Stephen king book word counts

Sep 07, 2018 then again, stephen kings books often approach a similar size and hes immensely popular and though it has a total word count of 445,000, i can confirm its all killer and no filler. How many words in a novel and word counts for other types. Here is an inspiring list that shows the daily word counts of thirtynine different writers. I recently listened to blaze as my first stephen king book. Perkins agency in new york says its much easier to market a firsttime novelists book if the word count falls between 80,000 and 100,000 words, or roughly 300 doublespaced, typed pagesthe average novel length.

Nevertheless, you would be wise to come close to these suggested manuscript lengths. Sep 24, 2016 stephen king answers with a simple formula. A lot does seem dependent on the publisher though i havent drilled down through the figures as yet, but there appear to be publishers who prefer smaller works ie, im told elizabeth bear is contracted to 110k per book from tor, but daw seems especially unfazed by fat word counts. In my opinion, stephen king is a absolutely fantastic writer. Hes a bestselling storyteller, but for a book to last big auditoriums and mazelike are just not going to cut it. Famous book series and novel word counts number of words. Every single stephen king book, ranked from worst to best. A friend came to visit james joyce one day and found the great man sprawled across his writing desk in a posture of utter despair.

Then again, stephen king s books often approach a similar size and hes immensely popular and though it has a total word count of 445,000, i can confirm its all killer and no filler. When combined, the total harry potter word count is over a million words. Even if you dont have a word count yet, prompts are an excellent way to exercise the writing muscle. For example, atonement has a word count of 123,378 and my utility comes up with 110,765 words. Jan 12, 2018 in other words, not only has stephen king written some genius novels and short stories, novellas, essays, and works of criticism, but hes written a lot of them51 novels to date, in fact, with number 52 coming up shortly. Ben mears arguably the main single character of the novel only takes up 20% of. The protagonist is psychotic, but i was oddly captivated by the past and present timelines king narrated the story with. If you want to know how many words you should write every day, read. This helps to explain why stephen king does not always get the literary cred that he wants. Most young adult novels fall between 55,000 and 70,000 words.

I know some people base word counts off information from sites that estimate using audiobook lengths or other things like that, but thats the actual word count from the text file itself, converted from kindle to. Dec 28, 2017 stephen king, for instance, may get away with an excessively long book, but youll note he usually doesnt, because he knows his audience and their endurance level. Based on this list compiled by nicole humphrey cook. The daily word counts of 39 famous authors a word count example to live by for firsttime authors. Hey, its only 44 hours and 55 minutes to listen to the audiobook. King has published 63 novels, including seven under the pen name richard bachman, and five nonfiction. Hi ann, can you give me an example of a published 270,000 word novel.

The daily word counts of 39 famous authors writers write. Another quarter mile hardcover june 1, 1979 by stephen king author see all formats and editions hide other formats and editions. I bought all stephen king ebooks, and converted them to text which i used to run. The full edition is the longest book by stephen king, both in page and word count as it nears 500,000 words. Salems lot is kings second novel, published just after carrie. Stephen king word count 112263 274,672 bag of bones 203,3 black house 252,270 blockade billy 15,917 carrie 60,718 cell 121,931 christine 193,602 cujo 121,150 cycle of the werewolf 15,955 desperation 195,011 doctor sleep. Apr 15, 2018 horror suggests not going higher than 100,000 yet stephen kings it clocks in at over 437,000 words. Onethird of the novels that come into the agency are rejected because theyre too long or short, perkins says. Why did stephen kings it need to be over 1,000 words. The following is a complete list of books published by stephen king, an american author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy. Like a general fiction novel, a good target word count for a memoir is 80,000 words. How many words in a novel and word counts for other types of.

