Book Length: Average length of a non-fiction book

Website design By BotEap.comOne of the questions new writers always ask is “How long should my nonfiction book be?” In this article I will try to answer that question.

Website design By BotEap.comHowever, part of the reason new writers find it difficult to pin down an answer is because the answer is so difficult. It is not as simple as it seems.

Website design By BotEap.comFirst, you must make two decisions. Specifically, you must decide what type of book you are going to write and how you are going to publish that book. For example, are you going to write an e-book and give it away as a bonus? Or are you going to sell it on Amazon? Are you going to write a popular tutorial and use a traditional editor? Or are you going to write a textbook and sell it in college bookstores?

Website design By BotEap.comThe shape of the book often dictates the size of the book. While the topic will have a great influence, there are many other elements that you need to consider. Many of these are related to marketing.

Website design By BotEap.comFirst, you need to set a standard length of one page. Some writers will claim that there is only one standard page length. Unfortunately, they never agree on what the standard is! Fiction typically uses 250 words per page, although 300 is also a common value. Nonfiction tends to have longer sentences and fewer blanks because it has no dialogue. Sometimes 300 to 500 words are used as criteria, although 250 are also used. Personally, I, somewhat arbitrarily, use 250. But like all numbers when talking about the length of a book, I should consider them as rods to measure instead of firm numbers.

Website design By BotEap.comNow that we have the length of a page, even an arbitrary one, we can estimate the size of the books and articles.

Website design By BotEap.comTake a look in your company library. You will find that almost all of his books are over 100 pages (between 25,000 and 50,000 words, depending on your style). By the standards of fiction, that is considered very short, in fact the size of a novel. In fiction, a short book is between 50,000 and 80,000 words (roughly 200 to 300 paperback pages). Although science fiction and some other genres have been advancing and can now exceed 400 pages (200,000 words). A typical “popular” business book is 25,000 to 75,000 words long. Above that size is the territory of the academic or technical business book.

Website design By BotEap.comYou will usually find that the books naturally clump together after about 100 pages. The reason for this is related to the price of a print run. The cost of producing each book is related to the size of the format (eg, commercial paperback, paperback, letter, etc.), the binding, and the number of pages. The latter tends to be priced at 100 pages, so preferred lengths tend to be multiples of 100. For example, most short fiction is 200 pages (about 50,000 words (romance, westerns, etc.) 300 pages (about 75,000 words) The extra long is usually around 400 pages (100,000 words), although it can go further.

Website design By BotEap.comUltimately, you should consult your local library to determine the proper size. You will see that certain markets have a preferred size (or sizes). Some publishers will also list their preferences in directories like Writers’ Market, although most now prefer the writer to guess.

Website design By BotEap.comOf course, the length you want and the actual length can be quite different.