The hobbit book length word count

If you dont know how to find your documents word count, this article shows you how. Analyzing chapter lengths in fantasy fiction creativity. But note, all of those authors made big names for themselves. A young adult novel will run between 20,000 and 40,000 words. Jackson made the lord of the rings trilogy with a one book to one film. Rowlings recordbreaking series began with two titles on the high end of that spectrum and finished with five that left the guidelines in the dust. How many words are there in the harry potter book series. You can use comparable, successful books as models to determine the length you book should be. This will help determine what kind of length readers expect in popular novels, and also will give me a word count goal for writing the scenes and assignments. There is a big gap between the vocabulary and concepts an 8 year old has, compared with an 11 or 12 year old, hence the big gap in word count of novels.

So if you want to write a big book, you better make sure every word is damn well worth it. For those who like to keep track of their reading word count or those who want to encourage their kids to read more the harry potter books series is an. To simplify things, i divided the total word count for the hobbit 95, 022by three and used that count for each of the three hobbit movies 31,674 because run times for the next two hobbit movies are unknown, i reused the run time for the first hobbit movie 169 minutes, or 10,140 seconds for the next two installments. Why isnt the silmarillion as widely read as the hobbit or the trilogy. The final hobbit film is an unprecedentedly gratuitous stretch of source material. Word count for famous novels organized commonplace book. This is a lot harder because its not a specific field im receiving back i have to scrape the results and do some crazy parsing of the data. While scouring the internet, i think ive read this article three times. Search for word count totals in books word counters. It is a way an author can estimate word count, but its just as easy these days to use the word count function on your average word processing program to get a pretty accurate count.

I linked has information on chapter lengths, word appearances, common words. In terms of adult mainstream fiction, that length would be considered a novella. Your job is to write a good story, and that means including all the detail needed to to make it good, and to leave out anything extraneous. If youve read our related article on how many words are in a novel youll recall that the typical word count for a novel according to is 80,000 to 109,000 words. Or are you a visually impaired reader who prefers largeprint editions. For example, if an author has to write a minimum or maximum amount of words for an article, essay, report, story, book, paper, you name it. Literary agent paula munier says a 90,000 word count is the sweet spot for debut fiction. Novels intended for the adult market will be longer than those targeted at children and young adults. Can jackson legitimize his second trilogy with the hobbits much slender 95,022 word count. Word count for famous novels organized by hawthorn mineart, under books, writing. Film is an unprecedentedly gratuitous stretch of source material. On the contrary, counterarguments note that racefocused critiques often omit relevant textual evidence, cite imagery from adaptations. Martins a song of ice and fire series, is the lengthiest of the five currently released books, with a word count of almost 415.

The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000 word range. Aug 03, 2017 word counts of the most popular books in the world date august 3, 2017 if youre a big reader then youve probably read a mixture of very short and very long books in your lifetime. Apr 03, 2016 and i believe pams book is good enough to one day be in that category. If youre looking for word counts of your favorite books or series, then youve come to the right place. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook. Heres what film lengths plotted against page count looks like for the 54. The hobbit, or there and back again is a childrens fantasy novel by english author j. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words. Word counts of the most popular books in the world foster grant uk. Can someone learn about god by reading the book of mormon. Most of the time, an overly long word count is a symptom of major plot or pacing problems in a novel issues that need to be solved during the revision process. Heres a look at wordcount over time by the individual book.

The lord of the rings is an epic highfantasy novel written by english author and scholar j. If youre working on a novel length book, aim for 50,000 words at the very least but its better to aim for 90,000. Word counts of the most popular books in the world foster. Therefore, the word count of a novel is crucial if you want your book to be fit for publication. Word count estimates are not guaranteed to be accurate. Honor winning childrens book illustrator peter sis, this edition of the hobbit. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a nonfiction book. By the way, if you want to know what i think of logos. The hobbit seems to be the most negative of all tolkiens books though. By the fifth book, harry potter and the order of the phoenix, the word count had grown to 257,000 words. The average word count for a typical novel ranges anywhere from 70,000 to 120,000 words, with the average hanging. Below are approximate word counts for kings published books.

A single novel can be longer, but once the length is above 110,000 words publishers may look at cutting it back, unless it is a particular kind of book books over the 110k word count are usually considered epics. More recently the fault in our stars comes in at 67,000. Word counts and other distractions griffin paul jackson. Wordcounter will help to make sure its word count reaches a specific requirement or stays within a certain limit.

