Book Length: How Long Should a Book Be?

About this video

Dale Roberts argues there is no universal ideal book length and rejects the old self-publishing rule he attributes to earlier would-be experts that a book should be 10,000 words, or about 60 to 70 pages, saying reader expectations have changed drastically in recent years. Instead he offers a three-step plan that applies whether you write the book yourself or hire a ghostwriter. First, know your niche and the unique expectations of its reading audience. Second, know your competition: scout the top 10 best-selling books in the category, calculate the average page count of all 10, or model the book anchored at the top of the bestseller list. Third, know your plan and set realistic expectations for yourself or a hired writer. As his own pacing example, he says he tries to shoot for about 1,000 to 3,000 words per day, which can finish a first draft of a novel in about 90 days or crank out a Kindle short read in about one to three days. He closes by stressing that length varies greatly from one niche to the next and that fiction and nonfiction are two different animals, so research before starting a project.

Key takeaways

• Reject the old 10,000-word / 60-to-70-page rule as outdated because reader expectations have changed
• Know your niche first and get a pulse on what that specific audience wants and demands
• Scout the top 10 bestsellers in your category and use their average page count, or model the top-anchored book
• Plan production realistically: Dale cites 1,000 to 3,000 words per day as his target pace
• At that pace he cites about 90 days for a novel first draft versus one to three days for a Kindle short read, and notes fiction and nonfiction lengths differ

Episode details: published August 5, 2017 · 3:00 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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