How to Write Non-Fiction: How many words does your book have to be?

The length of your book will depend on a number of considerations.

Are you aiming for a traditional publishing deal?

If yes, you will have a target to meet based on your outline, probably between 50,000 and 80,000 words.

If you’re self-publishing, you can choose your word count and it’s more about the value to the reader. There are plenty of short non-fiction books that readers and audiobook listeners love, and plenty of door-stoppers that (some) readers wish were shorter.

Consider what you want the book to be and the value to the customer

Is your book an in-depth, highly researched cornerstone book that will cement your authority in a niche? Do you want it to represent everything there is to know about a topic?

If yes, then it’s likely to be 60,000 to 80,000 words, or even longer.

But a book can be concise and still provide incredible value to the reader in terms of its content. Many readers and listeners prefer shorter books, so if you can deliver value in fewer words, then go for it, especially if you’re writing a series and want readers to buy future books about the same topic.

My non-fiction books vary in length from 25,000 words to around 70,000 words.

Pricing and printing

Length makes a difference for pricing as reader expectation often aligns price with size, even for ebooks and audio.

Printing costs and profit will also be determined by word count. You may struggle to print a book that is less than 20,000 words, as the spine will be too thin, and a book over 80,000 words may end up too expensive to print profitably in terms of pricing and page count.

Examine similar books in your niche. How many pages are they? If you use an approximate number of 300 words per page, how many words are they?

Questions:

•   What word count are you aiming for and why?

•   What length of book will readers expect or want on this topic?