Longer word counts allowed for fantasy, scifi, paranormal, historical. Jan 27, 2017 on the point of joyce, theres a good stephen king joke on the subject of his word count. The word count of 175 favorite novels broke by books. Christine is nowhere near 387,000 words maybe half that at most. A list of stephen king s novels, organized alphabetically. Every stephen king novel summarized in 140 characters or. Given a standard font size of 11 and an average word count per page of 475 for a 6. For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. King on king stephen king on his 10 longest novels time. Stephen king isnt capable of writing a bad book imho. Never pad your manuscript just to meet a wordcount guideline. Get the inside scoop on how many words a typical novel has, and how it varies by. The daily word counts of 19 famous writers word counter blog. At an average reading rate of 125 words per minute, thats about 145 hours of reading.

It 1986 small town kids join together to battle evil and then celebrate by having a sewer orgy. Jul 24, 2009 with paper costs being what they are, a bigger book was too expensive. A memoir of the craft, king speaks on his writing speed. However, we do not suggest writing a novel of 500,000 words unless you as established as stephen king is. I bought all stephen king ebooks, and converted them to text which i used to run through various tools. The eyes of the dragon 1987 the book that inspired hbos game of thrones. Dolores claiborne is an american opera composed by tobias picker. So a 270,000 word count makes that novel somewhere around 1,300 pages.

Stephen king seems to be one of the most prolific writers of all time. I have no problem with the strong language his book have. Apr 11, 2015 stephen king word count 112263 274,672 bag of bones 203,3 black house 252,270 blockade billy 15,917 carrie 60,718 cell 121,931 christine 193,602 cujo 121,150 cycle of the werewolf 15,955 desperation 195,011 doctor sleep. His novels can be extremely long and wordy, so one would think he would write an immense amount of words daily. Each page he writes for most of his books is full of life and color.

The list of books and their page counts was supplied by kings office and refers to the american hardcover editions. Word counts of famous book series harry potter by jk rowling. He has no patience for those people who say they want to be writers but also complain they dont have enough time to read. It is just that this book had the potential to be scary or at least pleasantly creepy. Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. Perhaps you might even start out with a 500word goal and gradually work your way up to 2,000 words. Also, heres another list i may swipe and add in here.

Obviously, my point is not that you should submit a first book of anywhere near 200,000 words. I like to start by knowing the word count and number of chapters that are typical for the genre. Not only do you need to know how many words are in a novel, but also why and how the genre youre writing it can change this word count this is how many words are in a novel. Then if you read enough, a really magic moment will always occur to those who want to become a. Heres how stephen king feels about the early doctor sleep. In 1990, king revealed that he had kept the material, and was allowed to turn the stand into an uncut version, as well as correcting time mistakes and adding popular culture references from the 80s and 90s, as the book took place in the. And remember, keeping to word counts is important, but what makes or breaks your chances with a publisher is the quality of your manuscript. A list of stephen kings novels, organized alphabetically. With paper costs being what they are, a bigger book was too expensive. Voracious reading is a must if you want to be a good writer. Stephen king, for instance, may get away with an excessively long book, but youll note he usually doesnt, because he knows his audience and their endurance level.

Then if you read enough, a really magic moment will always occur to. Sep 20, 2019 the stand by stephen king 500,000 words. Im just saying that some things are more important than word counts. The king james version, for instance, has 783,7 words. If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others. A lot does seem dependent on the publisher though i havent drilled down through the figures as yet, but there appear to be publishers who prefer smaller works ie, im told elizabeth bear is contracted to 110k per book from tor, but. His stories can be mindblowing, but for me it takes movies like the shawshank redemption and the green mile to bring his ideas to life. The stephen king adaptation has become almost as much a staple as the stephen king novel in the collective imagination, with countless produced shorts, films, and tv series based on his work. Popular novel word count the worlds largest word count. So its important to take each of the writers word counts with a pinch of salt in that, just because they are writing x amount of words. Ghost brothers of darkland county, an original musical with book by stephen king and music and lyrics by john mellencamp. Writing is not life, but i think that sometimes it can be a way back to life.

