How to know the number of words my book is

The word counter on your processor will give you the most accurate count.

Make sure you're paying attention to spelling! That's very important for all writers.

Let the word processor do the counting. YOU do the spell-checking, and make sure every word counts

This is a joke, right?

caw

blacbird said:

This is a joke, right?

caw

Click to expand...

Sadly, probably not. There are people who want to make things difficult for beginners, who tell them things like that.

The counting rules were ways to estimate wordage back before computers would count them. They were a not-very-good crutch, in the days of typewriters. The count from your word processor is much more accurate. (But round off-- don't tell anyone your novel is 86,723 words. 87,000 is fine.)

Standard is 1" margins, not 1.5". You'll find all your formatting answers here.

But use your word processor's word counter before you do any multiplication.

Little1 said:

I have seen it said that you format your book 1.5 margens 12 point TNR or Courior NEW and you X the page numbers by 250. I also heard that you look at the counter on your word prossesser. Which is it?

Click to expand...

Done right, the 250 page per word count is not an estimate, and it's far more accurate than any word processor count.

The 250 per page count comes from using Courier 12, one inch margins, and twenty five lines per page. This gives you exactly 1,500 spaces per page. To a publisher, any combination of six letters and spaces is a word, so this works out to exactly 250 "words. So even partial pages at the beginning and end of chapters have 1,500 spaces. This matters because even if a page has only a single sentence on it, the publisher still needs a full page of paper to publish that sentence.

It's really the only exact method there is, and the only method that tells a publisher exactly how much paper the published book will require. It's far more accurate than the word processor word count. Word processors only count ink. As publishers say, "Ink is cheap, paper is expensive."

Unfortunately, too many of today's editor have no idea how to use this count. It's still a good idea to use it yourself, however, because it means you won't be asked to cut for length.

Many a novel is sold, and then the writer has to cut for length, not because of actual word count, but because the book is going to use more paper than the publisher wants to pay for.

If you use the 250 count the right way, however, this won't happen. Want a 100,000 word novel the way publishers count words, you use Courier 12, one inch margins, twenty-five lines per page, and write a four hundred page manuscript.

The 250wpp is good for agents and editors to estimate the length/page count of the finished book.

For submission purpose, let the word processor give you the word count and go by that.

Straight from an agent's mouth fingertips:

Jennifer_Laughran said:

Just check the word count on your word processor.

Click to expand...

There are people who insist that there's only one right way to format a manuscript and that you must use decades'-old calculations to figure out the word count.

Agents and acquiring editors are perfectly happy with the word processor's word count, and a manuscript formatted in one of several acceptable ways.

If you like Courier, great...use it. No one will reject your manuscript for formatting according to the old guidelines. But you can use Times New Roman, too, and, at least in the UK, even (gasp!) Arial/Helvetica.

And, as agent Jennifer Laughran said:

Jennifer_Laughran said:

Just check the word count on your word processor.

Click to expand...

Terie said:

Straight from an agent's mouth fingertips:



There are people who insist that there's only one right way to format a manuscript and that you must use decades'-old calculations to figure out the word count.

Agents and acquiring editors are perfectly happy with the word processor's word count, and a manuscript formatted in one of several acceptable ways.

If you like Courier, great...use it. No one will reject your manuscript for formatting according to the old guidelines. But you can use Times New Roman, too, and, at least in the UK, even (gasp!) Arial/Helvetica.

And, as agent Jennifer Laughran said:

Click to expand...

It's true that your word processor count is usually good enough, but it's just dumb, no matter who said it, to say something is outdated because it's old, or that it isn't as accurate as a word processor count. It's shows a complete ignorance of the actual publishing process.

Jennifer Laughran is neither a writer nor an editor, and neither writers nor editors are pubishers. It's publishers who hand down the word on how much paper a pubished book neeeds, and many of today's editors are just as surprised by how many cuts are needed as are the writers.

Some things never change. Ink is still cheap, but paper is more expensive than ever, and publishers still pinch paper to death.

Listening to agents about the writing, or the publishing process, is just not very wise. They know pretty much nothing about either.

maestrowork said:

The 250wpp is good for agents and editors to estimate the length/page count of the finished book.

For submission purpose, let the word processor give you the word count and go by that.

Click to expand...

Good advice, as long as you use the proper 250 count for your own safety.

Put the word processor count on the manuscript, but write the novel using the 250 count. This way, the agent or editor doesn't have to know anything about way you counted. They'll have the word processor count, and you'll have a novel that you won't be asked to cut.

Jamesaritchie said:

It's true that your word processor count is usually good enough, but it's just dumb, no matter who said it, to say something is outdated because it's old, or that it isn't as accurate as a word processor count. It's shows a complete ignorance of the actual publishing process.

Click to expand...

And yet many of us here have sold manuscripts formatted in ways other than the old way. We're not dumb, nor are we ignorant; we're published.

My manuscript was never ever at any point during the process formatted in Courier. I even asked my editor if he wanted me to reformat the final manuscript to any particular standard to make it easier for the typesetter, and he said no.

They took my file, which was in Times New Roman, dumped it into InDesign (or whichever tool they use, I can't remember for sure which one), and applied the font they'd selected for the book. Whatever way they deteremined how much paper would be required, it wasn't from my manuscript being formatted in Courier. And contrary to what you've said elsewhere that everything is retyped by a typesetter, that just ain't so, either.

