Self-publishing book word count memoir

Small batch books private publishing of personal histories. I think its useful to keep these numbers in mind but really, a book should be as long as it. Since 2014, isis has killed and enslaved thousands of women in the middle east, especially in syria and iraq. The work had been commissioned by a publishing house in spain. If youd like to go by your name, however, thats fine, too. Selfpublishing a family memoir having previously published many childrens books, malaika rose stanley is no stranger to publishing. Oct 20, 2020 the thicker the book, the larger the gutter, so your words dont end up running into the inside crease gutter between the pages. Many diy book formatters make the mistake of making their margins too narrow in order to decrease page count thereby lowering the cost per book. Are you considering selfpublishing your business book. However, the article does mention that some people have short memoirs. These averages do not include picture books and graphic novels, which, due to their low word count, will naturally have a much higher per word editing rate.

But think about your reader when setting your book margins. Susi, memoirs are a little tricky to pin down a word count. Sep 10, 2020 book writing software is a program designed to streamline the book writing process using technology on a computer or other device. If youre a new author, id recommend staying on the shorter side, perhaps around the 75,000 word mark. If your memoir has a unique structure say, its a collection of related essays, this needs to be clear from the chapter outlines. List of book sizes standard sizes for all different self. How to write a memoir mary kole editorial book editor editing.

F1krazy had a great point here relating to not being restricted to word count. It is available on amazon and bookstand publishing tears for my city an autobiography of a. If youre self publishing, this would be your information. Fantasy novels are usually on the longer side think harry potter and eragon etc. Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book. After jk made the publishing house oodles and oodles of money. Where your word count should land before we dive into the numbers, lets go over a simple rule of thumb. Should you be using kdp to selfpublish your first novel.

To narrow it down, a regular short story is 1,000 to 8,000 words long and a long short story is between 8,000 and 30,000 words. Here are a few tips about structuring and writing your memoir to get you well on your way to perfecting your story. May 07, 2018 please dont tell us my book is 150 pages long. Would i like to seek traditional publishing or self publish. This happens the majority of the time i read a memoir chapter outline or synopsis. More novels, memoirs, poetry and short story collections, and nonfiction books are selfpublished these days than are published by traditional presses. Unfortunately, read full profile i make a living as a professional organizer. Tell your life story with these tips on memoir word count, memoir page count, writing a memoir query letter, and memoir literary agents and publishers. For example, a 75,000word book is about 300 pages long. On the spreadsheet, the editors total cost will be automatically calculated once you insert your total word count and the editors per word rate. Ebooks in particular can be relatively costeffective to pr. Jun 06, 2017 your memoir is really an autobiography. Youve got an idea burning in your head and want to write a nonf.

Selfpublishing doesnt mean you have to do it all by yourself. If the total word count is around 120k, and there are only eight chapters, i will be on the lookout for places to create more chapter breaks. Longer than that, and theres probably cutting that you can do. Heres our word count guide for 18 different book genres. Traditional publishers will always weigh the four factors i listed into their equation. Premium memoir publishing packages include 48 paperback copies and 1 hardcover commerative copy. I think you need to have an awful lot of compelling material, masterfully told, in order to write a memoir of that length or longer. The actual word count for the hunger games is 99,750 and my utility calculates 94,743 words. As narrative nonfiction, biographical writing almost straddles fiction. In other words, the story is not really all about me. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility calculates it at 80,7.

Slavery as we read about it in the history books may be fading into the past, but another kind of slavery lives in the present and threatens to persist into the future if we choose to ignore it. A comfortable length for a chapter is between 25003500 words. Youd think that it would have been a cinch for me to get organized to write my first book. Setting up word counts, length limits, has always seemed forced to me. Memoirs usually run the same length as a novel 70,000 to 100,000 words. The world watched as the numbers of the dead ticked by on their televisions, seeing digits instead of faces, not knowing the tragedies those women have faced and continue to face, even at this very moment. The cost of self publishing a book depends on the word count, editing required, cover art requirements and marketing. The cost of selfpublishing a book 2021 become a writer today. Jul 06, 2009 change the title and completely overhaul the query letter before you do so that agents will approach it with a fresh eye. Push it to more than 60,000 words and then start querying. I remember reading some westerns in high school and, if i recall correctly, they werent terribly long. Of course, you dont have to be constrained by these page counts when writing your book, but its good to be aware of what readers might expect.

