Calculate book page count using word count

January 8, 2018 By Fiona Raven 33 Comments

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.

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.

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:

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.

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:

To calculate the page count for a 5.5″ × 8.5″ book:

To calculate the page count for a 6″ × 9″ book:

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.

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

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.

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: ________

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 document. 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 document by clicking here: InDesign Document for Estimating Page Count

This document 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 document 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

Experiment with our InDesign document 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.

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: An InDesign book template set up for you – including all the styles you’ll need » One more super-handy template: Your copyright page – what to include » Read even more: Front matter – what to include in the front of your book » Read still 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.

Filed Under: Book Page Design Tagged With: book printing