How many words are in a book? The short answer is between 60,000 and 100,000 words, but the real number depends on genre, audience and publishing platform. This 2026 guide pulls together the definitive data: tables by book type and genre, a comparison of famous English-language titles, a formula to convert words into pages, and the up-to-date minimums for Amazon KDP, Wattpad and traditional publishers.
An average book contains 60,000 to 100,000 words. Standard novels hover around 80,000, short stories range from 2,000 to 10,000, flash fiction stays under 500, and epic or fantasy novels can pass 150,000 words.
How many words in a book? Average, minimum, maximum
Before diving into genres and platforms, three reference points anchor everything else: the word count of an average book, the shortest publishable book and the historical ceiling. These three data points let you place your own manuscript on the right end of the scale.
Table: how many words a book has by type
The classic classification recognizes five book types based on word count. It is the first table any editor checks to see whether your manuscript fits their catalog and, in self-publishing, it determines the category your book will appear under.
| Book type | Words | Pages approx. | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flash fiction | < 500 | 1–2 | "For sale: baby shoes" (Hemingway, attrib.) |
| Short story | 500–10,000 | 2–35 | "The Lottery" (Shirley Jackson) |
| Novella | 20,000–50,000 | 70–180 | "Animal Farm" (Orwell) |
| Novel | 60,000–100,000 | 220–360 | "To Kill a Mockingbird" |
| Epic novel | 120,000+ | 430+ | "The Pillars of the Earth" |
The threshold between short story and novella is fluid: some publishers accept 15,000-word texts as novellas, others require a 25,000-word minimum. If your manuscript sits right on that boundary, check the publisher's guidelines before submitting.
Words per literary genre in 2026
Beyond type, each genre has an expected length that the market has settled on. Knowing these ranges helps you calibrate the length of your book and avoid an automatic rejection for unsuitable extension.
Romance
Typical bestsellers: 70k–85k words.
Fantasy & sci-fi
Epic sagas: 200k+ per installment.
Thriller & mystery
Fast pace, short chapters.
Historical fiction
Requires deep period development.
Young Adult (YA)
Snappy voice, fluid pacing.
Children's
Picture book: <1k. Middle grade: 25k–50k.
A useful note for bilingual authors: Spanish runs roughly 15-20% longer than English for the same story. A translated novel that runs 80,000 words in English typically lands around 95,000 in Spanish. If you compare your manuscript against a translated bestseller, apply that factor.
Famous books: how many words they have
To place your manuscript in perspective, here is a curated table of the word counts of widely read English-language books. Numbers are approximate — they depend on edition and translation — but they work as comparative benchmarks.
Notice the contrast: The Little Prince contains 38 times fewer words than Atlas Shrugged, and both are global bestsellers. Length does not determine commercial impact; the story and reader fit do.
From words to pages: the 2026 formula
The inevitable question: how many pages will my book be? It depends on print format, font and layout, but there is a stable formula the publishing industry has used for decades.
- 📘 Fiction: ÷ 280 words/page
- 📗 Non-fiction: ÷ 233 words/page
- 📕 Academic: ÷ 350 words/page
Words to Pages
Convert any word count into pages with customizable spacing and font.
Try the tool →Practical example: an 80,000-word novel runs roughly 290 pages in 5×8 inch trim with 1.5 line spacing. The same word count in mass-market paperback (4.25×6.87 in) rises to ~330 pages; in a hardcover trade size (6×9 in) it drops to 250. For shorter conversions, see our guide on how many pages 1000 words is.
Minimums by self-publishing platform (2026 data)
If you are going to self-publish, each platform has its own word floor. These figures are updated to May 2026 according to each service's official guidelines and are critical so your book is not rejected during review.
Reading time and writing time by book length
Knowing how many words a book has has two practical consequences: how long the reader will spend finishing it and how long you will spend writing it. At 250 wpm reading speed and 500 words/day writing (the Stephen King classic target), the numbers look like this:
| Length | Reading | Writing (500/day) |
|---|---|---|
| 20,000 (long short story) | 1 h 20 min | 40 days |
| 50,000 (novella) | 3 h 20 min | 100 days (~3 months) |
| 80,000 (standard novel) | 5 h 20 min | 160 days (~5 months) |
| 120,000 (epic) | 8 h | 240 days (~8 months) |
| 200,000 (saga) | 13 h | 400 days (~13 months) |
💡 Want to measure your actual writing speed? Paste your daily session into our online word counter and you'll see how many words, characters and paragraphs you produced at a glance. If you'd rather check how many words per minute people read, we have an interactive 1-minute test.
More words = better book? Myths and truths
A book's word count is just a technical number, not a quality measurement. These three myths keep circulating among new writers and deserve to be dismantled:
"My book needs at least 100,000 words to be taken seriously as a novel."
The Little Prince (17,000 words) has sold over 200 million copies in 80 years.
"The more words a book has, the higher critics will rate it."
Hemingway won the Nobel with novels of 30,000–50,000 words. Concision wins prizes too.
"If I don't hit 80,000 words, no editor will read me."
The word count of a book is decided by the story. Indie publishers regularly accept 40,000-word novels.
How to count the words in your book (Word, Google Docs, PDF)
Counting how many words are in a book is trivial with the right tools. These are the three fastest routes, ordered by simplicity:
Microsoft Word
Menu Review → Word Count or Ctrl+Shift+G. Shows words, characters and pages.
Google Docs
Menu Tools → Word count or Ctrl+Shift+C. Turn on "display while typing".
Frequently asked questions about how many words are in a book
How many words are in a 100-page book?
How many words are in a children's book?
How many words are in a Stephen King book?
How many words per day should I write to finish a book in one year?
What is the longest book ever written?
How many words is a bestseller novel?
Can you publish a 20,000-word book?
How do I count words in a PDF book?
Recommended tools for your book
Knowing how many words are in a book is just step one. These three free tools follow you through the whole writing and revision process, from first draft to final manuscript ready for submission.
Word Counter
Count words, characters and reading time instantly.
Open →Words to Pages
Convert your book's word count to exact page counts.
Open →Readability Analyzer
Measure whether your prose matches your reader's level.
Open →Keep exploring: how to write an essay · how to write a summary · how many words is a thesis · how many words a college essay should have.