Our editing fees for book publishing projects are based on the total word count, plus complexity of manuscript. You might say, but with e books the word count doesnt matter. Often a novellettelength work is difficult to sell to. There wasnt a whole about this on agent and editor sites, but from what i found, these can be anywhere from 50k to 80k. The greater the word count the larger the book more sections and pages that. Most memoirs should be limited to telling a story about a particular period in time. Yet with loose connections, she attempted something completely different from her usual style of writing. People do judge a book by its cover and content, which influences sales and your reputation. Of course, as luck would have it, i found this well after my own memoir was published. A memoir is a personal nonfiction book recounting a difficult time or challenge you overcame during your life. How much does it cost to self publish a book on amazon.

Memoir writing 101 comes with the lifewriters guides, a biweekly workshop in an email. This entry was posted in memoirs, nonfiction, novels, publishing a book, writing a book and tagged book parts, selfpublishing on june 9, 20 by andy baldwin. If you are looking for something more numeric, this article recommends 65,000 on the low side and 90,000 on the high side. If youre given a perpage rate, you can calculate a per word rate by assuming the industry standard of 250 words per page, e. Winner of the 20 paris book festival for best biographyautobiography. Books weve published biographies or memoirs morris. Heres the general rule for any book published traditionally or self pubbed. Oct 31, 2020 he used the 270,000word memoir as an example because 1 memoirs are close to impossible to traditionally publish, so a word count that long wont get past the agent, and 2 its very, very hard to sell a memoir even through selfpublishing, let alone at that word count.

He used the 270,000 word memoir as an example because 1 memoirs are close to impossible to traditionally publish, so a word count that long wont get past the agent, and 2 its very, very hard to sell a memoir even through self publishing, let alone at that word count. Word count matters because every book bears an inherent contract with the reader. What is a good length for a selfpublished book on amazon. If you land a book deal with a publishing house, details like the cover design, word count, and even the title, are subject to change. Search for word count totals in books word counters. Shorter than that, and you may not have enough substance to truly excite readers, you may not be going deeply enough into your story, or telling enough of it. How to craft a compelling memoir or lifestory 10 steps and a bonus. You can set your target word count and the software tracks your progress to alert you when you have reached your word count goal. Selfpublishing, once considered a somewhat alternative form of publishing, has gone mainstream. I know i have no chance of getting published with this word count and pretty much chronological order. Jay herring explains how to self publish on kindle through amazon. After all, most people dont write more than one memoir, and you want your book to be as perfect as it can be so it can stand on its own for years to come.

Selfpublishing is the fastest growing segment of the publishing industry and has many benefits. I just simply feel a book should be as long as it takes to tell the story in a way readers want to experience. An autobiography of a detroit white boy, a book published by bookstand publishing, and written by dean dimitrieski, won the 20 paris book festival for best biographyautobiography ive read the book and it is a great read. My experience with the traditional publishing world hasnt been the most encouraging. There is no definitive word count guide for nonfiction books due to the many subgenres. A complete guide to selfpublishing a book on a budget. From memoirs to selfhelp, you wont want to put them do. Publishers and agents expect that authors in this genre will. We dont know if it is single spaced, double spaced, in a teensy sized font, or in giant print. Eighty thousand words is the industry standard for a narrative nonfiction work.

There are good word count guidelines online and usually id recommend 610,000 words for a chapter book, 4060,000 words for middle grade and 5070,000 words for ya. For most publishers, a book is novel length when its between 50,000 and 110,000 words. For example, one hour or 15 minute short stories are popular. Heres exactly what you need to know to selfpublish your next book. Mar 19, 2021 does the author have enough chapters for the book s word count. Book editing packages brisbane self publishing service. How to write a memoir mary kole editorial book editor. Selfpublished books are springing up all over the place. Ive written a spiritual memoir to be published by zondervan, with rachelle as my agent. Reni eddolodge to dolly alderton, here are 20 of the best nonfiction books. Copyright page example of copyright pages free copyright. This seems a reasonable limit even for the established authors, as its about the length of the average novel. Even if she self publishes, the cost per copy would be high, and few readers would slog. Write as much as it takes to tell the story, and no more.

