How Long Should A Self-Published Book Be?

How long should a self-published novel be? How many words is “average” for a self-published book?
This is one of my most frequently asked questions, so I’m talking about that today and sharing the Top 4 things you should consider when setting a target word count for your book.
I’m also so crazy excited to announce the launch of my custom-designed goal-setting 90 Day planner for authors. This is the Q4 printable version that goes from October 1-December 31, 2018, so if you are ready to set some major goals, figure out your priorities, and get your to-do list organized to finish the year out strong, pick it up now for only $11.25 (on sale until October 8th!)
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The 2019 versions, as well as an undated version, will be on sale soon!
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Heart Breathings - Episode 53
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About Me: My name is Sarra Cannon, and I've been indie publishing since 2010. In that time, I have published 25 books and sold well over half a million copies.
I've made some mistakes along the way, but I've also learned some valuable lessons that I think will help you reach your goals. I can't wait to help you learn to make money writing what you love.
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[@HeartBreathings]

What are your best tips on setting a target word count? Do you have an average word count for your books? If so, share your genre!

[@magendionne6340]

Hello, my husband says to not separate my trilogy manuscript from book 1-3. He says its stupid and it will save time and money. But i think i should separate them. What do you think?

[@HeartBreathings]

@@magendionne6340 he's saying to publish it as a set? Rather than three separate books? I'm not sure I understand! If you've written a trilogy, you'll almost always be better off publishing them separately. Yes, it saves money to do a bundle, but it's almost always better to have more products on the market. I would publish them individually with a solid strategy and then later offer them as a bundle with a slight discount.

[@magendionne6340]

He wants me to edit them together as one, then separate them into different books.

[@Sailortwilight]

Right now my first two books averaged around 65k, but my third book is probably going to be closer to 90 to 100k. :-) I write a new adult urban fantasy series. I just discovered your KZbin channel but have found your advice very helpful. Thank you for the advice!

[@UtahGmaw99]

I am 65 years old and have wanted to write for years. Thank you for your encouraging videos. Now I can get this done before I get to old . lol

[@HeartBreathings]

Definitely go for it!

[@freespeechisdead1565]

You're never too old! Don't procrastinate, but don't ever think it's too late.

[@dominantshxrk4649]

💓

[@SouperBly]

I have a hard time believing you are 69 cause you said lol

[@UtahGmaw99]

@@SouperBly Because I don't feel old :)

[@NTE.Stream]

Just wanted to take a moment to say how grateful I am for the years of work that you put into this channel and doing so much to help the indie author community. I'm constantly still learning from you, Sarra. I honestly don't think I'd be pursuing my dream of writing with such seriousness if it wasn't for your guidance and help, so thank you.

[@RobinDeeter]

Congratulations on the success you had with your boot camp and the launch of your new store! Thanks for the advice regarding word count and advertising issues that could arise. Really appreciate how much you give back and I look forward to each new video you post. You rock!

[@HeartBreathings]

Thank you Robin!

[@Seiferboi]

Unfortunately, I'm one of the aspiring authors who have A.D.D. and I have issues with sticking to one thing and completing it. When I get a new idea, I end up working on that instead of completing the previous work. I also have issues with procrastination. I have like 9 works in progress lol!

[@HeartBreathings]

That's a challenge!!! The beginning of a story is nearly always more fun, because it's easier to dream up how things begin. Most writers run into problems after act one, because it gets harder, which means it's usually not as much fun at first. It's a challenge. But if you stick with it and push through, it's so incredibly rewarding to get to the end! Do you know any techniques that might help you focus on just one or two enough to get them finished?

[@The_Nightsong]

I have ADHD, so I feel your pain :(

[@michmonk]

I'm banking my epic, coming of age fantasy until I get 3 books completed. And I removed timelines. And it's been such a relief because early on I tried the pick a preorder date on Amazon and write to that. It was a nightmare and I ended up publishing a book that wasn't ready for primetime. The strategy now is to take my time and write quality books. Then I think my confidence with that accomplishment will help with the momentum to write at a steady cliip.

[@ellewelch8488]

Thank you! I was one who asked this question and your response time is phenomenal! Wow - you're awesome! Thank you so much, as always, for sharing so many of your tips. It's all incredibly helpful. xoxo

[@jackdumont1481]

My first book turned out to be over 120,000 words in three acts and the chapters were 1000-2000 words each. I have stayed with that because it works for me. 320+ pages and all of it was needed.

[@CaraMoulds1]

Love your videos. Bought the planner. Can't wait for your planner videos.

[@SarahHualde]

Getting a lot of encouragement from your videos. Thank you so much! I would love to see you make a video about how to create a character bible after you've already written a chunk of a series. I knew i should start one at the very beginning but i didn't realize how detailed they needed to be to keep consistent. In the meantime keep doing what you're doing! You're an amazing help!!!! :)

[@HeartBreathings]

Thank you!! And yes, a series Bible video is on my list for sure. Lots of requests! I just need to figure out how to do it justice without showing spoilers on my own Bible. Hoping to have that out soon though!

