Average number of words in self help book

The post lists a dizzying number of genres and a recommended word count range for each. How to write a bestselling business book bloomberg. You can choose from a variety of trim sizes see the table below for a list of sizes, as well as minimum and maximum page count by size. These inclusions may take up more space in the book and bulk it out. I just popped into my office and pulled a few books off the shelf. This is still respectable, if your content feels new and your writing is impressive. Add screenshots or other graphics and youve got a nicesized ebook. For example, if your book has about 20 chapters, you can put about 10,000 words in each chapter. And dont forget to calculate what your word count will be. That said, if your book is around 40,000 words, youre in good company. I know of an author with a very large publisher whose novel has sold only 1,087 copies in its lifetime. The books take their name from self help, an 1859 bestseller by samuel smiles, but are also known and classified under self improvement, a term that is a modernized version of self help.

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 books 50% of books have fewer words and 50% of books have more words. The 250 words perpage rule is a copysetting estimate. I currently have a 26,000 would book definitely need an editor i was told i only needed 40,000 words and now that has changed a need about 55,000 i had the whole ending planned out drawn out and now i need to add an extra 15,000 words to that might just go into self publishing that way i. Sketch out your outline, make sure your structure works, and then start coming up with more clever titles for the chapters and parts, if you use those. This is an art rather than a science but here are a few tips. The list was revised in september 2010 in consultation with a number of us fiction editors, but. The average adult novel runs approximately 100,000 words while those in other categories run 80120,000 words. If so, you might give yourself a goal of writing a 96 to 128page book in the 6 x 9 format, thus only about 30,000 to 40,000 words. This means that you cannot fit many words on a printed page and keep it readable. That said, my best advice is not to get too hung up on how many pages or words other books have. Whether its before youve typed out the first word, or right up to one week before publication is my book too long.

There are over 5,000 professional speakers that tour the united states every year. Self help books are typically in the 7590,000 word range, but the specific topic and intended audience has a lot to do with the specifics. As far back as 2006, a question was posted on a forum called digital point. Self help books showing 150 of 81,694 the subtle art of not giving a fck. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. That is saying a page with 12point font and double spaced with 1inch margins all around will average about 250 words, which were averaged at i believe 5 letters per word. According to amazons great text stats feature, the median length for all books is about 64,000 words.

At one extreme you get large print books with 250 words on the page. To me, its not useful to average all selfpublished books. You want 50,000 to 85,000 words for a fulllength self help book, half that for a self published ebook. Apr 29, 2018 selfhelp books are typically in the 7590,000 word range, but the specific topic and intended audience has a lot to do with the specifics. This gives you 200 large print, 500 for an academic book with 350 words per paperback page as a working average. The actual word count for the hunger games is 99,750 and my utility calculates 94,743 words. Today, even after the introduction of what amazon calls version 2. As far as word count number of pages, i think youll find the self help section is all over the place. The average fantasy novel should have between 50,000 and 150,000 words. A selfhelp book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems.

In 2017, the downward trend has continued, with an average book length of. Calculate book page count using word count for book design. This number was significantly different from the average we had seen for the estimated print length that had been given in the product details of each book s amazon sales page. Using amazons number of words as a guide, 5,000 words would equal 26. Your selfhelp book should not be a thinly disguised memoir.

As with everything else when it comes to writing a book, these are only guidelinesnot rules. Based on writers i meet at conferences, about 50% of the time this memoir is actually positioned or written as a self help book. It requires selfawareness, acknowledgement of responsibility for our own lives, and acceptance of our power to change. How to write and publish a book in less than 30 days.

Long book length at the other end of the spectrum a book of 80,000 to 100,000 words has significant heft, 320400 pages. If you are planning on writing a self help book, a suggested avenue would be to first read other self help books that have been successful. Perhaps you dont have enough content to create the standard nonfiction book at 80,000 words. This number was significantly different from the average we had seen for the estimated print length that had been given in the product details of each books amazon sales page. Self help books moved from a niche position to being a postmodern cultural phenomenon in the. Nonfiction wordcounts sit between 70,000120,000 words. He writes that ebooks are moving towards the same length as regularly published books. All of these are average book word count ranges and should not be taken as the definitive word count you must reach in your book. So, what is the average length of a nonfiction book. You may decide that compensation isnt your end goal and your publication is more about creating a. Academic books might put 600 words on a page with works of reference squeezing in words.

