Sometimes, publishers are so taken with a book that they're willing to risk a book that's too long or too short. But only if you're open to not getting published traditionally. They want books to look a certain way, be a certain length, fit a certain market.ĭoes that mean you shouldn't write your million-word epic of a novel? No, you absolutely should. I'm telling you this because I want you to know publishers are particular and risk averse. This novel is too long to publish, at least by a traditional New York publisher. When I first opened it on my Kindle, it said it would take 110 hours to read. The novel is 1.75 million words long, the equivalent of about 7,000 pages, give or take. Right now I'm obsessed with a novel/web serial called Worm. It's by an author who goes by the pen name Wildbow. While every writer has trouble killing their darlings, trimming down a long first draft might be just what the editor ordered. But too little or too many words can throw a reader.īest of all, the constraint of a word count requirement might actually improve your story. Long books aren't bad books, and novellas or short stories don't make for less impressive stories. But even those stories have an average word count that shouldn't be overlooked. Sure, there are exceptions: epic fantasy novels, for instance, can get really long. Whether you are self-publishing or traditional publishing, the amount of words in a book varies for different genres, and it's important for you to meet word count guidelines in order to satisfy reader and publisher expectations.Īlthough best-selling writers can get away with longer books, most writers, especially those writing and publishing a first book, need to stick to the standard book length for their genre. You might question whether or not word count matters.
How long is the average book? How long should your book be? And should you even care about word counts? Let's break it down.
#Word counter books how to#
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