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Words to Pages Calculator: How Many Pages Is Your Book?
Type your word count, pick a trim size and type size, and see how many printed pages your book will run to. The estimate uses a paperback page at your trim size, with the margins a printed book needs.
By Corey Jackson, developer of Lacuna
Reviewed by Melissa Erin Jackson, author of 15 self-published books
Updated October 5, 2026 · Read about us
- Estimated printed pages
- 234
- Likely 210 to 257 pages once the book is typeset
- Words per page
- 342
- Length category
- 80,000 words is a novel by the Nebula Award definitions
- Page layout
- About 69 characters a line and 35 lines a page at 6 x 9 in, 11 point, normal (1.4) spacing
- Amazon KDP
- 234 pages is inside KDP’s 24 to 828 page range for this trim on white paper.
- Spine width (KDP white paper)
- 0.527 in (13.38 mm)
How many pages is 50,000, 80,000, or 100,000 words?
Printed pages at the three most common novel trims, 11-point type, normal line spacing. Pick your own settings in the calculator above for anything else.
| Words | 5 x 8 in | 5.5 x 8.5 in | 6 x 9 in | Manuscript |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30,000 | 128 pages | 108 pages | 88 pages | 120 pages |
| 50,000 | 214 pages | 181 pages | 146 pages | 200 pages |
| 60,000 | 257 pages | 217 pages | 175 pages | 240 pages |
| 70,000 | 299 pages | 253 pages | 205 pages | 280 pages |
| 80,000 | 342 pages | 289 pages | 234 pages | 320 pages |
| 90,000 | 385 pages | 325 pages | 263 pages | 360 pages |
| 100,000 | 428 pages | 362 pages | 292 pages | 400 pages |
| 120,000 | 513 pages | 434 pages | 351 pages | 480 pages |
| 150,000 | 642 pages | 542 pages | 438 pages | 600 pages |
The manuscript column is the double-spaced, 12-point, 1-inch-margin page that agents and editors count in, at the conventional 250 words a page. The printed columns are estimates; the final count depends on the font, the chapter count, and how much dialogue there is. Expect the real number to land within about ten percent.
How the estimate works
This is the copyfitting sum typesetters have always done, with every assumption written down so you can argue with it.
Words per page
words per page = (characters per line x lines per page x 0.85) / 6
Characters per line come from the width of the text block divided by the average width of a character, word spaces included. Lines per page come from the height of the text block divided by the line spacing. The 0.85 allows for the short last line of every paragraph, ornamental breaks, and chapters that start part way down the page. Six characters per word, including the space after it, is the manuscript counting convention.
The text block
width = trim width − gutter − outer margin
height = trim height − top − bottom
Margins are the defaults Lacuna applies to each trim, in inches. The top and bottom hold the header and page number.
| Trim | Top, bottom | Gutter | Outer | Text block |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 x 8 | 0.75 | 0.875 | 0.3 | 3.83 x 6.5 |
| 6 x 9 | 0.75 | 0.875 | 0.375 | 4.75 x 7.5 |
| 8 x 10 | 0.75 | 1 | 0.5 | 6.5 x 8.5 |
Trims narrower than 5.5 inches take the 5 x 8 margins, trims from 5.5 x 8.5 up to 7.5 x 9.25 take the 6 x 9 margins, and 8 x 10 and wider take the last row.
Type size and face
The sum assumes an average character width of 0.45 em, which is where Garamond, Times, and most book serifs sit. A wide face such as Bookman fits fewer characters on a line; a narrow one fits more. Going from 11 to 12 point adds roughly a fifth to the page count.
Line spacing
Tight is 1.25 times the type size, normal 1.4, loose 1.55. Most novels sit near normal. Large-print editions and books for older readers use loose spacing and a bigger type size together, which can add a third to the page count.
Manuscript pages
A manuscript page is 12-point type, double spaced, with 1-inch margins on US Letter. Publishing counts it at 250 words a page by convention, so an 80,000-word novel is a 320-page manuscript whatever the font. The “Manuscript page” switch in the calculator uses exactly that.1
What this cannot know
Front matter (title page, copyright, dedication, contents), back matter, part title pages, images, and the blank pages a book needs so every chapter opens on a right-hand page all add to the count and are not in the estimate. Dialogue-heavy chapters run short lines and more pages; dense non-fiction runs fewer. Treat the result as a planning number, and get the real count by formatting the book: Lacuna shows the live page total as you change the style, trim, and type size.
How long should a book be?