In two minutes, i found ebooks ranging from 10 to 950 pages. For more information on word counts for childrens book, check out this post. It is 224 pages long and by my count, about 50,000 words. Now we have computers and word processing software. An ebook with 15 pages amounts to only around 3000 words. Back in 2008, the self help industry was valued at 11 billion dollars each year. Jun 27, 2019 a story that is over 40,000 words is generally considered a novel.

Its writers tend to be experts in their field, either through educational or experiential pathways, who have distilled what they know into something that can offer help to their readers. The average across a sample of 50 books in august 2015 showed 172 words per kindle edition normalized page. May 11, 2009 i was am in similar situation for my book, its like to end up between 40k and 60k words, depending on what i include in the first book non fiction mindset and awareness for salespeople i hadnt really considered approaching a publisher, given the popularity of self publishing, do you think it short sighted not to even consider a. Read a book or a few, and many, many posts before you start writing. Bestselling author caleb carr may write novels of 250,000 words, but when you pitch your novel and offer up that number, be prepared for a glacial reception. For example, a self help book for writers about writing can probably sustain 100,000 words, because the aud. Though the average word count of a chapter is around 2,000 5,000 words, it all depends on your story. Lewis the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe, roald dahls charlie and the chocolate factory. If i wish to set a good benchmark to aim for, there are many books that i would exclude from the list. When setting up your book, this is the default in the print options section of the paperback content tab.

Feb 24, 2015 sketch out your outline, make sure your structure works, and then start coming up with more clever titles for the chapters and parts, if you use those. Selfhelp literature, also known as therapeutic or philosophical literature, is a huge market that does a lot of good. And for every book that sells 20,000, there is one that is a disaster. The average digital only authorpublished book sells 250 copies in its lifetime. Traditionally, a book or novel is defined as being over 40,000. For childrens fiction, the general rule is the younger the audience the shorter the book, and for ya novels the average is 50,00070,000 words.

To put these numbers in perspective, if you type with a font size of 10, you could be packing nearly words on each a4 page which would make nearly 3 paperback pages. It depends on the font you are using, of course, but in general, 250300 words per page. It contains 38 lines per page, with an average of 12 words per line, thus 456 words per book page. A minimum count for a nonfiction ebook is about 10,000 words, as long as the content is solid. Self help ebooks need to be between 100 and 200 pages twenty five to fifty thousand words now. This reduction will be very small, like maybe 12 lines less per page, and 510 pages less for the book. I have been working on and writing a self help inspirational book and am curious, how many words does a book like this generally have. The average wordcount for adult fiction is between 70,000 to 120,000 words. This involves the manuscript being double spaced, with 12 pt tnr, arial, verdana or other easy to read font all throughout the manuscr. The average fiction book is about 80,000 to 100,000 words, which is about.

Chapter books will come in at the lower end of the spectrum, while middlegrade books meant for older readers may even slightly exceed 55,000 words. A 90,000 word count signals to professionals that you know what you are doing. And, in case youre wondering, here are the average word counts for other popular genres. Then you will see what the usual is in terms of word count and length. The reader trusts your judgement, so make sure you mean what you say. Mark manson goodreads author shelved 3781 times as self help avg rating 3. Sep, 2015 say who you are, what your story is, what made you write the book, how you came up with the idea, how its different from the other selfhelp books out there and how it can help the reader.

