How long should my chapter be? Depending on the writing genre, word count in book chapters can vary considerably. With this logic, the number of words in a nonfiction book chapter is about 3,500 words to 5,000 words. A modern chapter is usually: The average number of words in a nonfiction book is around 50,000-70,000 words, and the average number of chapters in a nonfiction book are about 10-20. To … T he indie author Chris Fox coined the term ‘potato chip chapters’ for easily-digestible book chapters of a certain size. How many words are in a nonfiction book? Word Count How Many Words In A Novel. Because nonfiction is such a broad category, it really depends on the type of nonfiction you are writing, but generally a nonfiction book should be about 40,000 words. How To Read A 240 Page Book In 2 Hours. Novel Word Count How Long Should Your Book Be We . Bear in mind that cutting a 12-word sentence down to 9 words might feel like nothing to you . Once you know what your book will be about, it's time to start planning the structure of the story. An editor friend of mine, Shayla Eaton with Curiouser Editing, was sitting in on the breakout.We gave each other knowing glances, and because I didn’t want to break this poor memoirist’s literary heart, I nodded at Shayla to take the lead. Author Goals Get Your Book Written Faster Than You … How Many Words In A Chapter Learn The Right Number For. You must include these hidden subheadings, but still provide the in-depth content for readers who absorb every word. How many words are in a nonfiction book chapter? Many ancient works were not organized by chapter, and either were one long text like Beowolf, or were organized with verses, like Aristotle’s Politics. Many readers will skim through a chapter, looking for key words and phrases to pick out. Chapter length matters more than you think. “My memoir is 270,000 words long.” I heard these words during a breakout session I led at a local writers conference. The first answer, because it’s novella length, not novel length (we’re talking adult fiction, not chapter books) and novellas are hard to sell. How Many Words in A Novel Chapter? Still unsure of how long to make your nonfiction book? About 3,444 words per chapter or so. Consider…Waking up under a dead horse…could be a bad day (OR) bad day’s work. To determine how many words in a novel, narrow down your topic and do some research to see what the average word count is. Go out and find similar books to the one you want to write and figure out how many words are in the book. Chapter length matters more than you think. It contains 29 chapters now and will probably contain 30 or 31 depending on how the last two go. Who knows…you might end up with a longer book by month’s end. Some of the other answers are… idiosyncratic. Yes, actually. To get straight to the point — As recently as 2011, the average book length of the #1 non-fiction bestseller was 467 pages. Some may skim the first chapter, but most know by the end … Why Your Nonfiction Book Chapters Are So Important Write. You're writing your first novel, and you know you must shoot for around 80 to 95 thousand words. Many ebooks sold on Amazon today have only 5,000 to 20,000 words. – user4065 Sep 5 '12 at 11:00 We’re really asking if they can answer this question: How many words in a novel? If anyone asked you, “How many words in a novel chapter?” you wouldn’t be a freak for not knowing what to say. “30,000 words.” “160,000 words.” “About 150 pages.” All of these answers are red flags to agents. How many words should a middle-grade novel be? What will happen in each chapter, and how much has to happen before you move on to the next chapter? Long chapters are the equivalent of being on a bus that is clearly barreling past stops it is supposed to make. Because nonfiction is such a broad category, it really depends on the type of nonfiction you are writing, but generally a nonfiction book should be about 40,000 words. What are you trying to tell your reader. Then model your manuscript after that book. This allows them to navigate through the book in a way that is meaningful to them. No more red flags. There are in fact two issues here: book length and contracted extent. These three answers are all red flags. To determine how many words in a novel, narrow down your topic and do some research to see what the average word count is. We gathered a list of every New York Times #1 Non-Fiction Bestseller for the past 7 years and analyzed how the average length has evolved. The chapter is a great way to regulate the pace of the book to make the reading experience enjoyable for your audience. I’m working on a series and have most of one book written that’s about 100,000 words now. But don’t start with an unattainable goal. How Long Should My Book Be Publish To Get Clients. Click To Tweet. We’re really asking if they can answer this question: How many words in a novel? I just wrote a prologue that ended up right at 500 words, and I wanted to know the same.