How long should my business book be?

When you’re embarking on a lengthy project like writing a business book, self-help guide, or memoir, it’s natural to ask a key question: 

‘How long should my book be?’

It’s one I’m asked all the time when I speak to new and prospective clients as a ghostwriter. 

The easy (and most correct) answer is, of course, that your book should be as long as it needs to be. There’s no point padding out what could be a concise and punchy guide just for the sake of making it more wordy. Equally, if you have a huge amount to pack in, then your book should expand to fit.

The beauty of business book writing, especially since the growth of e-readers and self-publishing, is that it’s a relatively new field. The rules are continually evolving, so there’s no need for you to feel constrained by some unwritten law that says your book needs to be of a certain length.

If there’s a book you admire why not count the pages, tot up the words on an average page, and see how long it is in total? That will give you a good guide if you want to emulate it.

The unwritten rules

Having said all that, there are a number of conventions regarding word count. It’s wise to be aware of these because your book’s length will be one of the many things potential readers will take into account when they decide whether or not to buy it.

Of course, when books are bought online or downloaded onto Kindle this is less of an issue, but in some ways that makes it even more important to be aware of your readers’ expectations so they’re not taken by surprise when they start to read your book.

So what are these conventions?

The standard business book length

This is around 50-60,000 words, although there are some who would say it should be less (and a few that it should be more).

However, business books are shrinking. Time-pressed business owners would often rather choose a book they can consume on a flight than spend hours reading in their own time. This means that 30-40,000 word business books are becoming more common.

Books written for e-readers

If you’re not planning on printing your book, but only making it available for e-readers, then your book can be shorter still.

On a device, books are a bit easier to read when they’re less lengthy as you can’t ‘see’ the whole book in the same way as with a printed book.

If this is your plan it needs to be part of your wider strategy. You’ll want to be thinking about who your book is for and how it’s going to be bought and read, as well as the business results you want to gain from it.

And bear in mind that most people buy the print version of a non-fiction book; a shorter e-book should be seen as a standalone item rather than one that’s published both in printed and digital form.

My own e-book, The Business Book Outline Builder, is an example of a short e-book at 9,400 words.

The size of the topic

This has an impact on the length of your book.

If you want to write about a relatively narrow topic, for instance social media advertising, your book can be short. Busy people who want a reference tool or a quick fix for a specific problem don’t want to wade through reams of text.

If your topic is complex or merits exploration in more depth, you’ll want your book to be longer. This is especially the case when you’re aiming to persuade your readers to change their beliefs or behaviour, or to take them step by step through a challenging process.

Suppose you were writing a book about climate change and your wish was to influence people’s thinking about this complex area. You’d need to build a strong case – both factual and emotional – if you’re to alter their views. You’d also want to offer them practical advice on how to change their lifestyles. This would be hard to do in 30,000 words – you’d probably want to pen at least 50,000.

It’s the same if your book is a how-to guide that walks your readers through a sizeable task. My own book, Your Business Your Book, explains how to write a book for your business. It covers pretty much every aspect of the process and weighs in at 50,000 words.

Much of what you put in you’ll take out

While you’re writing your book it can be easy to become fixated on how many words you’re bashing out, and that’s great if it motivates you to keep going.

However, most of us create first drafts that are full of roundabout thoughts and waffly sentences, which is why editing is so essential. Our words are always clearer and more persuasive for being pruned and honed to perfection.

This process can result in losing many of the words you’ve worked so hard to put in – sorry! So whatever length you start with be prepared for your book to be shorter by the end. It’ll be much the better for it.

The relationship between words and pages

Publishers and professional writers tend to talk in word counts rather than pages. Although this can seem confusing it does make sense, as the number of pages in a book is influenced by diagrams, layout, font size and other factors. (And for an e-book it doesn’t make much sense to talk about page numbers in any case). 

So what does this mean for your book? You can assume that a printed book has around 250 words on a page. So if you have a certain number of pages (rather than words) in mind, that will help you.

I hope you’re feeling clearer on your book length now. There are no iron-clad rules, just some simple guidelines.

In all this bear in mind that your aim is to write about the right topic, to the right audience, in the right amount of detail for their needs. These are the most important factors to take into account when you’re planning the length of your book.