It is quite a long book, coming in at 444,414 words, and probably could have been cut down a little bit in some peoples opinion. May 31, 2019 stephen king likes to break all the rules. Stephen king is a literary icon, a status hes achieved by a defining a genre. A guide to word counts filles vertes publishing, llc. In other words, not only has stephen king written some genius novels and short stories, novellas, essays, and works of criticism, but hes written a lot of them51 novels to date, in fact, with number 52 coming up shortly. Its also fun to look at the word counts in the work of one author in particular, so i decided to do a little exploring and find out the word counts of some books by a beloved author, stephen king, a prolific writer with millions of words among his many books. The longest is the order of the phoenix with a word count of 257,000 words.

I dont believe any editor or agent would gripe about 90k rather than 90,000. The sorcerers stone 77,325 words the chamber of secrets 84,799 words the prisoner of azkaban 106,821 words. Price new from used from hardcover, june 1, 1979 please retry. King has published 63 novels, including seven under the pen name richard. Shes not a big enough name yet to write her own rules like a stephen king or j. A compelling story will carry most readers through longer word counts than the standard ranges without their noticing. List of adaptations of works by stephen king wikipedia. Novel word counts can range considerably depending on the genre or subgenre of writing. I used easy word count, but i tried several including microsoft word word count, and i noticed each one gave a slight different answer. His books have sold more than 350 million copies, and many of them have been adapted into feature films, television movies and comic books.

Long story shortthe industry and readers have standards based on book category and. Jun 16, 2017 a compelling story will carry most readers through longer word counts than the standard ranges without their noticing. As you can see, word count for science fiction books vary widely. May 07, 2020 in fact, word counts for these books run between 40,000 to 50,000 words.

Horror suggests not going higher than 100,000 yet stephen kings it clocks in at over 437,000 words. Word count for famous novels organized commonplace book. Sharp objects has a word count of 80,565 and my utility calculates it at 80,7. Martins a game of thrones, has a word count of almost 293,000. Perhaps you might even start out with a 500word goal. After all, stories are written one word at a time, and. Aug 06, 2016 here is an inspiring list that shows the daily word counts of thirtynine different writers. Nov 09, 2009 the list of books and their page counts was supplied by kings office and refers to the american hardcover editions. Storm of the century, alternatively known as stephen king s storm of the century, is a 1999 american horror television miniseries written by stephen king and directed by craig r.

In fact, word counts for these books run between 40,000 to 50,000 words. Aug 05, 2019 even stephen kings old stuff isnt that long. Unlike many other king miniseries, storm of the century was not based upon a stephen king novel king wrote it as a screenplay from the beginning. The popular novel, which is considered to be among kings best, prominently features a vast number of characters who live in the town salems lot in fact, he spends almost 34 the novel head jumping between various townsfolk. Apr 23, 2019 the stephen king adaptation has become almost as much a staple as the stephen king novel in the collective imagination, with countless produced shorts, films, and tv series based on his work. Many, yes, but there are exceptions due to the layout and font size of a particular book. In fact, he spends almost 34 the novel head jumping between various townsfolk. Then again, stephen kings books often approach a similar size and hes immensely popular and though it has a total word count of 445,000, i can confirm its all killer and no filler. Their best answer, in order to keep her book in tact, was to shrink the word size on the page and crowd more lines onto each page.

In this post, we talk about word counts and answer the question. Sep 18, 2014 this helps to explain why stephen king does not always get the literary cred that he wants. A books word count does matter and if you get it wrong, this can. Aside from them, gone with the wind debuted at over 400,000 words, and tolstoy was known for big words counts with anna karenina being over 340,000 words and war and peace being over 550,000 words.

King has published 63 novels, including seven under. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction. If yours is too short, restructure it and add more tightly written stuff. Ive been a stephen king fan for almost 35 years and honestly, i dont get the love this book is getting. But what really counts is the final word from the storys creator, stephen king. Stephen king novels by word count a novel best seller. Search for word count totals in books word counters. He has no patience for those people who say they want to be writers but also complain they don\t have enough time to read. The popular novel, which is considered to be among kings best, prominently features a vast number of characters who live in the town salems lot. There may be times when someone doesnt want to pick up a long book, but on the whole i dont think most readers much notice word count. If you want to learn how to write a book, sign up for our online course.