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How big
is my book?
 In order to estimate the approximate cost
of writing or publishing a book, it's important to first estimate the scope of
the book -- the number of pages.
This brief (and rather
unscientific) guide will help you in estimating your book's page count.
The first thing to know is that this is a rough estimating guide only. Your
actual page count will be determined at publication time and will be impacted
by factors such as font size and type, the book's dimensions, how much "white
space" (margins, blank pages or half-pages) is used, and whether you are
including special formatting for photos, illustrations, tables, questionnaires,
etc.
One method of estimating is by the word count of the manuscript;
the table below shows an approximate page count based on the total word count
(assuming this is a standard 6x9" paperback book. The estimates shown can
probably differ by +/- 15-20% based on other formatting factors.)
| Word Count |
Standard Format |
| 30,000 |
75 pages |
| 40,000 |
100 pages |
| 50,000 |
125 pages |
| 60,000 |
150 pages |
| 70,000 |
175 pages |
| 80,000 |
200 pages |
| 90,000 |
225 pages |
| 100,000 |
250 pages |
| 110,000 |
300 pages |
| 120,000 |
350 pages |
Publishing industry
guidelines seem to use 250 words per page as their basis for estimating, but
this is based on the "old days" when typewriters and fixed-width fonts were the
only option. Although that guideline is still used today, it's not often going
to be accurate. And if you haven't written your manuscript yet, it's not always
easy to know what size book you want to "shoot for", especially if editors and
ghostwriters need that information in order to give you a quote for their
services.
To get at least a rough idea of what size book you'd like to
write, go to the bookstore and look at books that are similar in genre and
physical proportions to the book YOU have in mind. Measure the book - is it 6x9
or some other dimensions? How many total pages are in the book? Is it mainly
all text or is it heavy on illustrations? Based on what you know today about
your book's subject and your vision for how the finished product will look, if
you can find some books that are similar in scope, this can help you get a
rough idea of what your book might look like when it's printed.
Another
way to get an estimate of the ratio of word count to page count is to take a
printed book (again, pick one that is similar to what your book will become),
choose any fully-printed page at random and count the words on that page. Then
multiply that word count by the total number of pages. Then subtract 15-20% to
cover the white space used by partial pages (the first and last page of each
chapter plus any other space needed around visual elements included in the
book's text.)
This method can be especially helpful if you anticipate
your book being other than a standard 6x9" non-fiction paperback; most romance
novels and sci-fi books are published as trade paperbacks which use a smaller
dimension but where the page count is then higher; textbooks and other
hardcover books also use a different scale. Children's books are harder to
estimate on a page/word count because they frequently provide more
illustrations, especially the non-chapter books; for children's books, author's
and editors most likely will provide quotes for their services based on other
factors than word/page count (children's books are labor-intensive in other
ways).
There are also a variety of estimating tools available online.
Here are just a few you can try, although you'll notice they sometimes have
differing opinions and none can be considered to be a definitive source -- as
I've said, this is not an exact science!
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The Writing Coach's
Guide