Stephen king word count 112263 274,672 bag of bones 203,3 black house 252,270 blockade billy 15,917 carrie 60,718 cell 121,931 christine 193,602 cujo 121,150 cycle of the werewolf 15,955 desperation. The average word count for a typical novel ranges anywhere from 70,000 to 120,000 words, with the average hanging around 90,000. Ive put together word counts for every book of the bible. In fact, the majority of printed books are turned into ebooks. After all, if one character received ten viewpoints, all at 100 words of length. Word counts are generally agreed to be the count provided by ms words word count. I wanted to get a sense of average chapter length in books i know, ty for that btw, because i dont trust my word processor. Thats why i looked for the lotr word count, but couldnt find it. Everything you need to know about novel word counts nathan. But i think i captured enough emotion and consideration, and the prose is realitively wellpolished for a first draft. Assassins apprentice 453, the hobbit 458, and the lord of. Its tricky to find an authoritative word count, which would be ideal.

Coyne uses the nanowrimo word count length of 50,000 words for his examples, calling 50,000 words a good foundation to build upon. Interestingly enough, all three books share the same top three words. The story began as a sequel to tolkiens 1937 fantasy novel the hobbit, but. This is due in large part to the variety of subgenres within it and the trend for a book series with an ever greater word count. Oct 18, 2017 therefore, the word count of a novel is crucial if you want your book to be fit for publication. Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. These numbers are pulled from the original languages using logos bible softwareyou can see how i did it below.

The word count of 175 favorite novels broke by books. I used the lexham hebrew bible and the nestlealand novum testamentum graece for these word counts. The hobbit has more unique words and a higher unique word density than both the silmarillion and each volume in the lord of the rings. Jackson made the lord of the rings trilogy with a one book to one film ratio. Now, they dont offer word count or running time for books, but they do have a search api. Of course, when youre writing the first draft of your story, you want to just get your words out on paper. The best way to find out how many pages will be in your book is to use this calculation method. Apr 23, 2018 this post covers why word count matters for novels, the standard word count ranges for various genres, and the word counts of some famous novels. For novels specifically in the young adult genre, the typical range is between 55,000 79,999 words. To view word count in pages on a mac, go to the toolbar and click view show word count.

Word counts of the most popular books in the world. Any selfhelp or motivational nonfiction book should be between 30,000 and 70,000 words. Tolkiens initial novel, the hobbit, contained 95,022 words. Virtually every book i try to shop by a debut author thats any longer than thatregardless of categoryreceives the same response from editors. Rowlings sevenbook harry potter series is 1,084,625. Mar 30, 2018 a reader is not likely to pick up a book that screams ive been writing this in my spare time for the last 8 years and i refuse to rewrite and would never let an editor tamper with my genius. Popular novel word count in novel word count harry potter word count stephen king word count this entry was posted in lord of the rings word count, uncategorized by michael kistner. Harry potter and the sorcerers stone is about 77,500 words total.

However, since each tome blitzed the 100,000 word mark the fellowship of the ring has 177,227 words, the two towers has 143,436 words, and the return of the king has 4,462 there was more than enough descriptive ingredients for the director. None of the other books topped 500 words in a single paragraph, although there were three that surpassed 450. The harry potter books are popular, and once someone reads the first book in the series, they often end up reading the entire series. The collection as a whole posted an average chapter length of 6,100 words. I think the quality of their writing outweighed the word count issue. Since just comparing the number of unique words in a book does not take its length into account i decided to calculate the percentage of unique words of the whole text. Lord of the rings word count popular novel word count. The lord of the rings, and the hobbit, both by jrr tolkien. The hobbit movies are the only films with more minutes of film than book pages.

Reading length is a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to and affiliated sites. Is there an ideal length of a movie based on the books word count. But the word count of a chapter matters if you want your story to flow right. An unprecedentedly gratuitous stretch of source material. For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. For book length, i chose to go with word count rather than page count, since theres so much variability when it comes to the number of words. I was quickly flooded with emails from many an angry author for daring to put a word count on a level of book. May 29, 2014 ive put together word counts for every book of the bible. On one level, you could argue that word count, or length, is probably the last thing a fiction writer should worry about.

May 11, 2019 before we dive into the list, lets explore the word count of a few popular fantasy series and one favorite, bestselling author who racks up high word counts. The first chapter, the unexpected party and flies and spiders are the longest. Book length word count science fiction and fantasy world. Their destination is the coast, although they dont know what, if anything, awaits them there. There are no hardandfast rules when it comes to what word count a novel in a particular genre should be. The word count of the silmarillion is just over k words, but i wouldnt worry too much about that. Famous book series and novel word counts number of words. Childrens fiction is so varied in terms of length, type, illustration. A novelist of my acquaintance insists that the only way to estimate the number of words in a book is to multiply the number of pages by 250. The longest average chapter lengths were lord of the rings 7,500, prince of nothing 8,700, and the beefiest chapters were found in the black company, with an average chapter length of 11,300 words.

Interest level, reading level, reading az, atos, word count. Whether youre just curious about how many words are in these books or youre writing a book and want to compare the length of your novel to these famous tomes, then read on to find the word counts of famous books and series. However, there are averages and rough word counts expected by publishers. The final hobbit film is an unprecedentedly gratuitous stretch of. Of course, rules are made to be broken, especially in literature.