Acquisitions editors and agents, the ones asking for word counts, aren't calculating paper requirements; they're acquiring a manuscript. It will be rewritten, so the word count when typesetting time comes will be different from what was submitted for consideration.

If there were only one right way to format manuscripts, we'd all still be using it. The fact that many of us aren't using it and still sell our work is pretty good evidence that the old way isn't the only way anymore.

So telling new writers that they must follow an old standard when submitting their manuscripts to agents and acquisitions editors isn't helpful. There are a few (not many, but a few) acceptable formats. You not liking it doesn't change it from being a fact.

For word count in MS Word:

Click File
Click Properties
Click the Statistics tab: the exact word count should be listed in the text box.

There are other ways. But this is straightforward.

Interesting that there is a reason to use the mathematical guidelines. I assumed they were around from before the statistics were available through the word processor, and always thought it odd when I ran into them from time to time.

(I realized after posting that you weren't actually asking how to find word count, but I've been asked this before, so I'll leave it posted in case it benefits someone).

It has been years since I have encountered an agent who wanted anything other than the word processor's count. Miss Snark's rant on this is priceless. You'll find a less hilarious, but equally firm, take on it at AgentQuery.

There are some magazines, and some publishers that take submissions directly from authors, that do use the "fixed-pitch font, 25 lines per page, each page is estimated at 250 words" formula. To do that, you need to set your font to Courier 12 and your margins to 1" and be using US 8.5 inches by 11 inches paper.

But if anywhere you're submitting wants you to do anything other than use your word processor's word count, they will say so. That's the current default, at least in the US.

Jamesaritchie said:

Done right, the 250 page per word count is not an estimate, and it's far more accurate than any word processor count.

The 250 per page count comes from using Courier 12, one inch margins, and twenty five lines per page. This gives you exactly 1,500 spaces per page. To a publisher, any combination of six letters and spaces is a word, so this works out to exactly 250 "words. So even partial pages at the beginning and end of chapters have 1,500 spaces. This matters because even if a page has only a single sentence on it, the publisher still needs a full page of paper to publish that sentence.

Click to expand...

Correct, and quoted for emphasis. The issue ultimately isn't the raw number of words in the work, it's the space the work would take up in a published book format. White space counts in the latter, but not in the word-processor's word count.

Now, that having been said, at this point in history, any agent who can't make a reasonable estimate of that space from a typical word-processor word count probably should be doing something other than agenting, like squeegying car windshields at stop lights. But it really is useful for writers to understand this matter.

caw

Word 2007 has a status bar at the bottom. Right click the bar and select any of several bits of information to display, including word count.

Jamesaritchie said:

Done right, the 250 page per word count is not an estimate, and it's far more accurate than any word processor count.

Click to expand...

Now I have a somewhat serious question. My story, using the Word Processor's word count is 89,000. If I use the 250 page per word count its 106,000. Now, a publisher is having a agent-free slush pile and for my genre, they don't want to see anything less than 95,000 words. Is it cheating for me to say my WIP is 106,000? Because obviously, they'll get the word doc as an attachment and will see for themselves what it is.

Shadow_Ferret said:

Now I have a somewhat serious question. My story, using the Word Processor's word count is 89,000. If I use the 250 page per word count its 106,000. Now, a publisher is having a agent-free slush pile and for my genre, they don't want to see anything less than 95,000 words. Is it cheating for me to say my WIP is 106,000? Because obviously, they'll get the word doc as an attachment and will see for themselves what it is.

Click to expand...

Hmm, rough rule of thumb guestimate vs. actual hard fact. That's always a tricky one.

I thought IceCreamEmpress's post #14 said it all.

-Derek

Shadow_Ferret said:

Now I have a somewhat serious question. My story, using the Word Processor's word count is 89,000. If I use the 250 page per word count its 106,000. Now, a publisher is having a agent-free slush pile and for my genre, they don't want to see anything less than 95,000 words. Is it cheating for me to say my WIP is 106,000? Because obviously, they'll get the word doc as an attachment and will see for themselves what it is.

Click to expand...

As most of us keep saying over and over and over, just use the word processor's word count. As you point out, they'll be able to check the word count themselves and see that you fudged. That doesn't seem to be a terrific way to make a good impression on a potential agent.

BTW, just for a lark, I changed a current WIP to the old 'standard' format, and the calculation at 250/wpp came to 19,500. The word processor's count? 19,795.

Drat. Then I have to quickly write 6000 more words.

Telling newbies to use the old 250 page method just gets them in trouble. They never do it right, and in any case, a huge majority of agents don't do it that way, and probably couldn't do it right if they tried. Stay out of trouble and use the computer count. Forget you ever heard of the 250 method; resist the fatal attraction of 10% more words without having to write them.

Jamesaritchie said:

Listening to agents about the writing, or the publishing process, is just not very wise. They know pretty much nothing about either.

Click to expand...

Um...

Jamesaritchie said:

Good advice, as long as you use the proper 250 count for your own safety.

Put the word processor count on the manuscript, but write the novel using the 250 count. This way, the agent or editor doesn't have to know anything about way you counted. They'll have the word processor count, and you'll have a novel that you won't be asked to cut.

Click to expand...

This employs some higher level logic, apparently.