But overall, heres my own rough stab at word counts by genre. Upper middle grade novels can have a higher word count, and will be read. The highest word count was 115,000, the lowest was 47,000, and the average was 75,000. Your nineyearold isnt going to have the patience to slog through a 5000word chapter. I have a 1700 word book, planning to have illustrations on each page, about 75 words a page.
Our middle grade novels offer a larger vocabulary and much higher word count than our illustrated stories for kids. When completed, your middlegrade masterpiece needs to be somewhere between 20,000 and 60,000 words. Middlegrade novels are generally 20,000 to 55,000 words. So should i stay with this word count, or try to bring the word count down. At a writers conference i recently attended, publishing veteran jane friedman said 80,000 words is good for most fiction, below 60,000 isnt novel length territory, and above 120,000 is likely too much. Popular middle grade chapter books shelf goodreads. Your nineyearold isnt going to have the patience to slog through a 5000 word chapter. Dec, 2014 that means book length is between 80 pages for lower middle grade and 220 pages for upper middle grade fiction. Follow each epic tale chapterbychapter and use our table on contents for easy access.
Middle grade word count is typically 20,000 to 55,000. Writing a middlegrade masterpiece a childrens book. When i started writing three years ago, the mg word count i kept hearing was no more than 30,000 words. These are the i can read type of booklets that enable an early reader to begin reading a novellike book all on their own. Lets start with middle grade since thats what i write. So that usually includes everything from chapter books, to middle grade, to young adult novels. When writing for the younger ages especially, every word must count. Apr 08, 2019 word counts for chapter books and middle grade can range from 1,50030,000 or more.
Word count for famous novels organized by hawthorn mineart, under books, writing. Your chapter length has to work well with the overall word count of the book short chapters create an even distribution of both content and action. When completed, your middle grade masterpiece needs to be somewhere between 20,000 and 60,000 words. Writing towards a word count might not work for everybody, but having a rough goal in mind certainly helps me when im sketching out chapters and undertaking my first draft. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook.
And your adult novel isnt going to seem meaty enough if the chapters top out at 500 words. No profanity, graphic violence or sexuality romance, if any, is limited to a crush or a first kiss. Anything longer can be difficult for a younger audience to consume and retain all of the information. Still in doubt about a desirable word count for your novel. The most exciting middle grade books of 2019 brightly. Whether your book is considered chapter book or upper middle grade will depend on the age of your characters, and the subject matter. There are also some subgenres that have slightly different conventions. Word count picture book, middle grade, ya lisa lewis tyre. Is there a standard range on word count for early readers books.
Middlegrade books are best if kept between 20,000 and 55,000 words in order to maintain the attention of readers this age. Query letter in body of email should include the following. Typically age 10 for a younger mg novel, and up to age for older, more complex books. Upper middle grade can hit in the 50k word count range possibly longer, if its something really special. Books that surprised me way better than i thought they would be. Submission guidelines for unrepresented authors albert.
Middle grade is generally 912 years and since kids tend to read up, id say marketing your book as mg is the way to go. A quote i found recently said, the real secret of patience is to find something to do in the meantime. Reaching out to the agents of bookends, ive come up with a word count cheat sheet. Im not a big fan of handing out absolute dictums and saying, you know, for middle grade, your chapters need to be 2,000 words max and. I think in middle grade there is an upper middle grade subcategory for the 5th to 8th graders who would be into the longer middle grade books like harry potter and the percy jackson series. For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. With this in mind, i decided to take a quick survey of popular middle grade fiction and its page count. Books in the middle grade genre are often 2040,000 words in length. Follow each epic tale chapter by chapter and use our table on contents for easy access. The average mean word count was about 53,000 words. My current middle grade novel, beastly, began as a book for adults. The author selling the most copies was a scholastic author published only in softcover hello, scholastic school. As persuasion progresses, jane austen seems to elongate hers, building them up on a crescendo. Can be publisher specific, ranging from 3,000 to absolute max 5,000.
Aug 05, 2019 for most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. Hatchet with 41,672 words and holes with 46,554 words are ideal. Its a christmas book, trying to model word count per page after charlie brown christmas and polar express. Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. Chapter book this varies widely, depending on grade and reader level, usually starting at 4,000 words and 15,000 words max. Yet middle grade books have always been aimed at the younger age group, in effect touching on the interests and curiosity of those about to enter middle school or junior high. Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book. Writing middle grade a look at the numbers hannah holt. For debut books in this field the average word count tends to be 35k and it has therefore become the marker many industry professionals look for in queries from new writers. Middle grade novels are books written for readers in upper elementary. The authors had sold between 10 copies and 2 million copies of their chapter books.
