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How To Write a Book: How Long Should My Book Be?

When asked that question, my response is: How long should a piece of string be? I get a blank look, then frustration creeps in before realization. A piece of string is cut for a specific purpose and can be as long or as short as appropriate. The real answer is: There is no one rule for book-length. However, the answers to these two questions will tell you how long YOUR book should be:

What is the length of currently popular books in your genre?

This will tell you what readers expect when they buy your book. That’s a good target.

How many pages do you need to properly tell your story?

Estimate the depth you need to go to in order to bring your tale fully to life.

If the number of pages you estimate you'll need is incompatible with what sells in your genre you'll want to re-evaluate your genre. If your genre is solid, move on to re-evaluating the depth of your content. Something is causing the currently popular books to come in higher or lower than yours. Do you need to economize on your level of detail? Do you need to flesh out your characters, location descriptions, or action in order to bring your length into line with what's selling currently?



You don't want to confuse your reader and leave them making a snap judgment, "This was a skimpy book!" or "This book is a brick!" Perhaps neither is fair, but readers have expectations and there's no getting around that. Even Stephen King at the height of his popularity put off people with The Stand* because at over 1,100 pages it intimidated even his rabid fans who gulped at the sheer volume. 

When a book far exceeds popular page length, the writer can take a look at whether the book can be broken into two or even three books. A case in point is The Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris. I see the story of Sookie Stackhouse as one big saga that Charlaine broke into 14 delectable bites (no pun intended) for her audience to gobble up. If she'd delivered it in one book it would have rivaled Proust and choked more than a few would-be fans.

In the end, your book will be as long as you want it to be--but don't flout expectations or you may regret it.

-- Anna Erikssön Bendewald 


*The Stand is one of my favorite books and I'm one of his loyal fans who would read anything by him. The Stand overcame initial size hesitancy to become a smash hit.






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