--- title: "Word count to page count — how many pages is your novel?" description: "Turn a word count into a real printed page count using trim size, type size and leading. The number your spine, print cost and price all hang off." source: https://usegalley.com/resources/word-count-to-page-count --- [Home](https://usegalley.com/) [Resources](https://usegalley.com/resources) Words to printed pages # Word count to page count A word count is not a page count until you have chosen a page. Set the trim, the type size and the leading, and this gives you the printed length, the words on each page, and the lines they sit on. Word count Trim size Type size Leading Margins Prose Chapters Each opening costs part of a page. Printed pages 288 rounded up to the next multiple of four - **Body text**: 272 pages - **Chapter openings and blank versos**: + 12 pages - **Front and back matter**: + 10 pages - **Words on a full page**: 331 - **Lines on a full page**: 37 - **Characters on a line**: 64 This runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, and there is no account to make. ## How the page count is worked out ### How many pages a novel runs to At 11 point, normal leading, standard margins, thirty chapters and ten pages of matter. | Word count | 5 × 8 in | 5.5 × 8.5 in | 6 × 9 in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 50,000 words | 248 pages | 220 pages | 192 pages | | 60,000 words | 288 pages | 256 pages | 224 pages | | 70,000 words | 332 pages | 292 pages | 256 pages | | 80,000 words | 372 pages | 328 pages | 284 pages | | 90,000 words | 416 pages | 364 pages | 316 pages | | 100,000 words | 456 pages | 400 pages | 348 pages | | 120,000 words | 540 pages | 472 pages | 408 pages | The page is worked out from its own measurements first, then the words are poured into it. - **The text block.** Margins come off the trim. Standard takes a quarter of the width and just under a fifth of the height, which is roughly what a trade paperback uses. - **Lines per page** is the height of that block divided by the leading. Normal leading is 1.28 times the type size, so 11 point sets on about 14 point. - **Characters per line** is the width of the block divided by the average character width of a book serif, which runs near 0.46 of the type size. That lands a 6 by 9 page at around 64 characters, which is where a line should be. - **Words per page** is characters times lines, divided by six for an average word plus its space, then multiplied by how full the lines actually run. Dialogue breaks early and often, so a page of it holds far less than the geometry says. - **Chapter openings** cost about a third of a page each for the drop, plus half a page on average for the blank verso when chapters open on the right. Front and back matter is a flat ten pages: half title, title, copyright, dedication, a contents page and an about the author. Swap in your own count if your edition carries more, and the [front and back matter checklist](https://usegalley.com/resources/front-and-back-matter-checklist) lists what goes where. Galley does this live. The page estimate sits in the status bar and moves as you type, because the editor is already set to your real trim and typeface. See [how the page is set](https://usegalley.com/docs/book-design). **For working things out, not for signing anything.** Printers and retailers set their own rates and specifications, change them without notice, and none of them is affiliated with me or with Galley. I last checked this page in August 2026. Confirm on the official page before you commit money to a price, a print run or a contract. ## Questions How many pages is 80,000 words? Set at 6 by 9 inches in 11 point with normal leading, around 250 printed pages of body text, plus front and back matter. Change the trim to 5 by 8 and the same 80,000 words runs to about 330 pages. There is no page count without a page size. How many words fit on a printed page? A 6 by 9 inch novel page in 11 point holds roughly 300 to 340 words. A mass market paperback holds around 230. Dialogue costs you: a page of short exchanges can drop to 180 because most lines end early. Why is this different from the page count in Word? Word is showing you a letter or A4 sheet in a screen font at whatever size you left it. A book page is smaller, the type is smaller, and the margins are different. The two numbers have nothing to do with each other. Why round up to a multiple of four? Books print in signatures, and a perfect bound paperback works in fours. Your printer will pad the count up to the next multiple whether you plan for it or not, so it is better to know where the blank leaves land. How accurate is this? Close enough to choose a trim size, price a print run or size a spine to within a few pages. It is not a substitute for laying the book out. Widows, orphans, chapter openings and where the images fall all move the final number. ## Next [Spine width calculatorTurn this page count into a cover.](https://usegalley.com/resources/book-spine-width-calculator) [Trim size comparisonThe same words at every size, side by side.](https://usegalley.com/resources/book-trim-size-comparison) [Word count by genreWhether the manuscript is the right length at all.](https://usegalley.com/resources/novel-word-count-by-genre) [Cover template generatorWhat that page count does to the spine.](https://usegalley.com/resources/book-cover-template-generator) More at [the resources index](https://usegalley.com/resources). Put all this into practice when you write your novel in Galley. [Launch Galley](https://app.usegalley.com)