What Is the Difference Between Fiction and Nonfiction Books?
The difference between Fiction and Nonfiction books is that fiction is made up of plots, settings, and characters made up by the writer, while nonfiction is made up of true stories about real people and events.
Why word count in Fiction and Nonfiction book is important?
Do you know you could write for decades if you have a great idea? You can compose a trilogy or decalogy. You could write 100,000 words. But If you want others to read your fiction and nonfiction books, make a deal with them.
Readers take up a book with an idea. A 12-year-old can finish a book in a week if they’re interested in it. They expect 20,000 to 50,000 words. The reader expects a certain experience, and you offer it.
This fact is true for both fiction and nonfiction books. When a businesswoman buys a romance thriller at the airport, she intends to escape her trip plans for six hours. The romantic thriller will have action, character development (and an exciting romantic connection). She’ll finish the book shortly. The thriller should be 75-90k words. Again, a reader-writer contract.
To be honest, every rule has an exception. Stephen King and J.K. Rowling are exceptions since they’ve made publishers millions. Their reader contract is different from yours. Readers trust them since they’ve been popular for decades. You must prove yourself as a beginner writer. Part of showing oneself is writing well within a word limit.
Knowing your fiction and nonfiction books’ word count can help you reach your objective. You may trace your writing progress as you get closer to your destination.
Fiction and nonfiction authors struggle with word count. You will terrify publishers and readers if you use too many words. Also, producing and shipping your book will cost extra. The price will be higher.
If there aren’t enough words, people might think the book doesn’t have much to say. A short book won’t stand out on the shelf. A book with fewer than 96 pages may not have a spine title.
A book’s word count fits its genre or category. A well-written book uses exactly the perfect number of words. A reader can feel its weight. The reader benefits. So here is your guide to book word counts for Fiction and nonfiction books:
Fiction
· Thriller Book
For a good suspense thriller to keep the reader interested, the story has to keep going. The structure of a mystery novel book is made up of between 70,000 and 90,000 words.
· Science Fiction And Fantasy Book
Creating a world is an art form in science fiction and fantasy books. This type of writing takes longer than others because you have to create a whole new world. Most fantasy books have between 90,000 and 120,000 words.
· Romance Book
In romance books, not every love story is as epic as. Most romantic stories today are fun to read and easy to get through. Some are only 50,000 words long, which makes them perfect for reading on the beach. A high-quality romantic novel has 100,000 words.
· Historical Fiction Book
Because it takes more words to describe a made-up historical setting, historical fiction usually has around 100,000 words.
Non Fiction
Nonfiction books don’t have a set word count guide because there are many different subgenres. If you are writing a nonfiction book, look up other books in the same genre to see how long they are. For example, most memoirs by book writing services in USA have between 80,000 and 90,00 words.
These word count ranges are typical for books, but you shouldn’t use them to figure out the exact number of words you need for your book. We’ve all heard about books in each genre that were published with fewer or more words than the average.
Know what readers expect when it comes to the word counts in your category, even if the reader doesn’t know what they think a book should be.
Use these numbers as a place to start with your writing goals.
· Biography
The Word count for a biography is between 80,000 to 110,000 words. Biographies of well-known authors tend to be longer. In many cases, the best thing is to do whatever other books in a similar genre are doing or whatever your publisher demands.
· Memoirs
Memoirs usually have between 60,000 and 90,000 words. You can write more than one memoir. Each one can be about a different part of your life or a different time in your life.
· Business And Money Book
The Word count for a business and money book is between 40,000 to 80,000 words.
· History Book
The Word count for a history book is between 60,000 to 100,000 (ideally 70,000 to 85,000 words). A book about local history should be less long. For example, books by The History Press are usually between 30,000 and 40,000 words long and have a lot of historical photos.
· Self-Help And How-To-Books
The word count for self-help and how-to books is between 20,000 to 70,000 (ideally 40,000 to 70,000 words). There are books about parenting and relationships, as well as books about health and fitness. Self-published eBooks and books with a narrow focus may be on the shorter side of the range (20,000 to 50,000 words).
· Big Idea Book
The Word count for the Big Idea book (in the style of Malcolm Gladwell’s best-sellers) is between 60,000 to 80,000 words. About 70,000 words are in Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.
Conclusion:
When Should You Care About The Word Count? Don’t think about anything as you write. To put it simply, write. Most of the first draughts will be too long or too short. They are just draughts! We clean them up when we write them up.
When you’re ready to show your Fiction and Nonfiction books to agents, small publishers, or self-publish, give the word count a close look.
Author Bio
I am Zoya Arya, and I have been working as Content Writer at Rananjay Exports for past 2 years. My expertise lies in researching and writing both technical and fashion content. I have written multiple articles on Gemstone Jewelry like Opal Ring and other stones over the past years and would love to explore more on the same in future. I hope my work keeps mesmerizing you and helps you in the future.
