When I meet people during networking, I often hear, "I think I have a book in me." For most, the idea of writing a book is something fleeting that does not materialize into anything. But, for those who have started to write a book, they usually want to know when they have written enough. I am often asked how many words do you need for a book. Traditional publishers have different guidelines, so you have to write exactly what they request. If they want 60,000 words, don't try to send them 100,000 expecting an editor to cut the words. It is your job to cut the words. But, it is easier to think in pages instead of words. As a rule of thumb, you want to write about 250 pages after it has been edited. This doesn't include the copyright page, the blank pages, the table of contents, etc. In addition, your 250 pages must flow like a river, be thoroughly researched and be organized correctly.
Basic Information
While it sounds like a simple question, it really
involves a complicated answer. The short answer is that the amount of
words in your book depends. It depends on whether it is nonfiction,
fiction, electronic, print, genre, etc. Also, you have to keep in
mind that people's attention spans are reduced now. You need to
capture the readers immediately and keep them reading. For example, I
spoke with a potential author who read me his first few paragraphs.
While I could tell he was trying to establish the setting, I told him
to skip that and go right to the action. Add the setting in later.
People want to get right to the point.
The best way to answer this question of how much do I
need is to look at each type specifically. Let's start with fiction.
The general rule of thumb for fiction is 80,000 to 100,000 words.
Let's say you want to write mysteries. Your mystery novel should be
closer to 80,000. You might get away with 50,000 for mysteries. If
you write science fiction or fantasy, you are safer with 100,000
words because you need to develop worlds that mystery writers don't
have to do. Romance is somewhere in between those extremes.
For nonfiction, it depends on what the topic is. For
example, technical books will be better with fewer words. For
investment books or motivating books, you are probably going to need
more words. For self-help or healing, go for something in between or
closer to the lower number. In general, nonfiction books take 50,000
to 80,000 words, but again, pay attention to what the traditional publishers tell you.
Those
numbers are designed for you to submit your book to traditional
publishers. If you choose to use print-on-demand or self-publish, you
can get away with half those numbers. Usually, print-on-demand
publishers will accept manuscripts that are around 25,000 words. If
you choose to self-publish, you can write as many or as few as you
like. Just remember that people don't want to read a long diatribe or
War
and Peace
if you are self-publishing. Another word of caution, avoid vanity
presses. These are the companies that charge you to publish your
book. Print-on-demand publishers are not vanity presses. Self-publish
with companies that charge you only for formatting. For example,
IngramSpark charges $50 to put together the book. CreateSpace also
only charges for the formatting. Vanity presses will charge you
thousands and give you nothing in return. Traditional publishers and
print-on-demand usually pay you to accept the manuscript.
Electronic
Books
Those numbers are designed for printing. If you plan to
produce an electronic version only, you don't have to write that many
words.
Often, electronic versions of fiction are the same as
print versions. They are just offered in a different format for
convenience to readers. Nonfiction is another story. When you want to
publish an electronic version to use as a giveaway or marketing tool,
you can keep it short. You don't want more than 10 chapters. If you
can say what you want to say in fewer chapters all the better.
It is better to offer a series about your topic than to
produce a 30-chapter electronic book. Series sell better too. You can
market each book individually with links to the others in the series.
You also can give one book with the option to buy the whole set.
Create the 30-chapter book for the print edition, but keep the
electronic version short.
Most companies create electronic books to serve as
free downloads when they subscribe to a blog or are captured in a
customer relation management database.They produce e-books that are around
10,000 words. You can use these books as giveaways at trade shows,
free downloads as mentioned in the last sentence, enticement to get
people to buy the print edition and way to show your expertise in a
field.
Final
Thoughts
Write the number of
words that bring your thoughts to life but don't write more than is
necessary. Concise writing is always more preferable to ramblings.
Good luck. For assistance with writing your book, contact Louise Harris at lastresearchandediting@gmail.com.
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