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Book word count calculator
How many pages is that, how long does it take to read, and how many chapters should it be? Free, and nothing is stored.
The whole book, front and back matter excluded.
1,000–1,800 is what makes a book feel readable.
Printed pages
≈ 107
At about 280 words a page — an estimate, not a typeset count.
Reading time
2 hr 16 min
Chapters
21
At 1,400 words each.
What this is
Full non-fiction guide, or a novella
Where these numbers come from
The page counts assume a 12pt serif with normal margins — about 280 words a page at 6 × 9, 225 at 5.5 × 8.5, and 450 at 8.5 × 11. Those are the conventional trade figures and they are estimates, because the real number depends on the typeface, the leading and the margins, none of which a word count knows about.
Reading time is at 220 words a minute, a comfortable adult pace for non-fiction. Fiction reads a little faster, technical material a lot slower.
Why page count matters more than it looks
For an ebook it does not matter at all — an ebook has no pages. For print it decides two things that cost money: the printing cost, which is subtracted from your royalty before you see any of it, and the spine width, which is calculated from the page count and is why the cover artwork cannot be finished until the interior is.
This is also why trim size is worth deciding before anything is laid out. Changing it later re-flows every page and changes the page count, which changes the spine, which invalidates the cover.
On the chapter count
Chapter length is the single most reliable structural fix for a book that feels heavy. A reader does not experience 30,000 words; they experience one chapter at a time, in the gaps of a day. Chapters of 1,000 to 1,800 words are what makes a book feel readable, and splitting a 4,000-word chapter into three cuts nothing and helps enormously.
For what each kind of book should actually run to, see how long an ebook should be.
Questions people ask
How many pages is 50,000 words?
Roughly 180 pages at a 6 × 9 inch trim with 12pt type and normal margins. At 5.5 × 8.5 it is closer to 220, because there is less room on each page.
Why does the page count change with trim size?
Because a bigger page holds more words. The same manuscript is about 60% longer in pages at 5.5 × 8.5 than at 8.5 × 11 — which is why page count, and therefore printing cost, follows from a decision made before typesetting.
Do ebooks have page numbers?
No. An ebook reflows to the reader’s screen and font size, so it has no fixed pages at all. Page counts only mean something in print.
How accurate is this?
It is an estimate, deliberately. Actual page count depends on typeface, point size, leading, margins, chapter openings and how many part-empty pages the chapter breaks leave. Treat it as ±10%.
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