
This installment of 100 mustread is sponsored by the readers of broken wheel recommend by katarina bivald. Here i sit with my book at 30,000 words and it suddenly gets hard. Its a phrase youve all heard, but how many of you have been brave enough to be truly ruthless with your own writing, to cut in a big and bold ways when needed. Please share your novels that are over 50,000 words long. A novel is usually defined as anything over 40,000 words. Your tiredness levels suggest that youve written an epic trilogy. A little while ago i posted an excerpt from crusaders of the machine god, which was the painting guide for cult mechanicus in 7th edition that included some nice lore bits another one was made for skitarii, called legions of the omnissiah, and it contains some interesting pieces as well this excerpt is cut from a couple of pages detailing a battle during the first war of armageddon. I have repeatedly used this book for the 5 years and intend to use it for the rest of my life. The issue i have is that my work of historical fiction runs about 200,000 words long, and thats with 60,000 already lopped off. Guardians novels everyone must read list challenges. If you only have time to read one or two books, i recommend looking at the top novels section below. Louisa may alcott shelved 4 times as guardianbestnovels avg rating 4.