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Topic : How many pages long should a chapter book be? I have recently started writing a chapter book, which is "a story book intended for intermediate readers generally between 7-10 years old". The - selfpublishingguru.com

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I have recently started writing a chapter book, which is "a story book intended for intermediate readers generally between 7-10 years old". The book is only 29 pages long and I am nearing the end.

How many more pages do I need?


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Primary school reading levels are often given a classification letter from A to Z. Your stated age range is approximately F to R. Although commercial fiction doesn't really use these educational categories, you will find plenty of material at bookstores or online that may help you to narrow your focus.


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Early reader "chapter books" range widely in length. Some have very little, simple text, and some have a quite a lot of complex text. You should spend some research time in a library or bookstore and compare your manuscript to what is out there to get a better picture of what is publishable.


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It really doesn't matter. Focus on what you think is right for the story


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I would say that you should let the story play out. If you are planning on writing a chapter book for children who are just learning to read, I would keep it around 200 hundred pages. It's hard to get a kid to willingly pick up a 500 page book. But, if you find yourself around 200 pages but have more of you story to tell, don't try to wrap it up to get a shorter length and sacrifice part of you amazing story. Have the page number in the back of your mind while writing but don't make it the most important thing, let the story take job.


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Just write the story and don't worry in the beginning about how many pages. The story itself will dictate when you should stop. Also, if you are looking at shopping it around to publishers they will let you know what their criteria are. Good Luck!


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You've made the same mistake I did. You've picked up a book and realised that it has 500+ pages of text, you've started writing and got to the end and realised you're 475 shy of writing the next epic novel.

You're approaching the task backwards and there are a few things to realise very early on.

A good story starts and ends when it should. How many films have been inflated/shortened past when it's enjoyable!? Your plot and your story determines the length your book should be not an arbitrary page number.
Writing 500 pages of high quality fiction takes time... a LOT of time!

With that in mind if you want to write a book you need to plan a story which will fill a book. That's not to say your plot for One With Water is no good, it may make a fantastic short story... or it may be the starting point for a much more complex piece of fiction!

This answer discusses appropriate classifications of story and the rough word counts associated with each.

My suggestion would be to either finish, pat yourself on the back and consider it a good Short Story or really get into it and work out where the plot can go. Is there more in there you've not explored? Can your short story form the plan/introduction for a larger piece?


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