It is an average length book, not too terribly long, yet somehow i found myself taking a while to finish it. While there are two routes you can take when publishing your nonfiction book, the focus of this guide will be on traditional publishing, i. An unexpected journey by paddy kempshall it is about a hobbit and 12 dwarves that go on a journey. Best fiction books are always available here the largest online library. The world where bilbo baggins, gandalf the wizard and the company of dwarves on their quest to recover treasure stolen by the dragon, smaaug the. Your guide to publishing a nonfiction book ny book editors.
It was published on 21 september 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the carnegie medal and awarded a prize from the new york herald tribune for best juvenile fiction. What is a reasonable estimate for the minimum length, in word count, for a nonfiction book. While the lord of the rings was targeted at a much older audience, i think that the hobbit appeals more to younger people. Jun 26, 2015 the hobbit is one of the longest short books i have ever read in my life, because though it is relatively not that long it feels very long and over drawn.
A map for lifes unexpected journeys takes a look at the lessons we can all find in the works fo j. A reread of a favorite book hobbit book, famous books. Free shipping on many items browse your favorite brands. I wanna see this passed in by all on dec browse over 30 educational resources created by science etc in the official teachers pay teachers store.
That said, if your book is around 40,000 words, youre in good company. A great modern classic and the prelude to the lord of the rings. Book length average length of a non fiction booki youtube. Book length average length of a non fiction book one of the questions that new writers always ask is how long should my nonfiction book be. From these numbers, we can establish some guidelines. You definitely dont need to write the equivalent of the 300,000 word novel that you might pick up when youre going on holiday. Tolkien the first published the adventure in 1937 unknown publisher the hobbit by j. Since the publication of the hobbit in 1937, critical readers have argued over whether the book is a fantasy, a fairy tale, a fable, a romance, an epic, or a novel. Id guesstimate that nonfiction books generally yes, this is very rough run perhaps 150450 pages, and at about 350 wdpage that works out to something like 50150k words.
It was published on 21 september 1937 to wide critical. You may also describe the general format you envision. Editors and experts hammond and scull walk through the classic book s publication history, providing context for the. Tolkiens novel the hobbit continues to fascinate readers 70 years after its original publication. A nonfiction book proposal is the key document that allows an agent or publisher to determine the viability of a project. A full length nonfiction book usually contains 9 to 15 chapters of average length. Your guide to book word counts fiction and nonfiction.
While on the journey they come in contact with many creatures, people, enemies, and etc in this book there is a lot of action and adventure. But when a wandering wizard captivates him with tales of the unknown, bilbo becomes restless. However, be prepared to be flexible when it comes to length and formatthe publisher will have the final say. Dont submit an outline for a book that contains less than 9 chapters. He appears at the battle of five armies and fights the goblins.
In fact, the average nonfiction book on amazon is 10,000 words, which translates to 80 pages. Theres nothing worse than a nonfiction book that doesnt engage the reader to keep reading. Any selfhelp or motivational nonfiction book should be between 30,000 and 70,000 words. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists. You might be more surprised if a ya novel required olympianlevel arm strength to lift. Classifying the book is one way of explaining its strengths and weaknesses and understanding the immense appeal it has held for many. And publishers are looking for more nonfiction authors to write e book singles, which run anywhere from 20 to 100 pages in length. Read the hobbit absolutely for free at readanybook. As the 75th anniversary of jrr tolkiens novel the hobbit approaches, expert thomas shippey asks why it. Unlike fiction, where an author must have a completed manuscript ready before they approach a publisher or agent, a nonfiction author only needs to develop a proposal to submit to publishers andor agents.
Just as she brought back length, so tolkien boldly, or maybe unthinkingly, brought back emotional depth. It was published on 21 september 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the carnegie medal and awarded a. It started my love for the english language and literature in general. But, most non fiction publishers want to be sold the concept, and therefore be able to discuss the direction of the project, before you write the book. Win 1978 gandalf the silmarillion booklength fantasy. Or worse still youd give up and put the text aside altogether. His books have been translated into more than fifty languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide. The definitive collection of tolkiens classic fairie tales, in the vein of the hobbit, illustrated by oscar winner alan lee never before published in a single volume, tolkiens four novellas farmer giles of ham, leaf by niggle, smith of wootton. In my opinion, if your nonfiction book is fewer than about 30,000 words 120 pages, it does not feel substantial enough to be real book.