[@flopilla2012]

The hello kitty mug is so pretty

[@funmialaka6829]

Very helpful for me

[@alisonf.haring3411]

Very interesting video! I feel word counts goals are always a huge problem but it all disappears when I start writing. When I'm writing fantasy, I aim for 90K to 110K

[@j.reesebradley4771]

Hey there! Thank you so much for your channel! I’ve been binge watching and have found them SO helpful and encouraging.

[@LivingFree207]

I just found your channel and just love you. I'm not a writer but my daughter is but I'm very interested in marketing and sales in general so what you have to say intrigues me. I'd like to know if you tried publishing your books with a publishing house first or did you go straight to self-publishing. Thank you so much for all you do for the writers out here :)

[@paulas7524]

I try to write every day if I can, even 500 hundred words, but I put it there. My goal is between 80k-110k of words, depending on the genre. Now I write romance- erotica and YA, but I plan on writing other genres as well.

[@wolkcumulus2547]

100K is to long for a YA book, just saying ^^ YA is normally between 70k-90k

[@mrsmurphy1836]

Thank you!

[@bluovalgal]

Aspiring pantser writer but trying to be a plotter writer after binge-watching your videos. Had wondered about word count for the book overall but I will concentrate on writing first. Question: When you outline, is there anything "wrong" with outlining the entire series or outline one book at a time? Thanks and Great tips.

[@HeartBreathings]

There's nothing wrong with outlining the whole series! My biggest issue with it is that as I'm writing, something always changes and surprises me, which would make all the work I did on the next books in the series possibly invalid. I think it's just a matter of figuring out what works for you and if you do write well to outline or if things change as you write too much to predict. I aspire to get better at this myself.

[@bluovalgal]

Heart Breathings, I noticed that, while I was trying to plot my outline, my story fit better as an urban fantasy rather than a cozy mystery? Then a light bulb came on in my head, and I love the ending... now i need everything in between. Thank you for responding.

[@lexaandkenzie49]

I’m curious, when writing a series,do you take into account that someone may be picking up say “book 6” having not read books 1-5? Obviously you don’t want to re-explain things, But Do you worry about it needing to stand alone a little?

[@HeartBreathings]

Great question! For the type of series I'm writing, there's really no way to understand what's going on without reading from the beginning, so I don't worry about making it stand alone. What I do keep in mind is that some readers might be coming back to the series after a year away, so I try to make sure to reorient them to what's come before without it seeming to drag down the story.

[@groundfleur8774]

So helpful!

[@HeartBreathings]

Thanks, Jennifer!

[@TheAssez]

*Thank you.* 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

[@The_Nightsong]

I find it difficult to get up to even 55,000 with my urban fantasy novel :( it's the first part of a series with 6 books and the rest of the series will have more word-counts.

[@ADayInTheYear]

Mine is about 160,000 and every word is necessary. It is my first in a series (1 sequel written) of prequels and sequels. I am going to publish on Kindle and sell predominately ebooks. What do you think? Promos but overall anything but a loss leader. Obviously the book is on the long end. Is Part 1 and Part 2 an idea to consider?

[@HeartBreathings]

You could consider breaking it into parts of there's a satisfying place for a break in the story. It can be tricky if there's no good breaking point, though, as you don't want readers to feel totally unsatisfied. That is a really long book, though, so if you can find a suitable splitting point it might help you to increase your income while still being the price reasonable for the reader. If you can avoid calling it part one and part two, I would. I did that with a serialized series of mine and Amazon refuses to link it as a series because they say they won't link parts. If you can split it reasonably into two, it might be better to just give each its own title rather than calling them parts.

[@ADayInTheYear]

@@HeartBreathings The more I think about it, splitting it up will be difficult as I don't really know of a good splitting point. If I split it in half, the reader should be really drawn in if they make it to that point which I feel they should, it will be difficult to break away and especially difficult for me to break them away. It will be hard to break to another title altogether, as well. So, I considered the Part 1 - Part 2 format. It is quite a dilemma, indeed. What do I do? Breaking it up will be hard. Would you consider reading a two-page synopsis and offering your thoughts? I do have a longer one somewhere which goes into greater detail. Maybe my fixed income (I am disabled) could offer a small (really small) donation to your channel. Perhaps you could tell me what kind of fantasy fiction I actually have here. I wrote it for everybody, including my own age group which was "young adult " at the time of the story, thus maybe young adult in general. Definitely, it is college-aged oriented; inspired when I was in college. I would love your obviously experienced input. Thanks.🙂

[@DogWalkerBill]

OTOH: When J. K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter book, she made it shorter for young readers. But publishers demanded she make each successive book longer.

[@abisolaojo5664]

I LIKE IT

[@GlitterAbuser]

Oh my gosh, it's your skull necklace!!!!

[@tambowrites1]

Sarra, do you type your books or dictate them? Thanks!

[@ADayInTheYear]

At the risk of sounding dumb, what is "Indie."

[@HeartBreathings]

Indie is self published, where you publish your books yourself without a major publisher!

[@ADayInTheYear]

@@HeartBreathings Thank you. That is what I thought, though I have seen it used other ways for other things I don't fully recall at the moment. But, thank you 🙂

[@ShadowIsMoi]

Aw man lmao I'm writing a young adult novel and I'm at 20k words and have no end in sight of the book... Is it too long like RIP

[@HeartBreathings]

No! Like I said, my ya novels range all the way from 47k to 120k.