Wondering how many Word pages equal a book page? You can easily calculate book page count using the word count from your Word document. We’ll explain two easy methods to calculate book page count: 1) use one of our simple formulas as a book page count calculator, or 2) use our InDesign template to experiment with book trim size and type size to accurately determine a page count for books. Use whichever method is easiest for you.
Calculate book page count using your word count
You’ll use the word count in your Word document to calculate book page count. First of all, find your word count in Word by opening your document and looking at the bottom left of your screen:
Once you know your word count, follow one of our two methods below to estimate your page count.
Method 1: Use our formulas
We’ve typeset many books and therefore know how to calculate the number of words that fit on an average book page. Our formulas are based on book trim size, typeface, and type size. Here are the steps to using our formulas:
Choose your book’s trim size
The trim size of your book dictates approximately how many words fit on one page, so start by choosing a trim size. Some popular trim sizes for books are:
Fiction – 5″ × 8″ or 5.5″ × 8.5″
Nonfiction – 6″ × 9″
What about trim sizes for larger format books? Look at any book and you’ll see that the text never goes to the edges of the pages. It’s all contained within the margins, forming a text block. Most larger format books use the same size text blocks as regular fiction and nonfiction books so that they’re easy to read. For a larger format book, use the 6″ × 9″ formula to calculate book page count.
Formulas to calculate book page count
Find the trim size of your book below, then use the formula for the type size you envision for your book. We created the formulas by setting 10,000 words in Minion (a commonly used serif typeface that comes with InDesign), and using the page margins recommended in Book Design Made Simple (0.75″ on all sides except 0.85″ at the top).
To calculate the page count for a 5″ × 8″ book:
- 10 pt type – divide your word count by 400
- 11 pt type – divide your word count by 350
- 12 pt type – divide your word count by 300
To calculate the page count for a 5.5″ × 8.5″ book:
- 10 pt type – divide your word count by 475
- 11 pt type – divide your word count by 425
- 12 pt type – divide your word count by 350
To calculate the page count for a 6″ × 9″ book:
- 10 pt type – divide your word count by 600
- 11 pt type – divide your word count by 500
- 12 pt type – divide your word count by 425
Calculate the number of pages in your front and back matter
There are probably some pages that are not included in your word count, such as pages in your front and back matter. Look through the following list of front and back matter pages and make a note of the number of pages you’ll require for your front and back matter:
Half title, title page, copyright page, dedication, quote or epigraph, contents, list of illustrations, foreword, preface, acknowledgements, introduction, appendix(es), endnotes, glossary, bibliography, references, index(es).
The image below from Book Design Made Simple explains the order of pages for your front and back matter.
This excerpt from pages 24 and 25 of Book Design Made Simple should help you estimate the length of your front and back matter.
Calculate the number of pages your images will require
In addition to text, you may also include illustrations, photos, diagrams, charts, and tables in your book. An easy way to estimate the number of pages your images will require is to count them according to how much space they’ll use. For example:
5 full-page images = 5 pages
20 half-page images = 10 pages
4 quarter-page images = 1 page
Total pages required for images: 16 pages
Calculate extra pages based on number of chapters and parts/sections
Chapters don’t usually begin at the top of a page, nor do they usually end at the bottom of a page. Therefore you should allow half a page extra for each chapter in your book. For example, if your book has 14 chapters, add 7 pages to your page count.
If your book is divided into parts or sections, you’ll probably add a part or section divider page (followed by a blank) between each part or section. So for each part or section in your book, add 2 pages to your book page count.
Calculate your book page count
Add together the following totals to get the final page count for your book:
Number of pages for word count (from formulas above): _______
Number of pages for front and back matter: ________
Number of pages for images: ________
Number of pages for chapters and part/section dividers: ________
Total number of pages estimated for your book: ________
#Indieauthors, need to calculate your #book page count using your manuscript's word count? We explain two methods: using a simple math formula or our #InDesign template. https://goo.gl/Dfy8cm Click To TweetMethod 2: Use our InDesign template
You can estimate your page count the same way we calculated the formulas listed above—by using your book’s trim size, typeface, and type size in an actual InDesign document. Of course, you’ll need InDesign to use this template. If you don’t have InDesign, you can download it for a free one-week trial or use it at your local library.
Download our InDesign template by clicking here:
InDesign Template for Estimating Page Count
This template is set to the specifications we guide you through in Book Design Made Simple (i.e., trim size 5.5″ × 8.5″, tx paragraph style with Minion Regular, 11 pt type size with 14 pt leading). And the template includes the first 10,000 words of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Set the trim size and type specs to whatever you wish (see instructions below), and see how many pages the text runs to. Then use the following formula to calculate the average number of words per page:
10,000 divided by number of pages = words per page
Change the trim size and type specs to suit
Experiment with our InDesign template to get an accurate page count with whatever trim size and type specs you choose. Here are some suggestions for changes you can make:
Change the trim size: First click Layout>Margins and Columns, then check the Enable Layout Adjustment Box at the bottom left. Click OK. This will ensure that the text frames stay the same size as the margins, regardless of how large or small the pages are.
