Several factors come into play when reading or writing a book. One of the most important factors is the amount of words on a page. The amount of words per page determines how many pages the entire book will be.
The word count is also necessary for writers who must not exceed certain word limits in a write up. This raises the question “How many words are on a page of a book?”
There are 250-300 words per page in a book. The word count varies with the typography and font size the writer uses in the text. Smaller font sizes give room for more words while bigger fonts take up more space.
Being a writer, it is normal to be curious about the number of words you can find on a page of written work. In this article, I shall share with you all you should know about words per page and how they affect your writing.
What Is the Word Count of a Book?
A word is the smallest element of writing or speech that you can use with others to form sentences. When writing a piece of writing, whether it’s a novel, a story, a blog post, a magazine article, or a sales letter, you measure the length of the item in words.
The word count of the work depends on the work you are writing. For instance, a novel with 80,000 words will naturally be longer than an article of 1,000 words. When writing fiction books, word counts help you define your book.
Your work could be a short story, novella, or a novel, depending on the word count and number of pages.
What Is the Importance of Word Count?
The word count is important as it helps you choose your readers.
Books that have over 100,000 word count will not appeal to some readers. Still, there are readers who might appreciate this length, especially when the content is very engaging. It also makes it easier to find your work when it is on a bookshelf.
In the same vein, if the number of words in your work is low, your work will appeal to some people while alienating others. Long or short, the most important thing to remember while writing is to keep it as concise as possible.
Word count is also important for promotions on sites like Amazon. You can use the number of words on each page to determine how lengthy your book or nonfiction piece should be in order to meet Amazon’s page count. Some books have specifications and a word count it must not exceed before it qualifies for a promotion.
Following the word count requirements shows you are mindful of your target audience’s needs. It also shows your ability to maintain a consistent pace throughout your story while making every word count.
Another reason publishers demand you to conform to word count regulations is the cost of production. The higher the word count, the larger the book will be which means there will be more pages to print. The more pages there are, the higher the printing costs.
High printing costs result in higher selling prices, which might not be ideal for your target audience. Besides, why would a publisher want to spend more money on a book’s publishing and then run the danger of selling it for a price higher than necessary? If these publishers had better options in the same genre as yours, they would definitely pick those over yours.
This doesn’t mean that you should cut off important texts to make your work shorter or elaborate too much to make it lengthier. It only means that having a set word count for your book places you at an advantage. With that in mind, let’s look at a few examples of the standard word count for books.
Fiction
Fictional books are creative works formed from a writer’s imagination. There are several types of fiction books which include short stories, novella, and novels.
Short stories have a word count that ranges from 1500 words to 30,000 words. A Short story that has 1500 words or fewer is known as Flash Fiction. Short stories for competitions usually range from 1000 to 8,000 words, depending on the specifications.
Novellas are longer than short stories but not lengthy enough for publishers to term them “Novels”. They have a word count that ranges between 30,000 to 50,000 words.
Factors Affecting the Number of Words on a Page
Several factors affect the word count on a page. The number of characters in a word is the first factor. Some words have more letters than others, and some writing styles have more spacing than others.
For instance, if you’re using single-space writing, there will be more words on the page than when you’re using double-spacing.
Images, graphs, and tables also determine the number of words on every page of your write-up. These diagrams take up more space than which could make your text longer. It also lessens the number of words you’ll find on a page.
The dialogue in a book could make your text longer. Science fiction, for instance, has longer dialogues than other fictional genres. Nonfiction books use fewer dialogues, which gives room for more words on a page.
Therefore, you might see a fiction and a nonfiction book of the same word length, but both will differ in size.
Book structure is another determiner of the length of a book. The trim size of your book determines how many words will end up on a page. The larger the trim size, the higher the number of words on a page.
How to Find the Number of Words in Your Book
Several factors determine how many words will be in a page of your book, but they are relevant after the book’s publishing. Before you publish a book, it must go through a typing phase. Here, you will use any writing software available to you.
You can determine how many words are in a page of your book when using writing softwares. These softwares include Microsoft Office Word, Google Docs, LibreOffice Writer etc.
Microsoft Word is one of the most popular writing software available. With Microsoft Word or LibreOffice Writer or OpenOffice Writer, you don’t have to look for the word count as it appears at the lower left corner of your page.
If you’re using Google Docs on a Mac, you can find out how many words you’ve written by pressing the Control, shift, and C keys together on a Windows keyboard. You can also go to Tools where you’ll find the Word Count menu in its options. On a Mac, go to the toolbar and pick View, then select “Show Word Count” from the drop-down menu in the upper-right corner.
How Many Pages Are in a Book?
To determine the number of pages in a book, divide your total word count by 300. Though this is a standard method of calculating book length, it is not the most precise technique to use. This is because not all pages will have 300 words on a page.
For a more accurate figure, divide your total word count by the number of words on a page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Word count is a common topic amongst writers, as it plays a significant role in the book’s outcome. Below are some of the most frequently asked questions regarding word count.
What Is the Minimum Page for a Book?
The minimum page for a book depends on the type of book you’re writing. If you’re not writing a short story, then your word count should not be less than 40,000.
Must I Write Over 20,000 Words for a Novel?
You should write up to 50,000 words before you can consider your book as a novel. A fictional story that is less than 50,000 words is a novella.
How Many Pages Are 20,000 Words?
If you’re using Microsoft Word or Google Docs, a single-spacing style, and a 9-font, 20,000 words should be approximately 60 pages.
How Many Words Should Be in a Chapter of a Book?
The writer of a book decides on how many words that will be in a chapter. There are no set general requirements for word counts in book chapters.
However, there are situations where a writer must not exceed a certain word count in a book chapter. This usually occurs in nonfictional writing or contract writing jobs.
