I'm working on a story of mine (surprising huh?) and I've finished the first chapter. But it's 2,713 words. I had initially planned it to be YA, but now I realize it's juvenile. So my question is: do any of you know what's an average word count for a chapter of juvenile fiction? I'm thinking that - logically - there has to be a "please do not exceed" limit especially in the fact that my book is directed toward younger readers. If any of you have an inkling, please post below. I'd be very grateful. Thank you Taylee91
There's the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators that may have info. I think though that juvenile fiction is based more on page count than word count. Bigger letters -> easier to read -> fewer words per page and smaller page count -> less intimidating -> more likely to read. 8-12 years old, books range from 10,000-15,000 words, Young Adult, (12+) at around 35,000-50,000 words. If you're going 8-12, say ten chapters, max 1,500 words per chapter on average? --Don't question the Librarian. She knows her books.
Thank you, Sasha! That's so helpful. I'll add the site to my favorites. And hee, I won't question the Librarian. Thanks for the heads up
Oh, to help with your page count, you'll want to use a custom paper size. I actually work to the Digest size from lulu, with their specified margins. You can play around with font size, line spacing, tracking and kerning to get a good idea how your pages will look, and to get your words per page down. Look in some children's books, count how many characters per line and how many lines per page, choose something close to this. A publisher will re-typeset it, but you can get a general idea.
I don't know the answer, but I imagine searching Google or the like will answer it. And I think it depends on the genre of your YA novel as well (fantasy is bound to be longer). But I wouldn't worry too much about chapter length.
you shouldn't be worrying about [or even considering!] page count or any other styling stuff, unless you're planning to pay to have it printed... if you're planning to submit the ms to paying publishers, just set it up in normal ms format and stick to the norms in re word count/sentence structure/vocabulary/etc. for the age range you're targeting... fyi, amazon's 'look inside this book' and their 'stats' and 'concordance' info are a great resource for those learning how to write for children...
There are lots of longer-than-usual books for kids, especially fantasy like Harry Potter. Not saying you have to be a kid to read those books, but lots of kids do. There's also lots of kids who read LOTR, etc. Instead of trying to fit a "standard" size, I'd write the story as it comes out. When publishing, use the high quality of the writing and story to engage the publisher's attention.
