[deborah-amadei Posts: 1 Status: Offline I love kids' books!]

 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!

[carrots Posts: 794 Status: Offline]

Welcome to the Blueboard, Deborah!!

 

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!)

[David Wright Posts: 390 Status: Offline "I'm weared out"]

FYI: HEIDI HECKELBECK books average just under 5000 words and IVY AND BEAN around 9000 words.

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 5,913 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

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.

[read lisa scott Posts: 145 Status: Offline middle grade, chapter books, picture books]

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!