How Long Should My Book Be?
Do you ever wonder what would be the perfect page length for your book?
It’s a difficult question to answer because it really depends on many factors related to your book.
Nonetheless, there are some useful guidelines that I can give you to achieve your finished manuscript in the most efficient time.
One of the most popular questions that I get often is: how long or how many pages should my book be?
The question has a very detailed answer. Therefore the question is often followed up by my answer: however many pages you think it will take to share all of the information that you would like to get across to your reader. Never give them too much information or too little information this can definitely discourage a reader from wanting to share your book or worse yet it could encourage them to leave a bad review which can become a nightmare when you’re trying to sell your book.
The truth is I never recommend measuring your book by the number of pages but instead by the content you’re giving to your reader. For different types of books, the answer will look very different.
#1: Non Fiction
In general, majority of the business and self-help books average around 15,000 – 25,000 words. Now depending on how many blank pages and the type of font you have the page count could look very different. On average this word count will give you a book of around 100 – 150 pages.
This type of book is great to position yourself as an expert in your field, expand your brand or to touch base on a subject matter that you know needs to be addressed.
Now for some of you, 15,000-25,000 seems like ALOT of words. The truth is it can be a lot, but when you’re writing about a subject that you have expertise in or a lot of experience with or something you’re passionate about it becomes far less overwhelming.
If you eat the book writing elephant one bite at a time and set aside an hour per day and use that as your writing time you could really have the entire book written in only one month. If you take breaks which you deserve you could potentially have your book written in 2 months by writing for an hour a day 5-6 days per week.
For many of you, if the information is something you’re familiar with then it may spill out or maybe you have already blogged about it and it can make the writing process much quicker. I have a ton of content on personal development which honestly after several years of blogging, vlogging, writing and reading I am able to use some of my material and repurpose it. This definitely helps to expedite my book writing process.
I find these types of books extremely doable. Many people make excuses of why they can’t write a book and if you’re struggling with believing that this can truly happen this is a great way to get started on your author journey.
#2: Fiction Books
Writing a fiction book Is different based on who you’re writing to. For a toddler, the entire length of the book may be twenty pages if you’re writing to a teenager or may be 100 pages versus if you’re writing to an adult the page count can range. No matter who you’re writing to do not try to skimp out by rushing through your story. Engage your reader by spilling out all of the details that will keep them reading. For fiction books again do not focus on a perfect page number chose to instead focus on what is going to engage your reader and keep them reading on. In the case of still being uncertain look at books that are similar in subject, context, and price and see their page count and make yours comparable.
How can I increase my word count without overwhelming myself?
Thousands upon thousands of words may be the cause for you wanting to throw in the book writing towel, but it doesn’t have to be! There are some great strategies you can use to help you increase the word count without overwhelming yourself.
You could consider using material from blogs or posts that you have shared.
You could consider interviewing other people and letting them give information in your book that will benefit your reader.
You could consider asking reflection or journaling questions to get your reader to engage with what you’re writing
You could consider reading books on your topic to gauge ideas of things you loved that they wrote about that you can incorporate into your book (with credit of course) or gauge ideas of things that the authors or books were missing that you want to take note of and incorporate into your book
I have news for you there is no way to be perfect when you first start your book, no matter how bad you try or how bad you want it. What you should do is be sure to have a thorough understanding of who your reader is, what they are looking for in your book and agree not to consume yourself with page numbers, but to be sure that the content within your book is speaking directly to your audience.
