Don't let the word count dictate what you want to write, but definitely keep it in mind. Word Count: 66,509. Children’s Book Categories. 3. Heartless by Marissa Meyer Word Count: 127,167. Alphabet Magic — 285. Made with ♥ in Boise by Bridger Putnam. You’ll use the word count in your Word document to calculate book page count. Be true to your story. Board books are those tough little things you give to the smallest of readers. When it comes to word counts and target ages for picture books (especially nonfiction), I caution writers not to subscribe to hard and fast limitations. ... My books are all 500 words or less. Let's take a look at a few examples. Find strong, sparkling, evocative replacements -- words that would offer an artist terrific clues for illustrations. Picture books are almost always 32 pages. My word count was a shocking 2,000 words. Musings on Word Count • Natascha Biebow Every agent and publisher seems to be in agreement – do not send us anything but short picture book texts, preferably under 600 words.
In some cases, these books will have no words at all, such as for the very small child who likes to feel the fluffy cotton tail of a bunny or push the squeaker for a duck quack. Wayfarer by R.J. Anderson Word Count: 68,167 Note: AR Book Finder categorizes this book as a Middle Grade.

A good first step when editing any length of book is to go page by page and diligently cut every word, phrase, scene or character that doesn't directly contribute to the plot. Down on the Farm — 250. 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. Is it accurate? It broke my heart but those events had to be cut. Still, in my mind, MG should be a novel not a picture book.
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 Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Picture book word count varies widely. In truth, most picture books are far below that range. Right now, the sweet spot is probably closer to around 300 – 400 for most picture books. The word count to aim for with this type of book is usually between 500 and 600 words. BOOK FINDER. Picture books (PB) come in many shapes and sizes, and for a variety of ages. Accuracy of Word Count. This is what I came away with. Unfortunately, they don't offer word count so I've created an algorithm based on the number of pages, genre, and the dimensions of the book. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom — 563. They are very often written in rhyme. Chicken Wants A Nap is 150 words. EARLY PICTURE BOOKS. David Fickling once told me not to worry about word count, "just write what the story needs!" TO FIND THE WORD COUNT IN YOUR FAVORITE KIDS BOOK, VISIT THE A.R. Down, down, down. I use Amazon's data feeds to come up with the calculation. WordCounter will help to make sure its word count reaches a specific requirement or stays within a certain limit. Generally, the word count for a picture book should be 800 max for fiction, and 1200 max for non-fiction.

Calculate book page count using your word count. When publishers talk of pb's, they are probably talking about this group. Knowing the word count of a text can be important. Your Word Thesaurus will help you prune out all those tired, overused words. Board Books Target Ages: 0–5 years Target Word Count: less than 300. First of all, find your word count in Word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen: Once you know your word count, follow one of our two methods below to estimate your page count. Picture book writers are often tempted to add scenes and secondary characters that make the story unnecessarily complex. Word count estimates are not guaranteed to be accurate. Though, please note that most of the sources I found had slightly different numbers (and I think I'm missing a couple sub-categories). When writing for the younger ages especially, every word must count. “Parents don’t want to read long bedtime stories," they argue.

Target Word Count: 200-400