Click File>Document Setup to open the Document Setup dialog box. Choose your new trim size by changing the numbers in the Width and Height boxes, then click OK.
Your pages will now have the new trim size. Note that the margins are the same distance from the edges of the pages as they were before. As a result, the size of your text frames will have changed, causing your text to reflow and your page count to change.
Change the type specs: Double-click the tx paragraph style in your Paragraph Styles panel to open the Paragraph Style Options dialog box. Select Basic Character Formats on the left as shown below. Change the Font Family, Size, and Leading (linespacing) by clicking the arrows to the right of those drop-down menus and choosing alternatives.
Make sure the Preview box at the bottom left is checked. That way you’ll see all the changes you’re making to the text in real time. Once you click OK, InDesign will finalize those changes causing your text to reflow and your page count to change.
Calculate book page count … done!
Now that you know the average number of words per page in your book, you can calculate the page count with a little arithmetic. Simply divide the total word count from your Word document by the number of words per page.
total number of words in your Word document divided by number of words per book page = your page count so far
Then add in all the extra pages for your front matter, back matter, images, chapter titles, and part/section openers (see Method 1, above).
We hope one of these two methods works quickly and easily for you! There are lots of reasons why you might need to estimate the page count for books using the word count. Now you know two sure-fire ways to calculate book page count.
If you have any questions or problems, please let us know in the comments below. Happy designing!
Read more: Front matter – what to include in the front of your book »
Read more: Book trim size – how to choose the right trim size »
And even more: Is your image high enough resolution for printing? »
Book Design Made Simple. You can do it yourself.
What about a book with a ton of art and tables and boxes? Like a textbook?
Hi Hugh,
It can be challenging figuring out the probable page count for a textbook … believe us, we know! But we’ve broken it down for you in this article if you use “Method 1.” This way, you first estimate how many pages the text alone will occupy, then the images (photos, charts, illustrations, etc.), and finally allowing for the number of chapters and the front and back matter. There’s a lot to consider! But for an estimate, we find this method works the best.
Good luck with your upcoming book! Fiona
I’m writing a 2-volume history book with hundreds of footnotes – are these calculated in word count? Obviously they take up space on the page , but the font size is 9 as opposed to body type at 12. How would I calculate this?
Thanks!
Hi Suzanne,
Here’s what you can do if the footnotes will take up a huge amount of space in a book. First, calculate the page count for your main text, ignoring the footnotes. (Use the instructions in the article.)
Then calculate the page count for your footnotes separately.
Method 1, if your footnotes are not yet complete and you’re doing an advance estimate: First figure out an average of how many words per page for the footnotes. You can do this by filling some pages in your InDesign book page (or a page of the expected size in Word) with footnote text and typesetting it at 9 point size with the expected space between the lines. Then count the words per page by using the tool in InDesign (go to Window > Info) or Word.
You should also plan for the space between the main text and the footnotes on the pages. To do this, subtract a line or two from the number of lines on a hypothetical full page of footnotes. So, if a full page of footnotes would be 40 lines, then tell yourself that it will actually be 38 because of the white space. Then multiply the total footnote word count by the number of lines per page, and you’ll have your footnote page count.
Method 2, if your footnote text is complete: Simply use all of your footnote text and typeset it at the appropriate size and with the appropriate margins to duplicate the final product. And then see how many pages you end up with. Don’t forget to allow for the 1-2 lines of white space on each page between the main text and footnotes, as described above.
Then add your main text pages to your footnote text pages, and bingo!
I hope this helps.
Glenna
Recently summed up a novel. Roughly 141k words, and was planning to print in 8.5 by 5.5. What do you consider a page? Is the calculator assumed by single line spacing or double? In my book, I currently have it set at font size 12 and single line spacing. However is there a way to estimate the page size with line spacing variables so I can play around? Thank you, good day
Hello Analise,
To answer your questions in order:
1. A page is the same as when you read a book: page 1, page 2, page 3, etc. Both sides of each piece of paper are a page. Blank ones, too.
2. The calculator is assuming a normal amount of space between lines. In Word, a single space is kind of tight. You can increase the space between lines by a precise amount if you want to be more precise than single spacing and 1.5 line spacing. For 12-point type, try 15 points between lines for a readable, pleasant (normal) look.
