Genre guide · Nonfiction
True Crime: word count & book length
How long a true crime book should be, which trim sizes suit it and what that means in printed pages. Typical length: 80,000–100,000 words.
About true crime
Nonfiction investigation of real crimes, told with narrative drive. Ethical treatment of victims and their families is increasingly scrutinised.
Printed length in recommended trim sizes
| Trim | Pages at 11 pt | Spine (white) |
|---|---|---|
| 6 x 9 in US Trade | 248–314 pages | 0.56–0.71 in |
| 5.5 x 8.5 in Digest | 282–360 pages | 0.64–0.81 in |
Page counts for these lengths
Tips for this category
- Have a lawyer review anything that could be defamatory before publication.
About True Crime
True crime is a genre of non-fiction work in which an author examines a crime, including detailing the actions of people associated with and affected by the crime, and investigating the perpetrator's motives. They most commonly document violent crimes such as murders and serial killers, including high-profile cases (such as Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, and the Zodiac Killer), and lesser-known cases that an author wishes to highlight. A true crime work may use either a journalistic style with a focus on known facts, or a speculative style with a larger focus on the author's personal conclusions regarding a crime. True crime has taken the form of various media, including literature such as magazines and books, television series and documentaries (which may sometimes feature dramatized scenes of the crime based on published accounts), and digital media such as podcasts and internet video.
From the Wikipedia article “True crime”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Most-published true crime works in Open Library
| Title | Author | First published | Editions |
|---|---|---|---|
| In Cold Blood | Truman Capote | 1965 | 121 |
| Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil | John Berendt | 1785 | 38 |
| Portrait of a Killer | Patricia Cornwell | 1960 | 37 |
| The Innocent Man | John Grisham | 2006 | 35 |
| Mindhunter | John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker | 1995 | 25 |
| Under the Banner of Heaven | Jon Krakauer | 2003 | 23 |
| Killers of the Flower Moon | David Grann, Luis Murillo Fort | 2017 | 19 |
| The Monster of Florence | Magdalen Nabb, Douglas Preston | 1996 | 18 |
| Homicide | David Simon | 1991 | 18 |
| The murder of King Tut | James Patterson, Martin Dugard | 2009 | 16 |
Open Library lists 1,420 works under this subject.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a true crime book be?
What trim size is best for true crime?
Sources & data
- Subject statistics from Open Library.
- Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).