That gives us a rough range of 61,00089,000 words, with about 3 out of 4 queried ya books falling into that range. So childrens book manuscript chapter length is a big question that ive received many times about all sorts of childrens books that have chapters. Search for word count totals in books word counters. Everything you need to know about novel word counts nathan. For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. Word count for famous novels organized commonplace book. They form a family with other street children and learn the pleasures and pitfalls of growing up without adult supervision. The fact the word count is 15,000 less than half of a typical mg and. These word counts are my personal references they are not official, and do not include back matter, which is bonus material for the reader or information geared for parents, teachers, or. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility calculates it at 80,7. The early word on this middle grade novel is enough to get us excited. That means book length is between 80 pages for lower middle grade and 220 pages for upper middle grade fiction. For most publishers, a book is novellength when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. Writing middle grade fictionwhat i wish id known dead darlings.
Martin and harper lee keep things more evenly paced in a game of thrones and to kill a mockingbird, respectively. Im not sure if im pushing the word count over, been trying cut back the word count. The word middle is particularly apt in some publishers interpretations of the middle grade book. Word counts of popular ya books as i started drafting my new wip a ya scifi thriller i began wondering what word count i should aim for. Apr 14, 2020 reaching out to the agents of bookends, ive come up with a word count cheat sheet. Id call them either chapter books or early middle grade, not true middle. With fun, lighthearted, simple middle grade youll want to stay around the 20k30k word count range. Young adult fiction allows for a lot of flexibility in word count. Fiction queries and sample pages for middlegrade novels for children up to age 12. It follows two sisters, viji and rukku, who are living on the streets of the indian city of chennai. Oct 28, 2015 lets start with middle grade since thats what i write. With that in mind, ive tried to put together the definitive post on word count for fiction novels, young adult, middle grade, childrens books and. Make a list of 15 recently published comparative titles.
Collecting comp titles will prove useful to you throughout your novels journeyespecially later, when trying to market your book. Picture book word count, and other rules that are meant to be. Middle grade book genre complete list of book genres. Rules of the road chapter length and chapter length. My middle grade novel is hovering around 70,000 words or 270 pages. This guest post is by erin entrada kelly kelly is the author of the upcoming book, hello, universe, as well as the land of forgotten girls harpercollins, which was recently named one of the best multicultural books of 2016 by booklist, and blackbird fly, which earned an asianpacific american honor award for literature, a golden kite honor award, and was included on several bestof lists. These word counts are my personal references they are not official, and do not include back matter, which is bonus material for the reader or information geared for parents, teachers, or older readers. Apr 23, 2018 there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to word counts, and different sources are going to tell you different things. Nonfiction picture book 3,000 words max, but closer to 1,000 to 2,000 words. Middle grade is the space between chapter books and teen fare, says liz szabla. Realize it over the maximum word count for erotic, science fictionfantasy genre. A book like harry potter and the sorcerers stone, with 78,792 words, is higher than recommended, but with any genre, there are exceptions. If youre writing your first novel, the general rule of thumb for novel writing is a word count in the 80,000 to 100,000 range. The average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range.
While anything over 40,000 words can fall into the novel category, 50,000 is considered the minimum novel length. Chapter books would be on the lower end, while upper middle grade would be fine in the. What you, the writer, need to do in the meantime is to focus on your next middlegrade ideaand keep writing. Yes, i know jo rowlings upped the ante with her succession of harry potter books, and if your plot and characters have the same appeal as harry, you too might get away with a larger word count. How to write a middle grade novel childrens book editor. For more information on word counts for childrens book, check out this post. An introduction to middle grade and young adult fiction. Picture book word count, and other rules that are meant to. This is because children have shorter attention spans than adults, and if they see that a book is very big they might not even want to read it.
Chapter books would be on the lower end, while upper middle grade would be fine in the upper range. Jun 05, 2017 so childrens book manuscript chapter length is a big question that ive received many times about all sorts of childrens books that have chapters. Jun 27, 2019 chapter books will come in at the lower end of the spectrum, while middle grade books meant for older readers may even slightly exceed 55,000 words. Short bio mentioning previous publications or other background information relevant to your story. Childrens book writers must adhere to strict industry standards for word counts. May 04, 2018 books in the middle grade genre are often 2040,000 words in length. Oct 18, 2017 the average chapter word count of these novels falls within the 2,0005,000 range. Focus on friends, family and the characters immediate world and relationship to it. Kelly ford introduced me to middle grade word count after beastly. Review this list of popular examples to help you get a better understanding of the middle grade book genre. The word count range for middle grade is 20,000 to 60,000. It should be enough to communicate your message effectively. The key differences between middle grade vs young adult.
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. Scroll below now to see 25 middle grade book genre examples, or click here to see all book genres for kids. How long does it take to write a middle grade novel. The word count at big five publishers had a slightly narrower range. Anything over 110,000 words is considered too long for a fiction novel. Writing chapter books a look at the numbers hannah holt. Most middle grade novels are between 40,000 and 69,000 words long. Writing a middlegrade masterpiece a childrens book editor. Word counts for chapter books and middle grade can range from 1,50030,000 or more. Word count varied from 5,000 words to 40,000 words, with an average mean of 17,200 and a median word count of 8,500. When it comes to word count, middle grade fiction ranges anywhere from 20k to 5060k.
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