# Book Facts & Formatting Tips
# One fact per line. Blank lines and lines starting with # are ignored.

# ── Word Counts by Genre ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Genre fiction (thrillers, romance, horror) typically runs 80,000–100,000 words.
Literary fiction averages 80,000–110,000 words, with more room for longer works.
Young adult (YA) fiction targets 55,000–80,000 words.
Middle grade fiction falls between 20,000 and 55,000 words.
Epic fantasy novels often exceed 120,000 words — Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring is ~177,000.
Commercial fantasy typically targets 100,000–120,000 words for debut authors.
Science fiction averages 90,000–120,000 words.
Historical fiction tends to run longer, averaging 100,000–150,000 words.
Romance novels average 50,000–100,000 words depending on subgenre.
Category romance (Harlequin-style) is tightly constrained to 55,000–60,000 words.
Cozy mysteries typically run 65,000–90,000 words.
Hard-boiled crime fiction averages 70,000–90,000 words.
Psychological thrillers tend to fall between 80,000 and 100,000 words.
Women's fiction averages 85,000–100,000 words.
Chick-lit targets 80,000–95,000 words.
Horror novels average 80,000–100,000 words.
Paranormal romance typically runs 85,000–100,000 words.
New adult fiction targets 60,000–85,000 words.
Children's chapter books run 10,000–30,000 words.
Picture book texts are usually under 1,000 words — often closer to 500.
Novellas are typically 17,500–40,000 words.
Novelettes run 7,500–17,500 words.
Short stories are generally under 7,500 words.
Flash fiction is under 1,000 words.
Narrative nonfiction averages 70,000–90,000 words.
Self-help books typically run 45,000–80,000 words.
Business books average 50,000–80,000 words.
Memoir averages 70,000–90,000 words.
Biography averages 80,000–120,000 words.
Prescriptive nonfiction (how-to) often runs 50,000–70,000 words.
Academic monographs typically run 80,000–120,000 words.

# ── Words Per Page ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
A mass market paperback averages 250–300 words per page.
A trade paperback averages 250–275 words per page.
A hardcover averages 250–300 words per page, depending on trim size and font.
Standard manuscript format (12pt Times New Roman, double-spaced) yields ~250 words per page.
Publishers estimate roughly 300 words per printed page for production planning.
A 300-page mass market paperback contains approximately 80,000–90,000 words.
A typical 400-page novel contains approximately 100,000–120,000 words in print.
Larger trim sizes (6×9 trade) can fit 300–350 words per page.
Smaller trim sizes (4.19×6.75 mass market) fit roughly 250–280 words per page.
Ebooks have no fixed "page" — word count is the only reliable length metric.
An audiobook runs approximately 9,300 words per hour at average narration speed.
A 100,000-word audiobook takes roughly 10–11 hours to produce and listen to.

# ── Front Matter ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Front matter is everything that appears before Chapter 1, numbered in Roman numerals.
The half title page (bastard title) contains only the book's main title — no subtitle or author name.
The full title page carries the complete title, subtitle, author name, and publisher imprint.
The copyright page is usually the verso (back) of the full title page.
The copyright page includes the copyright year, owner, edition, ISBN, Library of Congress data, and legal disclaimers.
A dedication is a brief tribute, usually to a person or persons meaningful to the author.
A dedication typically runs 1–3 lines and needs no heading — placement implies its purpose.
An epigraph is a quotation placed at the opening of a book or chapter to set tone or theme.
An epigraph is attributed below the quote, often in italics, preceded by an em dash.
A foreword is written by someone other than the author — usually a notable person who vouches for the work.
A preface is written by the author, explaining how and why the book came to be.
An introduction presents the book's argument or subject — it is part of the text, not front matter preamble.
A prologue is part of the narrative itself, set before Chapter 1, often introducing backstory or a flash-forward.
A table of contents is standard in nonfiction; in fiction it is optional but common in multi-part works.
An acknowledgments section can appear in either front matter or back matter — back matter is more common today.

# ── Back Matter ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Back matter follows the last chapter and is numbered with Arabic numerals continuing from the text.
An epilogue is part of the narrative, set after the main story concludes — it is not back matter.
An afterword is the author's reflection written after the story, discussing themes or context.
An author's note clarifies what is fact vs. fiction, especially important in historical or biographical novels.
An acknowledgments section is where authors thank editors, agents, beta readers, friends, and family.
A bibliography lists sources consulted; standard in nonfiction, rare in fiction.
A glossary defines specialized terms used in the text — common in fantasy, sci-fi, and technical nonfiction.
An index is essential in nonfiction for discoverability; created professionally by an indexer.
Discussion questions (a reading group guide) can appear at the back and help with book club adoption.
An appendix contains supplementary material referenced in the text but too detailed for the main body.
"About the Author" is a short third-person bio, typically 100–200 words, placed in back matter.
A colophon is a production note at the back describing the typefaces and design choices used in the book.

# ── Chapter & Scene Structure ────────────────────────────────────────────────
Most traditionally published novels have 10–30 chapters.
Thriller chapters are often kept short — 1,500–3,000 words — to increase pace and create cliffhangers.
Literary fiction chapters tend to be longer, sometimes 5,000–10,000 words.
A scene is a unit of action occurring in a continuous time and place with a clear goal and outcome.
A chapter typically contains 1–5 scenes, depending on pacing and genre conventions.
Scene breaks within a chapter are marked by a blank line or a centered symbol (# or * * *).
A part is a larger structural division grouping multiple chapters under a theme or act.
An act structure (three-act, five-act) is a way to think about large narrative arcs, not a formatting element.
Chapter titles are optional in fiction; they are more common in nonfiction and middle grade/YA.
Numbered chapters ("Chapter 1") can be spelled out ("Chapter One") — pick one style and stick to it.

