Drakenscroll

Because when you see that dragon, you know it's strong and solid.

The hearth is cold. Choose how you would like to be received — and the fire, the sound, and the story will rise to meet you.

Either door turns the sound on. Change it whenever you like.

The Living Sigil

The Long Memory

The house keeps a long memory. Leave an address and you hear of new voices, new instruments and new work before the world does. No course, no call, no salesman.

Drakenscroll dragon shield emblem

Free to every author. Forever.

The Weighing

Every price this house names is struck off one number. Lay the manuscript on the scale and the house will weigh it whole — words, chapters, the length the trade calls it, how long it runs spoken and how long it takes to read — and then tell you, plainly, what it costs to forge in each of the three vessels.

The reading happens inside your own browser. No manuscript is uploaded, stored or seen.

The manuscript

Lay a file on the scale

.txt or .md — drag it here or click to choose

Writing in Word? Save a copy as Plain Text, or select all and paste — the count is the same either way.

The weight

—

words

Chapters

—

counted from your own headings

Paragraphs

—

blocks of prose

Sentences

—

—

Characters

—

—

Distinct words

—

the size of the book's vocabulary

Printed pages

—

at the trade's 250 words a page

What the length costs in time

Finished runtime

—

155 words to a finished minute — audio or film

Read in silence

—

250 words a minute, an ordinary reader

What the length costs in coin

Base production only. Cast, atmosphere, score and illustration are chosen in the Forge, and nothing is charged until a Charter is sealed.

Film book

—

12% of the count

Audio book

—

7% of the count

Novel-game

—

struck in bands, with a floor beneath it

Carry this count into the Forge

Or weigh the whole production on the Vellum Bench.

Asked before, answered plainly

How do I count the words in my manuscript?

Paste the manuscript into the bench, or lay a .txt or .md file down on it. The count answers instantly, chapter by chapter, and nothing is uploaded — the reading happens inside your own browser.

How many words is a novel?

The trade counts from 40,000 words. Below 17,500 is a short story, 17,500 to 40,000 a novella, 40,000 to 90,000 the ordinary novel, 90,000 to 120,000 a long novel, and beyond 120,000 an epic that a first-time author will be asked to justify.

How long will my book run as audio or film?

The house measures 155 words of manuscript to one finished minute — 9,300 words to a finished hour, the retail standard. A 90,000-word novel runs roughly nine hours and forty minutes in either vessel.

Does the word count set the price?

Yes. A film book is 12% of the word count, an audio book 7%, and a novel-game is struck in bands. The bench shows all three the moment it knows the number.

Back to the Workshop

Free, always, with or without a key. Hold one and every bench you walk counts toward the Instrument Seal — the Drakenscroll Prize.