If you are already a member of the memoir network, this e book and others are available to. Change the title and completely overhaul the query letter before you do so that agents will approach it with a fresh eye. For example, memoirs are generally 80,000 to 90,00 words. Our full line of services gives you the freedom and control to publish a biography your way. The challenging part for a writer is that a memoir is nonfiction, but its told as a story. At outskirts press, we have been honored to publish many memoirs and understand the dedication it takes to write your personal story. Writing nonfiction is different than fiction, so dont follow generic selfpublishing advice. The important thing is that your length fits your book. In other words, your story sounds like everyone elses story. A memoir is narrative nonfiction, a true story written like a novel. For most adult fiction, adult nonfiction, and ya novels, simply divide the total number of words by 250 to get a page count estimate. It is mainly a word processor with added benefits specifically for authors and novelists, such as book organization tools, story development features, and more.

Minimum word count for self published books create then. Why word count matters when you submit your book the. When i was working on my memoir after id written around 90,000 words i was advised that a good length was 60k. Memoir word count tends to be right there in the same range as novel word count, or 60,000 to 80,000 words. Include a short log line only if your book lends itself especially well to pithy summary. So is yours a self discovery and empowerment memoir. Plenty of authors have gone ahead of you, working to prove that highquality books can hold their own in the marketplace without the support of a traditional publisher. Please consider my word count, if appropriate for genre book genre, title. When it was picked up by anaiah press, my editor cut a bit more during the development edit, but she never mentioned the actual word count. I just selfpublished a memoir about the three years i lived offgrid in a wilderness cabin i built on 20 acres of idaho riverfront.

We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article. Publisher information such as the name and address should be included in the page. A books word count does matter and if you get it wrong, this can impact. Unfortunately, they dont offer word count so ive created an algorithm based on the number of pages, genre, and the dimensions of the book. If youre writing a nonfiction book, be sure to look up that category to find the length of similar books. One of the fastest ways to get a rejection is to pitch your book as a collection of. Dont be overly present or self aware as you tell your story. If you are already a member of the memoir network, this e book and others are available to you free in member resources.

In addition to memoir publishing, we also provide support for writers who want to selfpublish, including writing, editing, and design services, to ensure that your book looks and reads as well as it can. Jun 03, 2009 as far as length, popular memoirs range quite a bit from about 60,000 words to 120,000 or more. Read on to know what it was like for her to selfpublish her book and go on a familiar yet new adventure. In other words, it looks more like an autobiography. That said, the average length of a memoir these days is around 65,000 to 75,000 words. Again, this depends on your expertise and the content, but this is a good number if you want something thats easy to digest. With a custom cover and editing, your memoir will be polished and professional. If you are an entrepreneur, having a book under your belt can boost your income exponenti. Minimum word count for self published books create then publish. What were, for me, the unforeseen advantages of selfpublishing have been huge. Whether youre an aspiring novelist or a smallbusiness owner who wants to educate your customers on your products and services, you may have thought about selfpublishing a book.

Books on how to write proposals are often geared toward nonfiction writers. Across the nation, thousands of authors are selfpublishing biographies and memoirs as an alternative to traditional book publishing. Jan 05, 2016 if your book s estimated word count is much higher than 100,000, you may be courting rejection before an agent has read a word of your proposal or manuscript. Include book comparisons with care we find these can easily backfire. Of course, if you just want to get your book out there, you can always format it for free and use amazons self publishing platform to make it available within 72 hours. Releasing a work of nonfiction can be an amazing opportunity for yourself and your business, but only if its done in the right way making the decision to write and publish a book focused on your business and recognizing the wealth of be. Selfpublishing scripta, an imprint of mutual publishing, offers book production services to authorsboth hawaii and nonhawaii basedwho want to selfpublish either because their book is for private circulation or they want to avoid the manuscript submission process, or they have the means and knowhow to market and sell their book. To find out more about our book editing services for your manuscript, please contact us. May 15, 2020 on the other hand, detailed biographies of historical figures can easily sell in their niche even when lengthy.

With short stories you can aim for a certain reading time. Some self publishers choose to create their own publishing company instead of simply going by their name. If youre self publishing a short story ebook try for a minimum of 3,000 words. At a minimum include a paragraph for each, including titles if they have titles, and include the word count of the entire book or the goal word count up the top of this section. They range from 1 6 cents per word for copyediting and proofreading services, and 2 7 cents per word for structural editing services. Anywhere from 40k to 75k words is standard, meaning you have a lot of room to explore how much detail you want to share. From there, we work with you to get your book into circulation. Dont let me discourage you from self publishing a chronicle of your life as a gift to your descendants. Abooklength memoir is read and marketed as a novel. Feb 27, 2014 susi, memoirs are a little tricky to pin down a word count. How much does it really cost to selfpublish a book.