How long should a first book be?

As with general fiction, for a debut it's best to err on the side of caution and stick to 100,000 words where possible. For literary fiction, it can go the other way; anything from 55,000 to 100,000 words is acceptable.


How long is the average first book?

If you're writing your first novel, the general rule of thumb for novel writing is a word count in the 80,000 to 100,000 range. While anything over 40,000 words can fall into the novel category, 50,000 is considered the minimum novel length. Anything over 110,000 words is considered too long for a fiction novel.

How many pages is a first book?

Number of pages in a book for a first-time author

How many pages in a novel? For a first release, 200 pages are enough. One can also look at authors like Chetan Bhagat, who even today continue to release books well below the 300-page mark.


Is 100 pages too short for a book?

A 100-page book is too short to be considered a novel, regardless of the genre. Here's why: stories are classified according to their word counts. We'll dive deeper into that a little later, but for now, remember that if it's 100 pages long, or fewer than around 40,000 words, it's not a novel.

Is a 200 page book short?

The average manuscript for a novel comes in anywhere between 250 to 400 manuscript pages. In most cases, it is safe to say a first novel should not be shorter than 200 manuscript pages (approximately 50,000 words), and not longer than 500 manuscript pages (approximately 125,000 words).


How Long Should a Book Be?



Is a 300 page book a lot?

300 pages is a lot, and sometimes, even if you're interested in the book, you can start to slow down after a while. My suggestion would be to read 50–150 pages of one book and then read 50–150 pages of another book in one day, and then the day after do it all over again.

How many pages is a 2 hour book?

Using simple math, taking into account the average number of words on a page, we can quickly reach the conclusion that the average time to read 100 pages is roughly 2 hours and 45 minutes.

What is the shortest book length?

1. “Baby Shoes” by Hemingway. This is 20th-century American author Ernest Hemingway's famous six-word story. You've probably heard of it.


How small can a book be?

The smallest book is Teeny Ted from Turnip Town measured 0.07 mm × 0.10 mm (0.0028 in × 0.0039 in).

Can a book be less than 200 pages?

Page count: 110

The House on Mango Street is one of the best short books under 200 pages that Jenna Bush Hager has called a favorite. It's told in short and sweet, poetic vignettes about the life of a young Latina girl in Chicago named Esperanza and the people in her life.

Is 12 chapters enough for a book?

Most experts agree that 3,000-5,000 words per chapter is a good guideline to follow. So, 12-27 chapters for a YA novel would be a good range to start with. From there, you can narrow it down a little more by checking out similar books within the specific genre you're writing.


Is 250 pages a short book?

Quick reads are not a genre unto themselves, which means there isn't an agreed-upon length marking the line between long and short books. That said, most so-called short books have no more than 250 pages.

Can I read a 600 page book in one day?

Answer: the average reader takes about 16.7 hours to read 600 pages. You might take more or less time than 16.7 hours to read 600 pages, depending on your reading speed and the difficulty of your text. The average person's reading speed is around 300 words per minute (WPM).

How many pages is the shortest book?

Print length: 1 pages.


How many pages is a 30 minute book?

How many pages can you read in 30 minutes? The short answer is 20 pages with an average reading of 300 words per minute.

Can you read 100 pages of a book in a day?

Answer: the average reader takes about 2.8 hours to read 100 pages. You might take more or less time than 2.8 hours to read 100 pages, depending on your reading speed and the difficulty of your text. The average person's reading speed is around 300 words per minute (WPM).

What is the ideal length of a book?

Finding the 'sweet spot'

Ask Google 'how long should a book be' and the most popular search results nearly all say there's a maximum of 100,000 words, with minimums varying from 60,000 to 90,000. Those figures (dependent on font and font size of course) give us that oft-cited length of 300 to 350 pages.


What are the odds of writing a bestseller?

According to the New York Post, the chances of becoming famous are 1 in 62,986, which is just over a 1.5% chance. For your book to land on the New York Times Bestseller List, you have to sell around 10,000 copies, usually within the first week.

What are the first pages of a book called?

A preface, prologue, and foreword are all a part of a book's front matter, the introductory pages of a book before the main text—often numbered with Roman numerals—that include the title page and table of contents.

What is a very short book called?

The definition of “novelette” is any short, fictional work of prose narrative.


What's the longest book title?

The Guinness world record for the longest book title belongs to Vityala Yethindra for his book “The Historical Development of the Heart from Its Formation From …” In all, the title contains 3,777 words and over 26,000 characters!

What is the longest story ever written?

The Guinness Book of World Records gives the honor to Marcel Proust's elephantine Remembrance of Things Past, weighing in at 9,609,000 characters (including spaces).

Can I read a 250 page book in a day?

Answer: the average reader takes about 6.9 hours to read 250 pages. You might take more or less time than 6.9 hours to read 250 pages, depending on your reading speed and the difficulty of your text. The average person's reading speed is around 300 words per minute (WPM).


Is it possible to read a 200-page book in a day?

That's about 4.5 hours to read a 200-page book (55,000 words). By increasing your reading speed to 600 words/ minute, you could read a 200-page book in 90 minutes. The best speed readers can reach 1000 words per minute which equates to approximately 55 minutes to read a 200-page book.

Can I read a 300 page book in a day?

If you're a slow reader, you may read at closer to 125 to 200 words per minute. This means reading 300 pages will take you between 12.5 and 20 hours.