Book length - average length of a Non Fiction Book

One of the questions that new writers all the time ask is "How long should my non-fiction book be?" In this report I'm going to attempt to retort that question.

Book length - average length of a Non Fiction Book

Book length - average length of a Non Fiction Book

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Book length - average length of a Non Fiction Book

Book length - average length of a Non Fiction Book

However, part of the presume that new writers find it difficult to pin down an retort is because the retort is so difficult. It isn't as level send as it seems.

First off, you need to make two decisions. Specifically, you need to decide what type of book you will be writing and how you will be publishing that book. For example, are you going to write an eBook and give it away as a bonus? Or are you going to sell it on Amazon? Are you going to write a beloved how-to and use a traditional publisher? Or are you going to write a textbook and sell it through university bookstores?

The form of the book often dictates the size of the book. While the topic will have a great deal of influence, there are many other elements you need to take into account. Many of these are marketing related.

First off, you need to fabricate a standard distance of a page. Some writers will claim there is only one standard distance of a page. Unfortunately, they never agree on what the standard is! Typically, fiction uses 250 words per page, although 300 is also a base value. Non-fiction typically has longer sentences and less white space because it doesn't have dialogue. 300 to 500 words are sometimes used as the yardstick, although 250 is also used. Personally, I, somewhat arbitrarily, use 250. But like all the numbers when discussing book length, you should reconsider them as yardsticks rather than firm numbers.

Now that we have the distance of a page -- even an arbitrary one -- we can go on to assessment the size of books and articles.

Take a look in your firm library. You will find that almost all your books are more than 100 pages long (about 25,000 - 50,000 words depending on your style). By fiction standards that is carefully very short - novella size in fact. In fiction, a short book is in the middle of 50,000 to 80,000 words (roughly 200 - 300 pages in paperback). Although Science Fiction and some other genres have been creeping up and can now exceed 400 pages (200,000 words). A typical "popular" firm book runs 25,000 to 75,000 words. Over that size is the territory of the schoraly or technical firm book.

Typically you will find that books groups simply after about 100 pages. The presume for this is related to the pricing of a print run. The cost to yield each book is related to the format size (e.g. Trade paperback, paperback, letter etc.), the binding, and the estimate of pages. This latter tends to be priced at the 100 page mark so beloved lengths tend to come in multiples of 100. For example most short fiction runs at 200 pages (about 50,000 words (romance, westerns etc.). The next step is long fiction at 300 pages (about 75,000 words). Extra long is usually around 400 pages (100,000 words) although it can go beyond.

Ultimately, you need to check the local bookstore to decide the standard size. You'll find that definite markets have a beloved size (or sizes). Some publishers will also list their preferences in directories like Writers' Market, although most now prefer to make the writer guess.

Of course, what you wish the distance to be, and what the actual distance will be can be quite different.

Book length - average length of a Non Fiction Book