3. If you’re using Word for your final layout, you can change the margins to a custom size. Try various settings to see how you like the look. If you’re going to use InDesign, simply follow the directions in Book Design Made Simple for optimal margins. (For 5.5 x 8.5″, we suggest top margin 0.85 in., bottom 0.75 in., inside—toward spine—0.75 in., outside—away from spine—0.75 in.). The larger top margin allows for a running head on each page or the main text. If you really want to lay out your book in Word, you might want to try a Word template for best results. But feel free to mess around with your margins. Simply check the word count per page for each set of margins and line spacing and compare them with each other.
I hope this helps. Best of luck with your novel.
Glenna
Thank you! Noted. I’ll be keeping that in mind
I’d like to cite this article in something I’m writing about Vladimir Nabokov’s novel ADA. Would that be OK?
Hello William,
Thank you for asking for permission. Yes, you may cite this article, and please let us know when it’s published. Thank you.
Glenna Collett
Hello there I have question if I have a manuscript of 18550 words how amnynpages would that add up to in a standard paperback format.
Hello Eric,
The answer to your question lies in the article about calculating book page count. It all depends on the kind of book and how large you’d like the type to be. Almost every situation is covered in the article.
Glenna
Hello,
This is my first time writing a book, and I’m an 8th/9th grader 😀
I’m planning to make my book about 250-300 pages (novel/short novel) and it’s a fiction book about a dog. Is it OK to have a 4×6″ cut for a fiction book? Or is it better if I have a 5×8″ instead? Also, I’m not planning on publishing it to the world, but rather making about 10 copies for my closest friends.
Also, is a size 10 font in Arial acceptable?
I have 1.5 line spacing, as I feel that single is too small, and double is to large. I don’t recall ever reading a book where an author chose a 1.5 line spacing (or so I have observed). Do you know if 1.5 line spacing is pretty common?
Thanks so much!
-Natalia
Dear Natalia,
Good for you for writing a novel! Your idea to print enough for your family and friends makes your plans more flexible than if you were publishing for the world, so yes, you may use a 4 x 6″ trim size. But before you settle on that, I suggest printing out some type on paper and then cutting a block of type to about 2.5″ wide and 4.5″ high. Then cut out some pieces of paper to 4 x 6″ and stick the type on the paper. Then handle the pages as if they were a book. You might find that your hand covers a lot of the type area. You might find also that very few words fit on each page.
Arial is a very readable typeface, but it’s mostly used for shorter works such as advertising, or at a small size for reference books. Most novels use a serif typeface such as Minion, Century, Caslon, so try whatever you have on your computer that looks comfortable and not too fancy or frilly. As for the type size, 10 point would be fine for Arial. If you use another typeface you might discover that you need 11 point to get the same amount of readability.
1.5-line spacing is a bit unusual for a novel, but fine. You might discover, though, in your experiment above, that you can’t fit very many lines on a 4 x 6″ page. Your readers won’t want to have to turn the page every few seconds. It seems that you’ll be using Word. If so, I believe you can change the line spacing to whatever you want by going to Format > Paragraph > Spacing > Line spacing, and then set it to Exactly 14 points or whatever you want to use. Experiment with the best look. Once you find something you like on the screen, be sure to print it out to see how it will look in your book.
I hope this helps. Feel free to write to us again as you progress with your project. Good luck!
Glenna (coauthor)
51840 words being handwritten about size 13 font which size book would be optimal? (A5 is what i was going to use) and how many pages would this be? thanks
Dear Lily,
My best advice would be to write on two pages of A5 paper, figuring out some margins before you start. Then simply count the words on those 2 pages and do the math from there. I have never worked with a handwritten book before, and everyone’s handwriting is different. Also there’s the factor of how much space you use between the lines.
Good luck, and let us know what you figure out.
Glenna
Hi,
I am a first time writer and on the verge of final submission. It is for lower middle grade..10 yrs apx. I have done 25,000 words and about 10 illustrations. How many pages in a book does this qualify for?
Thankyou so much.
Hello Suzanne,
Your question is hard to answer because there are several factors involved: your audience, your genre, and the size of your illustrations. So we’re sending you to our blog post that should help you answer this question for yourself: https://www.bookdesignmadesimple.com/calculate-book-page-count-using-word-count/
On the other hand, you could find a book that resembles what you think yours might look like, count the number of words per line for 10 lines, average them out to find out how many words per a typical line. Then multiply that number by the number of lines per page. That will give you the number of words per page. Then simply divide that into 25,000. After that, add space for your 10 illustrations, and some pages for the front matter of the book.
Good luck with your book!
Glenna
My manuscript word count is 54,000 and I want the book size to be 6.14 x 9.21. I also want the side margins to be maxed out to around 0.6. I am not sure about the top and bottom margins but of course I want them to look good and go with the side margins. Normal gutter. Times New Roman font. Font size 13 points. Question, about how many pages do you think this book will be?
Hi Larry, When I flow 54,000 words into your book size with your margins (except 0.75″ in the gutter, which is standard), Times New Roman 13/16, I get 132 pages.
