How To Calculate Your Page Count

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 an easy method to calculate book page count!

 

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:

Use This Easy Formula

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 (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).

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: ________