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Kindle Document: How many words??

by drum.deborah
9 replies
Hello - I am just curious what other kindle publishers think is a decent sized book.

I usually target about 12,000 words but I would love to get some other input on this topic.

Thanks,
Debbie
#document #kindle #length #words
  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    I never write for length. When you do you end up subconsciously filling your pages with fluff. Most readers don't judge a piece of writing by length they judge by quality. My best Kindle seller is around 7000 words and it's priced at $5.
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    • Profile picture of the author PhillyGalJen
      I have yet to finish my first kindle offering. However, I was just writing and filling out the outline that I had started with and not worrying about word count.

      I believe that if you give excellant information that it does not matter if it is 12k or 7k words. Of course, this is how I see things now. My view might change once I get some books published.
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        I'm working on one right now. Here's the process:

        > Write the sales letter (description) first.

        > Make an outline putting the things in your description in logical order.

        > Fill in any gaps in the outline.

        > Start writing. Keep writing until all items in the outline have been addressed. This is the first draft.

        > Compare the draft to the description (sales letter). If you added a benefit to the book, add it to the description. If you missed or omitted something that is in the description, either add it to the book or remove it from the description.

        > At this point, the book is essentially 'done'. All that's left is editing, proofing, formatting, adding graphics, etc. - the mechanics of getting the book ready to sell.

        At the current stage I'm at in the process, I have no idea how many words the book will end up. But I know it will be complete and it will over-deliver on the description.
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  • Profile picture of the author marciayudkin
    You don't have to guess at this. Amazon now shows a rough equivalent page count for Kindle ebooks that do not have a corresponding paperback version. If they do have a paperback version, they show the number of pages in the paperback.

    Poke around in various categories, and you can see how long various kinds of books tend to be. Then see if there are any complaints about a Kindle book being too short.

    Some of my successful Kindle ebooks are only 6000 words or so and I haven't seen or heard a single complaint.

    Note too that I'm careful to state in the ebook description that the ebook is concise.

    Marcia Yudkin
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    • Profile picture of the author jerbark
      How many Kindle pages does 6,000 words equate to?
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by jerbark View Post

        How many Kindle pages does 6,000 words equate to?
        The technical answer is "one"...

        Otherwise, there are many variables to account for - including text size and screen size.

        6,000 words would equate to a typical paperback novel sized "book" of about 24 pages. More like a pamphlet...
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  • Profile picture of the author JerryKuzma
    From a marketing perspective, we aim for VALUE for MONEY.

    If the reader pays $5 and gets $20 in value within 5,000 words, then you will have a satisfied customer.

    Overdeliver, regardless of length, and charge a fair price. That is a reasonable rule for marketing any written product.

    Of course, if your writing is crap, 3x the length is just a lot of crap....LOL!

    Be encouraged.....Jerry K
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  • Profile picture of the author anders3397
    A "decent sized" book is one that the reader feels has satisfied them when they have finished reading it so it really is as long as a piece of string. Aim to provide great information and avoid fluff and, in non fiction at least, try to find solutions for the reader's problems. Length is secondary.
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