Fiona
Hello, I am a first time publisher so I am super grateful for this website. My book, according to your helpful calculations, 20,000 words will be about 73 pages, 1.5 line spacing, 12p font and Times Romans. Do I have to get the exact amount of pages to download KDP cover template?
Hi Elizabeth, I often start by downloading a cover template for the estimated page count at the start of a project. So, for example, you could download a template for a 74-page book with the trim size you intend to use. That way, you can get started designing your front and back covers. Once your pages are finalized and you have a final page count, download a new template for that page count to get the exact final spine width. Copy and paste your front and back covers on to the new template, and design your book’s spine to fit. I hope this helps! Fiona
Is there a template you recommend for a children’s book?
Hello Regina,
Since we are designers, we don’t recommend templates. Your best bet is to study as many samples of children’s books as possible, figure out a good size and page count for yours (paying attention to your printing provider’s guidelines), and then feel free to copy the layout of the most appropriate sample book, or mix and match with a few layouts.
Good luck with your book project!
Glenna (coauthor)
I am a first-time author and am just about ready to self publish on Amazon Kindle. I would like paperbacks available as well as ebooks – but am now worried that my $9.99 price point won’t cover my costs on the paperbacks…you see, my word count is 122,500 with much dialogue. My local print shop is printing my Advanced Reader Copies on 8.5×11 to reduce costs.
Help??
Hello Carmin,
Your advance reader copies need to look as professional and complete as possible so that your readers will be convinced that this is an actual book. We advise against the 8.5 x 11″ copies. Before getting ARCs, you should have the book designed and laid out by a professional (unless you’re doing it yourself with help from Book Design Made Simple, of course), complete with a front cover and spine, though you may leave the back cover blank, as this is where your readers’ reviews will go. Then get just your ARCs printed by Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. You will probably find that it’s less expensive than printing at the local shop, plus you’ll see exactly what your book is going to look like and how much each copy is going to cost. (When you print on demand, every copy costs the same, no matter the volume. See our blog post on that topic here.)
Your words are important, but the presentation is equally important, especially if you want to get good reviews.
Good luck with your first venture into book publishing!
Glenna
Hi Glenna Thanks for the info. When calculating the ‘word’ count – would that be soley the text of the stoiry? (less the front and back portions etc. I ask because the word count usually lists ALL words. I am finishing a novella and don’t want to exceed 40,000 words
thanks
Hi Stephen,
Whenever anyone talks about word count, they mean the body of the story. You can figure out the front matter simply by counting the pages you want to have there.
In order to get Word to count only the story text, you will need to put that text into a separate document, or you can highlight the story text only and Word will count only the highlighted words.
Best of luck with your story.
Glenna
I can’t be more grateful for finding this article. This is one area that is so important but seems to be left out of all of the major self-publishing platforms. I have been at this for over a week, maybe more and have become so discouraged. It was easier writing novels than trying to set them up for pod. Most blogs show the calculation process for standard 5×8 and so on but not one of them shares a formula for smaller books. I am trying to print 15,000 and 30,000 word books on a 4×6 .. I really wish I could figure our the formula for determining the page count. Each platform asks for a page count instead of providing an embedded calculator to aid in completing the form. You can’t get past the screen to generate a pdf template for a book cover without knowing this. It’s like a vicious circle….. I’ll try some of what you have written here. If you know anything that I might be missing please let me know. Thanks so much!
Michelle
Hi Michelle, it’s definitely a challenge to calculate your page count when your book has a trim size smaller than 5″ x 8″. I used the InDesign template provided in this blog post to estimate your page count, and here’s what I did:
I changed the trim size in the InDesign template to 4″ x 6″. I noticed that the preset margins look too big for this small trim size, so I reduced all the margins to 0.625″ except the inside margin (the gutter or spine edge), which I kept at 0.75″ to allow for perfect binding. There are 10,000 words in the template, and the type is 11 pt with generous leading or linespacing. At the 4″ x 6″ trim size, 10,000 words ran to 52 pages (that’s 192 words per page). So 15,000 words would run to 288 pages, and 30,000 words would run to 576 pages.
If you want to calculate any other word count for a 4″ x 6″ trim size, just remember there are approximately 192 words per page using 11 pt type and the margins noted above.
I hope this helps, and thanks for your great question!
For our project, this blog’s timing is perfect! The page count is much more of a concern with respect to this book than the last. This one is still a work in progress so your Method #1 was really helpful. I suspect that having a solid page estimate will also be a handy bit of knowledge to have, during the lead-up to the printing process. Thank you for another great blog!
M & L
Hi M&L, our most faithful readers,
Thanks for your comments. Fiona did most of the work on this one, and her 2 methods do work perfectly. You get the point exactly, which is to be able to plan for printing costs. Glad to be able to help out!
Glenna