Genre guide · Fiction
Novella: word count & book length
How long a novella book should be, which trim sizes suit it and what that means in printed pages. Typical length: 17,500–40,000 words.
17,500–40,000 wordstypical length
34works in Open Library
About novella
Longer than a short story but shorter than a novel — 17,500 to 40,000 words under the definition used by major speculative-fiction awards.
Printed length in recommended trim sizes
| Trim | Pages at 11 pt | Spine (white) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 x 8 in | 86–192 pages | 0.19–0.43 in |
| 5.25 x 8 in | 82–180 pages | 0.18–0.41 in |
Page counts for these lengths
Tips for this category
- Small trims (5 x 8 in) and larger type keep a novella from feeling thin.
- Under ~100 pages, many POD printers will not allow spine text.
About Novella
A novella is a book of narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word "novella" derives from the Italian novella meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts.
From the Wikipedia article “Novella”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Most-published novella works in Open Library
| Title | Author | First published | Editions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Смерть Ивана Ильича | Лев Толстой, Anthony Briggs | 1887 | 188 |
| The Europeans | Henry James, Susan M. Griffin | 1878 | 142 |
| Skeleton crew | Stephen King | 1985 | 73 |
| Different Seasons | Stephen King | 1982 | 61 |
| Full Dark, No Stars | Stephen King | 2010 | 41 |
| The Eve of St Venus | Anthony Burgess | 1964 | 17 |
| Race and Vine | Adam Fieled | 2013 | 16 |
| The Virgin and the Gypsy | D. H. Lawrence | 1930 | 15 |
| Novels (Bartleby, the Scrivener / Benito Cereno / Billy Budd / Encantadas) | Herman Melville | 1928 | 15 |
| Letters to Dead Masters | Adam Fieled | 2010 | 10 |
Open Library lists 34 works under this subject.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a novella book be?
Typically 17,500–40,000 words. Longer than a short story but shorter than a novel — 17,500 to 40,000 words under the definition used by major speculative-fiction awards..
What trim size is best for novella?
Common choices are 5 x 8 in, 5.25 x 8 in.
Sources & data
- Subject statistics from Open Library.
- Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).