Your best bet is to go to a good childrens bookstore and look at books like your own in terms of target audience. The the fellowship of the ring, the first book of the lord of the rings series, swelled to 177,227 words. The word count that your computer gives you is not a standard word count like they use in publishing. Jan 19, 20 so it shows, if the book is good enough, the word count doesnt matter. Every category will have an average length, including childrens books, young adult, business books, etc.

Aug 09, 2019 a dance with dragons, the fifth book in george r. The median book length for the full series is represented by the dotted line. Harry potter and the philosophers stone 76,944 words. Here is everything writers need to know about novel word counts. Everything you need to know about novel word counts. The entire lord of the rings series including the hobbit 576,459 words. Multiply up by the number of pages and get to a rough word count. Movie length, part 2 does the density of a movie adaptation of a book have any effect on its quality. Table of contents word counts of famous book series.

Opt already knows how many words opt has in the ms. Theres the joy luck club and the hobbit at 91,000 and 95,000 words respectively. This post covers why word count matters for novels, the standard word count ranges for various genres, and the word counts of some famous novels. So it shows, if the book is good enough, the word count doesnt matter. Im editing my first book now, and im obsessed with word count. Words counts of bestselling novels better novel project. However, since each tome blitzed the 100,000 word mark the. No more than 90,000 words seems to be the editors mantra these days. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. I didnt know if you meant overall word count, or unique word count. The vary in length from about ten pages to as much as 30 pages.

Analyzing chapter lengths in fantasy fiction creativity hacker. Length of a book is typically associated with its sizespecifically page countleading many to assume the largest and thickest book equates to its length. By sharing these numbers, i hope to give some writers a bit more confidence. If youre using open office, the word count is visible in the bottom left corner. Neither too long nor too short, this book length signals a novelists competency and knowledge of the publishing market to prospective agents and editors. It was published on 21 september 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the carnegie medal and awarded a prize from the new york herald tribune for best juvenile fiction. Id guesstimate that nonfiction books generally yes, this is very rough run perhaps 150450 pages, and at about 350 wdpage that works out to something like 50150k words.

For a ballpark figure, you have approximately 10,000 words per 50 pages of manuscript if you are using 12pt font and 1 inch margins and doublespaced. The final hobbit film is an unprecedentedly gratuitous. Publishers define middle grade fiction as being for 8 to 12 year olds. But for mainstream ya it is always best to stick to under 80k. An ebook could be 3,000 words or as long as a full length book. Stephen king word count 112263 274,672 bag of bones 203,3 black house 252,270 blockade billy 15,917 carrie 60,718 cell 121,931 christine 193,602 cujo 121,150 cycle of the werewolf 15,955 desperation 195,011 doctor sleep. What isnt often considered is the sheer number of words a person who reads the entire series consumes. Nov 22, 2003 only a few authors can sell books bigger than that. Let me tell you about how i had to remove my membership from a childrens writer forum because i responded to a newbie about this topic. A statistical analysis of robert jordans the wheel of time. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words. Whats important to remember is that a word count that exceeds industry standards is not merely an arbitrary reason for publishers and agents to refuse a query or pitch. Generally a 50,000 word novel would be the minimum word count. Is there a website that gives the word counts on books.

If you are an author of a book or know of a book s accurate wordcount, contact me. In light of this, several reedsy editors have been kind enough to offer tips for authors who are in the revision process and looking to cut down on word count. A new versionrework of this post is available here this is my attempt at a rework of a post by umikehoa here as noted in the comments of that post, page count is highly variable based on text sizefont and other publication constraints and thus may not be the best measure of book length. If you know how long the book is, you can divide it into eighths to find the perfect timing for all your major turning points. One book might have 10 chapters, and another book beside it, in the same genre. But because time sometimes slows down or speeds up when were engrossed in a good story, its very hard to compare the length of different. The book with the longest paragraph was the prince of nothing, which had one paragraph of 508 words. Oftentimes, professional editing will cut down the unnecessary information so your memoir is the appropriate word count. Jun 27, 2019 of course, hiring a professional editor does come with a price tag, and most freelancers calculate their costs based on the number of words. The latter tend to have larger, and therefore fewer, pages. Feb 09, 2010 publishers define middle grade fiction as being for 8 to 12 year olds. Compiling a list of longest novels yields different results depending on whether pages, words or characters are counted.

Right now, when it comes to novellength word count, its all about 90,000 words. For a few examples, lets start on the low end of word count where we have the great gatsby clocking in at approx. I figured that if tolkien could get a monster like lotr published, then a book of my own at an approximate length would also stand a chance. A statistical analysis of robert jordans the wheel of. To get an accurate word count for your manuscript, take the character count and divide by 5. Dec 17, 2014 the final hobbit film is an unprecedentedly gratuitous stretch of source material. How many pages do the lord of the rings books have. That was the formula in the good old days when courier was the only typeface and typewriters were king. However, this does not necessarily mean it is more difficult to read.