What Is A Good Word Count?

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A good word count is whatever readers of your genre expect. For an adult or young adult novel, Reedsy’s 2026 medians run from 55,000 to 93,000 words (middle grade is 31,000), and most genres sit between 67,000 and 85,000. For nonfiction that solves one problem it can be much shorter, and my 3,000 word books sell very well. Don’t go under about 3,000 words if you want a paperback, because KDP needs at least 24 pages. The rest of this post covers why, and how to check your own genre.

How long should a novel be?

Reedsy’s guide to novel length (posted 05-Nov-26) looked at the middle length of the 8,890 books its editors received in 2026. They show what writers send for editing, so use them as a guide, not a rule.

Reedsy also gives four nonfiction medians: biographies and memoirs 51,000, business and management 40,000, Christian nonfiction 34,000 and self-improvement 32,000. For lengths by type of book, use the three steps further down.

Reedsy’s sample is books sent for editing, not a count of what sells, so check your own genre’s best sellers before you settle on a length. From what most authors tell me, a fiction book far under its genre’s usual length will disappoint readers.

How long should a nonfiction book be?

As long as it takes to solve the reader’s problem. People have a problem and they want you to solve it. When I started, I read books, watched videos and took courses, and everyone said something different: 10,000 to 15,000 words, or 30,000, or even shorter and split into several books. There was a time when everyone published 1,000 to 3,000 word books.

I tested it myself. My longest book is 60,000 to 80,000 words. My shortest is about 1,000. Out of the 230 books I have published, the 3,000 word books do incredibly well, especially when I group them into bundles. They tend to make me more money than my 25,000 to 70,000 word books. That is nonfiction. In your niche people may expect much longer, so check.

A quick way to check your own genre: open the top ten books in your category on Amazon, note the page counts, and aim for the middle. Too far under and readers feel cheated, and too far over and they never finish.

Does word count affect what Kindle+ (Kindle Unlimited) pays?

Yes. Amazon now calls Kindle Unlimited Kindle+, and KDP’s help page on Kindle+ royalties says earnings are measured in Kindle Edition Normalized Pages (KENP) read by subscribers, and you are paid the first time a subscriber reads a page. A very short book has few pages to read, so it earns very little there. I compare formats in more money with paperbacks or ebooks.

How long can a paperback be?

KDP’s print options page sets a ceiling as well as a floor. For a 5 x 8 inch paperback it lists 24 to 828 pages in black ink on white paper, 24 to 776 on cream paper, and 72 to 600 for standard color ink. A hardcover runs from 75 to 550 pages. The limit depends on the paper and ink you pick, so check the table for your trim size. For choosing the trim size itself, see KDP publishing sizes: how to select the right one.

A novel of 90,000 words usually lands well inside those limits, so the ceiling matters mostly for very long fantasy series or books with many images. My advice: if your word count pushes you near the top, split the book in two rather than squeezing the layout. Readers like a series, and each part gets its own cover and sales page. To see which side of the limit your word count lands on, try my book page count calculator.

Ink and paper change the limits too. On the same print options page, a 5 x 8 inch paperback in standard color ink needs at least 72 pages, where black ink only needs 24. Cream paper allows up to 776 pages and white paper up to 828, because cream paper is thicker. If you plan a color interior, a 3,000 word book will not reach 72 pages unless it has many images. My advice: decide on ink and paper before you decide on length, because they set your floor and ceiling.

What is the minimum word count for a paperback?

KDP’s print options page sets the minimum at 24 pages for a paperback in black ink, and 75 for a hardcover. In my books, about 3,000 words plus the title page, copyright page and a disclaimer comes to 28 to 30 pages. Format with Atticus and you get the Kindle and paperback versions from the same file.

My short books rarely get one-star reviews, which surprised me. People find them helpful when the book tells them what they came for: training a puppy, vertical gardening, a diet. Something that can be summed up quickly.

Can short books become audiobooks?

Yes, and production costs less. ACX’s help page says that from 26-May-26 Audible’s new royalty model pays 50% for exclusive distribution and 30% for non-exclusive, up from 40% and 25%. Check the current terms before you pick a distribution option. I have found 3,000 word books earn me more than 6,000 word ones, but different people have different experiences. I cover audio in more detail in are all Kindle books audio.

What’s the right length for your book?

Check the top sellers in your genre, write enough to solve the reader’s problem, and stop there. Word count advice is full of myths, and readers shared the worst ones in the greatest misinformation about book publishing. If you are still planning your book and its length, get my free 12-step checklist and go through the steps in order. Tell me in the comments what you have found.

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