There are three types of successful business books, says jack covert, a coauthor of the 100 best business books of all time. Your selfhelp book should not be a thinly disguised. Simply divide the total word count from your word document by the number of words per page. Unfortunately, they dont offer word count so ive created an algorithm based on the number of pages, genre, and the dimensions of the book. Thats a lot of books and motivational speeches that failed to help the 40 million people suffering from anxiety. Better to have solid, clear information than rambling to make a page count. By most peoples standards, 40,000 words would be pretty short for a novel. The average words from 60,000 words to 200,000 or more words in a whole novel. To me, this shorter length feels just right for the weight of a transformational concept. A novelist of my acquaintance insists that the only way to estimate the number of words in a book is to multiply the number of pages by 250. Repeat the noluck guide to self publishing success. Ive said it many times before, but it bears repeating.

Therefore, a 55,000 word book should be about 200 manuscript pages. The 3 golden rules of writing a selfhelp book standout books. Wordcounter will help to make sure its word count reaches a specific requirement or stays within a certain limit. Ive read some that were 70 pages, and ive read a lot of them that were in the 150200 page range. For example, a selfhelp book for writers about writing can probably sustain 100,000 words, because the aud. Check out the best methods on how to write and publish a selfhelp book. Selfhelp books are typically in the 7590,000 word range, but the specific topic and intended audience has a lot to do with the specifics. Include all selfpublished books if you wish to pat yourself on the back for beating that number, or if you wish to discourage authors from selfpublishing. So, 253 x 500 126,500 words divided by an average of 225 words per minute.

Frequently asked questions getting published meg cabot. This format generally averages about 300 words per page, thus about 30,000. 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. In practice you need to subtract 1520% from the page word total once the white space is taken into account. The average sales per title are utterly without meaning.

Self help literature, also known as therapeutic or philosophical literature, is a huge market that does a lot of good. With a selfhelp book, your audience wants to learn something and they want to learn it sooner rather than later. For example, a selfhelp book for writers about writing can probably sustain 100,000 words, because the audience is wellknown for having the patience to read that much if not more. What is the average number of words in a selfhelp book. These works can take the form of advice, courses or even fictional stories. A self help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. Well, if you use standard modern manuscript formatting, about 2530,000 words total are in 100 manuscript pages. May 14, 2018 with a track record to back them up, established writers have greater flexibility. Jun 24, 2019 be aware that the word average means that for every book that sells 15,000, there is one that sells 5,000. But that doesnt mean you dont have the experience and knowledge to publish a whole.

But a self help book should have something like 50 pages. Jul 01, 2015 it may be an e book only not printed and designed as a reference tool for busy business people. To get an idea of what your book will look like you need to match the number of words per page on your word processing page to the finished printed page. There were rumors in 20 that amazon had set a minimum word.

Do not attempt to write a self help book thats a thinly disguised memoir. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. For a self published book i think thats pretty good. Pencilthin books on narrow topics that are under 50,000 words are quite common. Jun 07, 2017 in my opinion, if your nonfiction book is fewer than about 30,000 words 120 pages, it does not feel substantial enough to be real book. However, it will be on the short side, as the average length of a novel hovers around 50,00070,000 words. That was the formula in the good old days when courier was the only typeface and typewriters were king. Most adult books are about 90,000 words, and no longer than 100,000 words unless youre jk rowling. How many words in the average selfhelp book answers. This line count includes blank lines between paragraphs as well as lines with just a single word. Many of them are engaged in writing what they feel will be the best of both worldsthe self help book and a memoir, and i do know a memoirist who did that. In 2011, the lists average length peaked at 467 pages.

An example of a book which started small and went way bigger, is write. What is the average number of words in a typical self help book. This means your book will be between 100 and 230 pages in total. Any selfhelp or motivational nonfiction book should be between 30,000 and 70,000 words. I asked agents elizabeth pomada and michael larsen of larsen pomada literary agency to add their thoughts to the subject.