# ── Manuscript Formatting Standards ─────────────────────────────────────────
Standard manuscript format uses 12pt Times New Roman or Courier, double-spaced, 1-inch margins.
Manuscripts are formatted with a header on each page: author name / short title / page number.
The first page of a manuscript begins with contact information in the top-left corner.
Chapters begin on a new page, with the chapter heading centered roughly 1/3 down the page.
Paragraph indents in manuscripts are 0.5 inches; there is no extra space between paragraphs.
Scene breaks in manuscripts use a centered "#" on its own line.
"The End" is traditionally typed centered after the final line of a manuscript.
Word count in a submission query is rounded to the nearest 1,000 (e.g., "complete at 87,000 words").
Agents and editors use manuscript word count, not publisher's print word count — they differ slightly.
Italics in manuscripts are formatted as actual italics (not underlined, as was done on typewriters).

# ── Typography & Design ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Most print books use 10–12pt serif fonts (Garamond, Caslon, Minion Pro, Sabon) for body text.
Nonfiction often uses sans-serif fonts (Myriad, Helvetica Neue) for headings with serif body text.
Leading (line spacing) in printed books is typically 120–145% of the font size.
An em dash (—) is used for parenthetical statements; it has no spaces on either side in US style.
An en dash (–) is used for ranges (pages 10–20, 1939–1945) and compound modifiers.
Ellipses in published books are typically three dots with thin spaces between (. . .) or a special character (…).
A widow is a single word or short line stranded at the top of a page — avoided in final typesetting.
An orphan is the first line of a paragraph stranded at the bottom of a page — also avoided.
Running heads (headers at the top of each page) typically alternate: book title on verso, chapter title on recto.
Page numbers (folios) can be omitted on chapter-opening pages and other display pages.
The recto is the right-hand (odd-numbered) page; the verso is the left-hand (even-numbered) page.
Chapters always begin on recto pages in traditionally typeset books.
ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number; print and ebook editions each require their own ISBN.
The spine of a book is readable when the book is shelved with the spine facing outward — author name, title, publisher.

# ── Publishing Industry Numbers ──────────────────────────────────────────────
The average traditionally published novel takes 1–3 years from acceptance to bookstore shelves.
A debut author's advance is typically $5,000–$15,000 for genre fiction; much higher for high-profile acquisitions.
Royalties on print books are typically 10–15% of the cover price (or net receipts).
Ebook royalties for traditionally published authors are typically 25% of net receipts.
Self-published authors earn 35–70% royalty on ebooks depending on platform and pricing.
The "Big Five" publishers (Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Macmillan) produce the majority of bestsellers.
A literary agent typically takes 15% of domestic deals and 20% of foreign/subsidiary rights.
The New York Times bestseller list requires approximately 5,000–10,000 sales in a single week, distributed across many outlets.
Most books sell fewer than 1,000 copies in their lifetime — strong sales are rarer than they appear.
A book is considered a bestseller on Amazon if it reaches #1 in its category, not the overall store.

# ── Reading & Writing Pace ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
The average adult reads 200–400 words per minute silently.
Slow readers process about 100–200 words per minute; speed readers can reach 700+ wpm.
At 250 words per minute, a 90,000-word novel takes about 6 hours to read.
The average writer produces 500–1,500 words of usable prose per day.
NaNoWriMo's 50,000-word goal requires 1,667 words per day for 30 days.
Stephen King aims for 2,000 words per day; he considers it a minimum, not a ceiling.
A 1,000-word-per-day habit produces a complete novel draft in about 3 months.
Most authors report that revision takes longer than the first draft — often 2–5x as long.
"The first draft of anything is garbage." — Ernest Hemingway (attributed)
Writing 500 words daily for a year yields 182,500 words — roughly two novels.

# ── Book Anatomy Miscellany ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
The gutter is the inner margin of a page — wider than the outer margin to account for binding.
Bleed is artwork or color that extends to the edge of the page before trimming — important in illustrated books.
A galley is an early, uncorrected proof sent to reviewers before the final book is printed.
An ARC (Advance Reader Copy) is a pre-publication proof distributed to reviewers and booksellers.
A first edition is the first print run of a book; a first printing is the first batch of that edition.
A trade paperback is larger (typically 6×9) than a mass market paperback (4.19×6.75 or 4.25×6.87).
A perfect binding glues pages to the spine — used in most paperbacks.
Sewn signatures (Smyth-sewn binding) are more durable than perfect binding — common in quality hardcovers.
Folio is another word for page number, or the large-format book (12 inches or more tall) used in Shakespeare's time.
A broadside was a single large sheet printed on one side — the predecessor to the newspaper and the pamphlet.
The verso of the title page (copyright page) is among the most legally and catalogically important pages in a book.
Librarians use the CIP (Cataloging in Publication) data on the copyright page to classify books.
The BISAC subject code on the copyright page tells retailers which shelf a book belongs on.
A colophon originally referred to a printer's device or logo; today it can also mean production notes at the book's end.
