How many words on a page of a novel?

col · Nov 30, 2007

I am sure this question has probably been asked many times, so please refer me to the thread or leave your answer here.

What is the typical amount of words on a page of the average hardcopy and soft copy novel? I am trying to figure out how many published novel pages equals one double spaced page on MS Word. My assumption is that 1 double spaced page on MS word equals 1.5 pages in a published novel.

I hope my question makes sense.

Thanks in advance.

Danger Jane · Nov 30, 2007

If you set your pages to 1" margins all around, 12 pt double-spaced Courier, you'll have a good estimate, 1 page = 1 page. Also, if you're thinking your question's probably been asked, you can use the search feature to find it in all its incarnations.

maestrowork · Nov 30, 2007

Considering every space is taken up, a typed ms. should have about 250 words on a page, and I'd say a hardcover would be about 350 to 400 words?

blacbird · Nov 30, 2007

I hate to say this, but this shouldn't even be a question here. It shows up so regularly that it has a faint aroma of trolldom. Assuming in this instance it's not, use some simple common sense: Get thee to a bookstore or library, and count the words on a typical page of some published novels in typical formats. You do not need to be Stephen Hawking to figure this out.

caw

col · Nov 30, 2007

Oh wow blacbird, i am wrong for posting such a question. sorry to
inconvenience you. I come here to ask for advice, from here one out, I will keep my stupid questions to myself then.
Thanks to the others who took time out to help me out by answering my question.

scribbler1382 · Nov 30, 2007

Maestro's estimate is pretty close. It really depends on the published book format (not all books are created equal). You can count every word on the page of a printed book, but for a good estimate (if you don't want Maestro's) count all the words in three separate FULL lines on the page, average them out and then multiply by the number of lines. More often than not you're going to end up with Maestro's range, though.

a_sharp · Nov 30, 2007

Here's the method for a hardback I was taught many years ago, and I think it still applies. Count the words per line for a body of text anywhere in the book, say five or six lines. It usually averages between 10 and 12. Count the lines on a typical page. This will vary for chapter first pages, but ignore that. Multiply words per line times lines per page times pages per book.

Also what I was taught was to ignore small articles like a, and, the in your words per line count.

All that said, you'll probably come up with something very close to what MaestroWorks posted.

rugcat · Nov 30, 2007

It's also dependent on how the publisher formats the book. My book is 101 K, 297 pp in mass market paperback.

I have a friend with a similar book, also in mass market, different publisher. Larger font, less lines per page. I happen to know it's about 85 K and it runs 335 pp.

JohnDavidPaxton · Nov 30, 2007

Damnit. All the good answers have already been taken by Danger Jane and Ray and others.

You can't go wrong with an estimate that 250-325 words per page, though. Very few books are the exception.

David I · Dec 1, 2007

JohnDavidPaxton said:
You can't go wrong with an estimate that 250-325 words per page, though. Very few books are the exception.

If you stretch that up to Maestro's 400, giving 250-400 as the range, then I'd agree. Plenty of low-whitespace authors (Patrick O'Brian, Ian McEwan, etc) run in the high three hundreds.

The point is, your page count usually shrinks in publication. I'd say 10-30% shrinkage is typical. But if you're one of those writers who has many pages of terse dialogue, and use a lot of super-dramatic one-line sentences, it won't shrink as much becasue the length is more determined by lines than words.

Courier shrinks more than Times New Roman, because Courier carries lots of extra space. To demonstrate this, try changing the font on copies of your manuscript between TNR and Courier; Courier will swell the page count by huge amounts.

amber_grosjean · Dec 2, 2007

David I said:
If you stretch that up to Maestro's 400, giving 250-400 as the range, then I'd agree. Plenty of low-whitespace authors (Patrick O'Brian, Ian McEwan, etc) run in the high three hundreds.

The point is, your page count usually shrinks in publication. I'd say 10-30% shrinkage is typical. But if you're one of those writers who has many pages of terse dialogue, and use a lot of super-dramatic one-line sentences, it won't shrink as much becasue the length is more determined by lines than words.

Courier shrinks more than Times New Roman, because Courier carries lots of extra space. To demonstrate this, try changing the font on copies of your manuscript between TNR and Courier; Courier will swell the page count by huge amounts.

I never even noticed that lol. I use my computer to count my words for me so I don't give myself a heart attack trying to count all those words lol. Before I started using a computer, I did the multiple words by lines method with a calculator of course lol. Because I wrote kind of big, my count was way off from what it was supposed to be lol. I like using the computer though cause its so much more simple and less work than writing, then typing. Skipping the middle man is always good lol.

Amber

How many words on a page of a novel?

col

Danger Jane

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

blacbird

col

scribbler1382

Write For You, Edit For The Reader

a_sharp

Somebody give me an A

rugcat

Lost in the Fog

JohnDavidPaxton

David I

amber_grosjean

AW Addict