I use amazons data feeds to come up with the calculation. Aug 31, 2010 linda joy myers august 31, 2010 at 10. Selfhelp books can take many forms, they give the reader the tools they. As for nonfiction books, the standard bestsellers have word counts similar to adult novels. The best answer to your question is on the shelves of most bookstores. Oct 25, 2018 keep in mind that the average compensation per book matters less the more books you sell, which depends on your business model. I feel a good designereditor team working on a selfhelp book can make all the difference, because they will be able to designarrange your words into a more accessible format ie tips and hints boxes, as just one example. But i also know of others who have sold over 500,000 copies. Jan 08, 2018 now that you know the average number of words per page in your book, you can calculate the page count with a little arithmetic. I have published three books which have been fairly successful. Thats the level where publishers may suggest dividing a story into multiple volumes.

Estimate a small reduction for the linesperpage and the number ofpages values. Search for word count totals in books word counters. If you are writing a selfhelp book containing 10 steps to life. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 to 75,000 words, but this can vary depending upon category. We all know of outliers within each genre that have been published well under, or well over, these word counts. Once you have a vision for your book small, standard, or wide formatyou can move on to the second step in deciding how many words you should write. Janethis is a really good post on a topic that i get a lot, especially since some of my customers are therapists. For paperbacks you get 2550 lines per page, with 35 being a good average. I have never written a book, but i plan on writing one someday. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 words. Your title may not appeal to as many people, but your advice will be a lot more. Jul 23, 2012 the average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 words. Count up the total number of words on 10 random full lines from different places and divide by 10 to get the average words perline count the number of lines on each page to get the linesperpage check that the book actually starts on page 1 sometimes the stuff before it starts is counted then. Jan 11, 2011 authors often ask me about average word lengths for their manuscripts.

There are plenty of books that purposefully play with the word counts of their chapters. Selfhelp books are typically in the 7590000 word range, but the specific topic and intended audience has a lot to do with the specifics. The average nonfiction book is about 50,000 to 75,000 words, which is about 153 to 230 ebook pages. Oct 28, 2014 i agree with julie about studying the market. All this relates to the standard paperback size book. 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. For example, if an author has to write a minimum or maximum amount of words for an article, essay, report, story, book, paper, you name it.

If you are writing a selfhelp book containing 10 steps to life improvement and each step 1 chapter, and you think you manuscript is going to be 10 to 15 pages per chapter, but you want to create an intimate reading experience, your book might be way too long for the 5 x 8 trim size. Say who you are, what your story is, what made you write the book, how you came up with the idea, how its different from the other self help books out there and how it can help the reader. But keep in mind that the person has probably already bought the book, so its no place for trying to. Amazon ebook page length by genre kindle page length. Generally, 50,000 would be considered the minimum word count, and ideally a novel should be over 70,000 words. A counterintuitive approach to living a good life ebook by. On the upper end, a novel over 110,000 words is considered an epic.

Dont go beyond the 100 pages, unless you have a story to hide the self help intentions. But keep in mind that the person has probably already bought the book, so its no place for trying to promote it. However, there is a wide range of acceptable word counts for nonfiction books. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. What is the average number of words in a typical self help. In 2015, the drop resumed as the average fell to 345. Oct 10, 2016 most of the data ill be using throughout this article was sourced from writers digest and the manuscript appraisal agency, with any differences split to find the average. You want 50,000 to 85,000 words for a fulllength selfhelp book, half that for a selfpublished ebook. Although the book has a standard selfhelp book structure, the chapters meander and have no headers, just design elements. The total page count excluding appendices and index is 204 pages, thus about 93,000 words. The authors originally planned it to be 50,000 words, then went to 60,000 and eventually ended up at 80,000 words. While theres no reliable statistic, heres an interesting post on word count from the blog of former agent colleen lindsay. Heres your beginnerfriendly guide to writing for the selfimprovement niche. How much does the average author earn publishing their book.

A typical number is 12 to 18 but you might have 8 or even 25. This industry includes a variety of market segments from holistic institutes, infomercials, books and audio books, motivational speakers, websites, seminars, personal coaching, online education, weight loss, and stress management programs. There are vastly different numbers for mass market paperback novels, tradepaperback original novels or trade nonfiction, hardback original trade books, and for nontrade titles in any of a. Note 254 how many words or pages should an ebook have.