Word count for a chapter can vary greatly among authors but for example, the first chapter of Dirty Kiss was 5,345 words which is a little long. The first chapter of Sinner’s Gin (not including the prologue or the opening vignette) was 4,400 words which is about the high end of my average. Most of my chapters run 3,500 to 4,500 words.
But, Hair of the Dog, a freebie done for a blog tour, was 7,900 words.
And for reference: For print books, a mass-market paperback runs around 300-350 words per page. A trade paperback (6″x9″) (or hardcover) runs around 350-400. eReaders vary too much to have an average because the fonts and sizes change per user.
Prices below are averaged based on $1 USD divided by the amount of hours needed to write 10,000 words. This is based on an actual project I’m currently doing and is about average for the speed I write. This only includes the initial word count and not plotting things out, research or editing the first pass.
- 30,000 words for $1 USD / 11.5 hours: 8.7 cents an hour
- 20,000 words for $1 USD / 7.7 hours: 13 cents an hour
- 10,000 words for $1 USD / 3.83 hours: 26 cents an hour
Caveat: These are based on how I write and results vary tremendously per author. I only have myself to base numbers on so take the words per hour rate with a grain of salt the size of Lot’s wife’s head because it’s in no way a universal reference.
In reality, the project I’m basing these numbers on was begun on March 10 and stands at 30K on April 6. Each chapter took on an average of 4.5 days to complete so the 11.5 hours is scattered among that time period. That time period includes the plotting, research, light editing, a day job and various other adulting things like sleep, meals and laundry.
Now how long is a novel*?
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, on the other hand, classifies submissions for its Nebula Awards series into four categories:
- Short story: under 7,500
- Novelette: between 7,500 and 17,500
- Novella: between 17,500 and 40,000
- Novel: over 40,000
Approximate Industry Average Standard for Genres:
- Commercial and literary novels are 80,000 to 110,000 words
- Science fiction and fantasy novels are 100,000 and 115,000 words
- Romance novels are 80,000 and 100,000 words
- Mysteries and Thrillers are 70,000 to 85,000 words
There are exceptions and even within a genre those averages vary a lot. Like the difference between a cozy and a psychological thriller word count is usually about 10,000 to 20,000 words. All depends on the subject and the writer.
Honestly, I just thought it was an interesting breakdown to share and very helpful for plotting out blog tours and freebies as well as short story offerings. I fall down rabbit holes of information sometimes and get skewed off into research and then come up for air and say… huh, how does this apply? It’s good to get a reference for work and to delve down into the nuts and bolts of word count and how to make good use of time without losing your brain.
By the way, this post is about 620 words and took me half an hour to write but about an hour to research and math. *grins*
* Reference: https://blog.reedsy.com/how-many-words-in-a-novel/
Rhys Ford 