Amazon claims that the average length of all books sold there is 64,000 words. If you Google a question about the average number of words in a book, you’ll find sites with a variety of stats, usually based on the type of book and age of the audience. For example, a novel for adults might typically be in the 80,000 – 120,000 word range. Other genres can be substantially more or less.
Many people fantasize about writing a book at some point in their life, although most never get around to starting one, much less finishing or getting published. To do so, you must have a subject worthy of the time and commitment, do the necessary research to know the subject matter, be incredibly disciplined, be skilled at writing in a way potential readers will be eager to consume, fill a gap not currently met by others, and be willing to do the administrative and marketing work that goes with being published. That is a daunting task. I tip my hat to others for doing so even once, and especially to those who repeat that process time and again. The world is a better place because of their work and creativity.
Like many, I’ve wondered about writing a book, but have no real prospect for doing so. That is why I found the average of 64,000 words for Amazon books interesting. After a year of daily blogs of about 360+ words each, that totals around 132,000 words, or roughly the equivalent of two average-length books. Daily short blogs are not in the same camp as one comprehensive book on a subject, but there is still satisfaction that the past year has produced a dynamic, real-time account of daily chapters from my professional and personal life.
I’ll have more to say in coming days as I reflect on the year’s writing, but the purpose of this post is to encourage all of you who ever dreamed of writing a book to start blogging instead. It will develop the habit of writing, satisfy the desire for a creative outlet, and perhaps provide direction for the future of your writing – book or not.
Leap year lesson #358 is If you want to write a book, start blogging.
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