"How Long Should My Book Be?"
Jesse Byrd
Co-Founder @ Moonbeam Literary & Media | A Top-Selling Literary Agent for 2022 | x-Creative for the NBA | NPR Foundation Member | | Diverse Literacy Initiatives for Youth
While I generally loathe "shoulds", I must admit it can be downright helpful to know what agents and publishers expect from your book's length.
Would your story be considered too long or too short for its literary genre? Is it a novel or novella? Is it too much for kids? Too little for adults? Knowing the proper answers to these questions can make all the difference when pitching your ideas and work.
Demonstrating 'genre knowledge' helps show decision-makers you've taken time to understand the business you wish to work in, and the audience you seek to serve.
While important factors such as: subject, dialogue, plot, theme, pace and character development reflect your deeper literary proficiency -- word count (WC) is often the first sign that you possess a fundamental understanding of your audience.
Here's an example:
This simple misunderstanding can lead to unnecessary confusion. Even worse, it reveals an ignorance about your craft which could have been cured by doing a little bit of homework. A kind agent may credit this to innocence (and politely pass). A not-so-kind agent may see this oversight as reflective of your larger work and attention to detail. Either way, this 'miss' can add unnecessary barriers to your book getting picked up. And, none of us needs that!
To ensure you're armed with knowledge, here's a free guide to industry-standard book lengths (separated by genre):
- Board Books: 0 - 100 words
- Early Picture Books: 0 - 500 words
- Picture Books: 50 - 750 words
- Nonfiction Picture Books: 500 - 2,000 words
- Early Readers: 200 - 3,500 words (Based on age level)
- Chapter Books: 4,000 - 10,000 words.
- Middle Grade: 25,000 - 45,000 words
- Young Adult: 45,000 - 70,000 words
- Short Story: 2,000 - 7,000 words
- Novella: 17,000 – 40,000 words
- Non-Fiction Adult Book: 30,000 - 80,000 words
- Adult Fiction Novel: 70,000 - 90,000 words
Takeaway: The more you prove that you not only grasp the art of story, but also the business of story, the more you give yourself a critical edge in winning an agent or book deal.
Jesse works with Fortune 500 companies and SMEs, helping them better connect and convert via their written content. Jesse is also a published author who has won a total of 5 awards for his two works of fiction. He offers FREE coaching sessions for business and creative writing to the members of his Facebook Group.