Genre guide · Fiction
Plays & Drama: word count & book length
How long a plays & drama book should be, which trim sizes suit it and what that means in printed pages. Typical length: 15,000–25,000 words.
About plays & drama
Scripts written for performance. A full-length play script is often 90–120 manuscript pages; published editions follow their own layout conventions for character names and stage directions.
Printed length in recommended trim sizes
| Trim | Pages at 11 pt | Spine (white) |
|---|---|---|
| 5.5 x 8.5 in Digest | 66–104 pages | 0.15–0.23 in |
| 6 x 9 in US Trade | 58–92 pages | 0.13–0.21 in |
Page counts for these lengths
Tips for this category
- Include a cast list, setting and production history in the front matter.
About Plays & Drama
A play is any instance of theatre primarily characterized by scripted speech: namely, dialogue between characters, monologues, or both. In other words, performers of a play read or memorize their speaking lines from a text, called a script. The script can also be called a play, and its words are intended less to be independently read and more to be performed aloud by actors in front of an audience. The writer and author of any play is known as a playwright. Plays are staged at various levels, ranging from London's West End and New York City's Broadway – the highest echelons of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world – to regional theatre, community theatre, and academic productions at universities and schools. A stage play is specifically crafted for performance on stage, distinct from works meant for broadcast or cinematic adaptation.
From the Wikipedia article “Play (theatre)”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Most-published plays & drama works in Open Library
| Title | Author | First published | Editions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pride and Prejudice | Jane Austen | 1813 | 4,042 |
| A Christmas Carol | Charles Dickens | 1843 | 3,196 |
| Wuthering Heights | Emily Brontë | 1846 | 2,888 |
| Hamlet | William Shakespeare | 1603 | 2,377 |
| Oliver Twist | Charles Dickens | 1822 | 2,211 |
| A Tale of Two Cities | Charles Dickens | 1800 | 2,059 |
| The Wonderful Wizard of Oz | L. Frank Baum | 1899 | 2,049 |
| Dracula | Bram Stoker | 1897 | 1,918 |
| Little Women | Louisa May Alcott | 1848 | 1,888 |
| Macbeth | William Shakespeare | 1508 | 1,867 |
Open Library lists 63,309 works under this subject.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a plays & drama book be?
What trim size is best for plays & drama?
Sources & data
- Subject statistics from Open Library.
- Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).