How Long Is a Book?

When authors ask that question, they want an answer in terms of pages.

Ghostwriters don't count pages; we count words.

It's been a given for some years that the average business book is between 50k and 60k words.

With a standard format that would work out at about 250 pages.

However, the latest data suggest the average length of a business book has fallen to between 40k to 50k words.

That matches my experience.

I recently wrote a book that was only 25k words. It came out at 104 pages. The audiobook is just under two-and-a-quarter hours.

The author is a medical practitioner who wants to give the book to his patients to explain what would take place during their procedures, how best to prepare, and how best to recover.

It was short because it didn't need to be any longer.

Once you've given the reader the information they need, you can stop. There’s no minimum word count.

(But beware if a book is much shorter than 80 pages: it's difficult to fit the title on the spine – so no-one will find it on the bookshelf.)