Writing an ebook yourself usually takes from about one month for a short guide to six months or more for a full-length book. A ghostwriter working with a fixed process can finish a manuscript faster, and our packages usually run 6 to 12 weeks depending on what is included.

The time depends on three things: how long the book is, how much you can write or talk each week, and how many editing and publishing steps follow the draft.

Here are the ranges you will see in this guide.

The rest of this page explains where those numbers come from, so you can plan your own date.

There is no single required length. These ranges come from published sources:

• Short lead-magnet style guides. HubSpot's figure, cited by Podia, put the average 2019 ebook at 5,000 to 10,000 words. Piktochart suggests a first ebook can be as short as 10,000 words, about 40 double-spaced pages.
• Short paid books. Amazon described Kindle Singles, its short-form program, as 5,000 to 30,000 words when it launched in 2011. Author and editor Daniel Tortora puts narrowly focused self-help and self-published books at 20,000 to 50,000 words.
• Full nonfiction books. Tortora gives 40,000 to 80,000 for business and money books, 20,000 to 70,000 for self-help and how-to, and 60,000 to 90,000 for memoir. He calls 50,000 to 80,000 the typical range for most nonfiction.
• Novels. Reedsy lists around 80,000 words for romance and 100,000 to 120,000 for fantasy.

For a lead magnet, see our lead magnet ebook guide. For a paid book, aim for the range your genre's readers expect.

Prices at our company are per project, not per word. Projects over 80,000 words are quoted individually and agreed in writing first. See pricing.

Reedsy cites a 2021 survey that puts the time to write a book at roughly 6 months to a year. That figure is for books, not short guides, and it varies with genre, research, available time and revision rounds.

Daily word count is the best way to estimate your own timeline. Reedsy works through a 75,000-word book:

For a shorter 30,000-word ebook, divide by your daily count. At 500 words a day that is 60 days (our arithmetic, not Reedsy's).

For a short ebook, Piktochart's sample plan allots 2 days for research and outline, 5 to 7 days for the first draft, 2 to 3 days for editing and 4 to 6 hours for formatting. It treats 30 days as a realistic deadline for a first ebook of about 10,000 words.

Jericho Writers says an experienced author often needs 6 to 18 months to produce a draft ready for an editor, and a first-time author can take a year or more. It estimates drafting speed at about 1,000 words per hour or two.

With a ghostwriter, a professional does the drafting while you supply the ideas and review chapters. Independent timelines still vary a lot:

• One ghostwriting service says projects typically take 3 to 12 months, with 5 to 6 months as an ideal writing phase.
• Another reports a three-to-six-month window for a ghostwriter's time on a project.
• Ghostwriter Josh Bernoff describes two books. One took 5 months with weekly client meetings. The other took 14 months because the author met infrequently and the project stalled. He says the client's involvement matters more than anything else.

Our timelines below are the usual ranges for each package, including what that package covers.

The first chapter is written as a voice sample that you approve before the full book. Then each chapter is delivered and approved one by one, with two revision rounds. Professional and Premium add weekly updates from a named project manager. Details are on our how it works page.

If delivery is late through our fault, you get automatic discounts of 10% per week, up to 30%. All terms are on the guarantees page.

A draft is not a finished ebook. Plan for these steps after it.

Editing. Editor World estimates editor working time, not counting any wait for an editor to start. For a 30,000-word manuscript: proofreading takes 2 to 3 working days, copy editing 4 to 6 working days, and developmental editing 2 to 4 weeks. Line editing varies the most by editor and prose density. If you hire separate editors, add the wait before each one can begin. Our ghostwriter vs editor guide explains the four levels.

Formatting and cover. Piktochart's plan puts basic formatting at 4 to 6 hours for a simple short ebook. Print layouts and designed covers take longer. See ebook formatting.

Publishing. Amazon KDP's help pages say a Kindle ebook is generally live about 3 business days after you submit it, and can take up to 72 hours more to show in search results. Other stores have their own review times. See our publishing guide and the publishing service.

The same few causes appear in almost every source.

• Limited writing time. A day job, caring duties or health limits make daily writing hard, according to Jericho Writers.
• Unclear vision. Delays occur when the author cannot yet say what the book is for or who it is for.
• Slow feedback. Authors who take weeks to return chapter reviews stall everything behind them.
• Missing source material. Scattered ideas need interviews and research; a clear outline or existing notes speed things up.
• Too many revision rounds. Each extra round adds days. We include two; extra rounds are $65 an hour, agreed before the work.
• Scope creep. Doubling the word count mid-project doubles the work. We agree large scope changes in writing before proceeding.
• Editing out of order. Polishing text you later rewrite wastes time.

Use this list to set a realistic date.

1. Choose the book's length range for your genre, using the figures above.
2. Decide whether you will write it or hire a ghostwriter. See ebook ghostwriting.
3. Write down the one reader and the one problem the book solves.
4. Gather source material: notes, talks, posts, interviews, an outline.
5. Block time for review. Plan a few hours a week for chapter feedback.
6. Decide what comes after the draft: edit, format, cover, publishing.
7. Add buffer for review waits and revision rounds.
8. Set your launch date last, and work backward from it.

Ready for a date? Contact us for a free 15 to 20 minute consultation and a fixed quote. We reply within one business day.

• Reedsy: how long does it take to write a book
• Jericho Writers: how long does it take to write a book
• Podia: write an ebook in 7 days
• Piktochart: how to write your first ebook
• Daniel J. Tortora: what's the ideal word count for a nonfiction book
• TechCrunch: Amazon launches Kindle Singles (2011)
• Bernoff: how long does it take to ghostwrite a book
• Proofreading Services: ghostwriting, when can you expect your book to be ready
• Editor World: how long does book editing take
• Amazon KDP help: timelines