Whether you read dante, swift, or any of these guys, it always boils down to the same thing. Oct 10, 2016 the right answer to how long should my book be. Dec 06, 2012 a good case can be made that the hobbit is a better and more satisfying read than its gargantuan successor, the lord of the rings. Jul 18, 20 t his book has got to be one of the greatest books i have ever read. This means your book will be between 100 and 230 pages in total. I dont know what i can say to add to what has already been said.
Seventyfive years and one hundred million copies later, the hobbit towers above the mounds of modern mythology, regarded by expert and child alike as one of the best books ever written. An unexpected journey 2012, the desolation of smaug 20, and the battle of the five armies 2014. Do you think the hobbit dramatized needs a followup book. If you stick to these when youre writing your nonfiction book, youll be fine. Promote higherorder thinking, such as making comparisons among texts, with paired books. Tolkien 18921973 is the creator of middleearth and author of such classic and extraordinary works of fiction as the hobbit, the lord of the rings, and the silmarillion. Compiling a list of longest novels yields different results depending on whether pages, words or characters are counted. Seldom has any book been so widely read and loved as j. The hobbit is one of the treasures of english fiction. Of course, a printed book probably needs to be at least 100125 pages in length. The hobbit to be split into three movies because peter. Tolkien nonfiction browse through books written by and about j. Since just comparing the number of unique words in a book does not take its length into account i decided to calculate the percentage of unique words of the whole text.
Since just comparing the number of unique words in a book does not take its length into account i decided to calculate the percentage of unique words of the. Get the best deals on the hobbit hardcover books when you shop the largest online selection at. The lord of the rings was originally intended to be a sequel to the hobbit, but became an epic fantasy on its own. I dont know if the question is meant as a mentalstatistical exorcise. That means your manuscript must be at least 3540,000 words long. He is hospitable to gandalf, bilbo, and the dwarves on their way to the lonely mountain and gives them ponies and provisions for their journey. Since its first publication in 1937 it has remained in print to delight each new generation of readers all over the world, and its hero, bilbo baggins, has taken his place among the ranks of the immortals of fiction. But rules are made to be broken, and the most successful publishing phenomenon in history did just that. If you create a followup book or hobbit with an ensemble cast, make sure its an allbritish cast thats been classically trained. Best seen as the lore book of the elves whom the hobbits meet on their.
May 19, 2018 the hobbit, there and back again j r r tolkien. Tolkien the hobbit, or there and back again is a fantasy novel by english author j. By 2017, however, that number has dropped to 273 pages. If you want to get a target for your non fiction book, the best thing may be to look at a dozen or so bestselling books in the genreniche youre aiming at and see what their word counts are. There is a lot of crossover to the lord of the rings series, so the title is a little misleading, and probably titled to take advantage of the newer movies, but it does use bilbos journey as the basis. The lord of the rings audiobook the fellowship of the ring. In this article im going to attempt to answer that question. As the 75th anniversary of jrr tolkiens novel the hobbit approaches, expert thomas shippey asks why it still manages to capture. Thats reason for nonfiction writers to pausebut not for too long. One of the questions that new writers always ask is how long should my nonfiction book be. In years past, a thick book spine was the advertisement for the title on a bookstore shelf. The very first book i read in english cover to cover of my own free will.
The hobbit tells a fantastic story of adventure, danger, friendship, and courage, and serves as a prequel to the even more immersive and epic book series, the lord of the rings. The art of the nonfiction book proposal writers relief. Tolkien nonfiction archives the official tolkien online bookshop. Like every other hobbit, bilbo baggins likes nothing better than a quiet evening in his snug hole in the ground, dining on a sumptuous dinner in front of a fire. The hobbit cliffsnotes study guides book summaries, test. Tolkien nonfiction the official tolkien online bookshop. To find out how long should a chapter be, we examined books from a wide variety of genres and eras. A non fiction book attractive to publishers of bestsellers starts at around 75,000 words. If you picked up a scifi or historical novel from a bookshelf, you wouldnt be surprised if it was pretty hefty and probably had a dragon on the cover.
Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Jun 27, 2019 a story that is over 40,000 words is generally considered a novel. With the theatrical release of the twopart film the hobbit slated for 2012 and 20, attention will once again turn to j. It doesnt come with a dust jacket, the picture on the front and back cover is expertly presseddyed onto what feels like a clothlike covering on the book. Aug 29, 20 seldom has any book been so widely read and loved as j. Nonfiction requires more thinking time from your reader, so you need to consider the role of your book. When youre pitching a nonfiction book to a publisher, just about everything is different. Imdb rating chart is flawed because the quality of the source material is going to be a confounding factor. The hobbit is a great readaloud for parents to share with children just as tolkien shared the book with his children. However, it will be on the short side, as the average length of a novel hovers around 50,00070,000 words. Get the best deals on the hobbit hardcover books when you shop the largest online selection at ebay. Oct 18, 2017 of course, sometimes the best way to chapter your book wont crystallize until you start editing.
Normally i take a week, maybe two to finish a book of the same length, depending on time and if im really into it i can knock a book out in just two or three days. Movie length, part 2 stokes oti staff aug 12th 20 4. In a culture where truth is relative and morality is viewed as oldfashioned, we welcome the. The average nonfiction book, if such a thing exists, runs about 50,000 to 75,000 words, but this can vary depending upon category. The hobbit is one of my favorite books and the illustrations, whether big or small, add even more character and charm to the story. In these cases, the overall design of the book determines the publishing costs more than word count. The hobbit, or there and back again is a childrens fantasy novel by english author j. First, warner brothers split the seventh harry potter book into the. So if you want your chapter breaks to pack a punch whether its your first, second, or even fifth draft, these are a few of the ways you can frame the end of each section. Over the past two years, the film version of the novel has brought to life the book s main cha. The hobbit is a far easier read than lotr and a child can make short work of it, but it is by no means exclusively a childrens book. Gandalf and bilbo spend yuletide with him on their way back to the hobbit lands. Thats book because the lord of the rings is not three books, as many assume, but one book in three parts each part originally published separately. The lord of the rings trilogy has delighted millions of fans worldwide in book and movie form.
The ring sets out j r r tolkien audiobook read by phil dragash duration. Given the status of this book and the spectacular attention given to the sequels, it is all the more surprising that this audioadaptation is so lacklustre and pedestrian. However, confident that his book would one day be divided into a dozen movies, author jrr tolkien also provided 125 pages of hobbit backstory, billed as the appendecies, in a later edition of. The hobbit has more unique words and a higher unique word density than both the silmarillion and each volume in the lord of the rings. Gandalf is known for leading young hobbits off on adventures, although respectable hobbits do not do such things. The hobbit was so successful in 1937 that tolkien was asked to write a sequel and so was born the lord of the rings. This is a crossword for the book the hobbit for grades 58. However part why the new writers, the answer is difficult to identify because the answer is so difficult. This is a crossword for the book the hobbit for grades the clues are a listen up family. My favorite thing about this book is definitely the character growth bilbo experiences throughout his tiresome journey.
The hobbit has recently been adapted to the screen under the direction of peter jackson as a trilogy. R tolkien that takes place in the fictional world of middle earth, which is the setting of most of the authors works. The hobbit is one of the best fantasy adventure books id ever read. The hobbit is a story about bilbo baggins, a small elflike creature, often referred as a hobbit, who is abruptly taken away from his home and reluctantly drawn into a quest full of evil orcs. One day bilbo baggins, a hobbit who lives at bag end in hobbiton, receives a visit from gandalf, the wizard. Many of the misconceptions on the ideal book length are left over from outdated publishing industry standards. Bilbo baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther.
Therefore, the word count of a novel is crucial if you want your book to be fit for. Students first answer textdependent questions about each text separately, and then about both texts combined. Less than 100 pages and it becomes difficult for a printer to print the title of the book on the spine. Nov 07, 20 buy the hobbit film tiein edition by tolkien, j.
Long book length at the other end of the spectrum a book of 80,000 to 100,000 words has significant heft, 320400 pages. The hobbit is popular with middle school readers, as well as teens and adults. Dec 03, 2014 the hobbit is a story about little bilbo baggins and his notsolittle adventure. Tolkien and his great imaginative creation, middleearth. Minimum realistic word count of nonfiction book writing. Browse your favourite books and read them free in our ereader. The harry potter books are young adult titles, and ya publishers generally look for manuscripts in the 50,000 to 80,000word range. Length of a book is typically associated with its sizespecifically page countleading many to assume the largest and thickest book equates to its length. One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one rin.
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