Published guidelines from Writer’s Digest for the genres and the Nebula Awards for the short forms, each linked to its source.
| Category | Words | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Short story | under 7,500 | Nebula Awards rules |
| Novelette | 7,500 to 17,500 | Nebula Awards rules |
| Novella | 17,500 to 40,000 | Nebula Awards rules |
| Novel (any genre) | 71,000 to 109,000 | Writer’s Digest |
| Literary, romance, mystery, thriller, horror | 80,000 to 89,999 | Writer’s Digest |
| Fantasy and science fiction | 100,000 to 115,000 | Writer’s Digest |
| Western | 50,000 to 80,000 | Writer’s Digest |
| Memoir | 80,000 to 89,999 | Writer’s Digest |
| Young adult | 55,000 to 79,999 | Writer’s Digest |
| Middle grade | 20,000 to 55,000 | Writer’s Digest |
| Picture book | 500 to 600 | Writer’s Digest |
The Nebula rules call anything from 40,000 words a novel. The Writer’s Digest ranges are what agents expect from a debut, and its sweet spot for most adult fiction is 80,000 to 89,999. Non-fiction has no settled range, so compare your book with a few others on the same shelf.
See your book’s real page count in Lacuna
Import your manuscript and the page count updates as you change the style, trim size, and type size.
Live page count
The print preview shows the real page total for your book at the trim size and type size you pick. Switch from 5.5 x 8.5 to 6 x 9 and watch it change; try a bigger type size for older readers and see what it costs in pages.
32 pre-made styles
Each style sets the body face, size, line spacing, chapter openers, and headers together. Pick one, and the page count reflects the whole design.
KDP-ready margins
The margins this calculator assumes are the ones Lacuna applies by default, and the margins panel checks them against KDP’s minimums for your page count. Export a print PDF, EPUB, and DOCX from one project, on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
The trial is free and has no time limit, with every feature switched on. The one thing payment unlocks is generating the final files, so you can format the whole book and read the real page count before you spend $149, one time.
What authors are saying
Real authors. Real books. Formatted with Lacuna.
I’m a cover designer and interior formatter by profession and run my own small publishing press, so trust me when I say I’m picky and my standards are high. InDesign has always been the only program that formats for print with the level of customization I need. For years, I’ve used it for print and another program entirely for ebooks to get the results I wanted. When I saw Lacuna, I immediately went to check it out and within an hour from having downloaded the trial, I was hooked.
This gives me so much more freedom with print options than other formatting programs like Atticus or Vellum while still making ebooks a breeze. The ability to work from one file and have separate print and ebook settings is a complete gamechanger. I’m still learning my way around the program and loving every second.
JJ Carpenter
The Haunting of Kenmore Asylum
I originally checked out Lacuna because somebody in a KDP publishing group I belong to asked if anyone had tried Lacuna out yet. I published nine other books using a different formatter, but I wasn’t happy with it. I ended up taking a look at Lacuna even though I was pretty much sold on Atticus or Vellum. Once I started diving into Lacuna and saw the ease of use and flexibility, I was absolutely floored. It was a no-brainer, and I purchased Lacuna. Since then the program has only improved. Corey is amazing at fixing things and streamlining processes.
If you take a look at the book that I formatted with Lacuna you will see, it would be pretty difficult to do something like that with one of those other formatting programs. Plus they cost more. In my opinion Lacuna is already the best formatter on the market and only getting better. Thanks, Corey and Melissa, for making this available.
NextGen Victory Press
3-Minute Wrestling Devotionals for Rising Athletes
I tried numerous formatting methods and followed endless instructions from publishing websites, but nothing ever turned out right. Since finding Lacuna, everything has changed. I’ve been able to update all my manuscripts effortlessly and give them the professional look they deserve.
Lacuna helped me perfect one of my most cherished stories, The Magic Globe, and finally present it exactly as I envisioned. It’s truly been a game changer for my author journey.
Samuel Graham Astley
The Magic Globe
Word count and page count questions
What authors ask when they first wonder how thick their book will be.
Sources
- Standard manuscript format, Wikipedia: the six-characters-per-word count and the 250-words-per-page convention. Checked 2026-10-05.
- Word Count for Novels and Children’s Books, Writer’s Digest: genre word counts. Checked 2026-10-05.
- Nebula Awards rules, SFWA: short story, novelette, novella, and novel lengths. Checked 2026-10-05.
See the real page count
Download Lacuna free, import your manuscript, and read the page total for any trim and style. Pay $149 only when you are ready to export.
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