SCBWI's Blueboard - A Message & Chat Board
Writer's Room => Chapter Books, Easy Readers, and Middle Grade (MG) => Topic started by: deborah-amadei on February 28, 2018, 09:33 AM
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I noticed that IVY AND BEAN appears to be approximately 8000 words and 11 chapters. HEIDI HECKELBECK has 10 chapters and may be around the same number of words. HEIDI might be a good comp title for me. Would it be better to stick to 10 chapters? Many thanks!
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Welcome to the Blueboard, Deborah!!
:welcome2
Do you mean a comp title for something you've already written (for a query that requires comp titles)? If so, go with what's closer to your own manuscript.
If you mean a comp as a model for your work-in-progress and want to know if it's better to go with ten chapters or eleven, I think the story has to direct you. If the story is complete in ten chapters, you don't need to change the pacing or make it longer just to arrive at eleven. For that matter, if it's over in nine, that's okay, too. The editor can always break up or condense chapters to better fit the conventions of the publishing house.
Best, best wishes!!
(And I apologize if I've misunderstood your question!)
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FYI: HEIDI HECKELBECK books average just under 5000 words and IVY AND BEAN around 9000 words.
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Use as many chapters as you need to tell the story, but try to keep them close to consistent in length. (If they vary greatly, don't worry about it too much. Do what works for the story.) Chapter book word counts run from about 5,000 to about 10,000.
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I've worked on a few chapter book series, and had a very similar question. My editor said the number of chapters wasn't that important, and the chapters didn't need to be the same length. Although mine seem to be 800-1000 per chapter for a 10,000 word book. And they tend to be 10-12 chapters. Hope that helps!