how many words to a standard book page

[DarlingNikki]

NOT a lit page, but a paper book page. Is there even a standard approximation, or does it vary depending on page size and font size?

I didn't know where to find this info, so I actually sat down and counted the words on a random page of a book in the series I'm interested in. Then I went and forgot the number. So even though posting this will take longer than counting again and also reveal several facets of my idiocy, I just don't feel like going through such an excercise again.

Anyone know?

 

[KillerMuffin]

Nope.

I do know that the standard manuscript page holds about 250 words. That is, double spaced, indented paragraphs, one inch margins, and industry standard 12 point courier.

The word processor counts it as considerably less, of course.

 

[Quasimodem]

The book nearest to hand appears to have between ten and twelve words per page, but it was left behind by my nephew's two-year-old.

She read it to me for over an hour last Saturday.

We are on page three.

She is ambiliterate, as well as ambivalent. She can read front to back, or back to front. Every time a different story!

 

[Pure]

often 400-700 words, i.e., the total book pp is about a half of the number of ms. (double spaced) pages. Obviously, small or compressed fonts can contribute even more, say a reduction to one third the original number of ms pages.

 

[snooper]

... a paper book page. Is there even a standard approximation, or does it vary depending on page size and font size? ...

Clearly it does vary with the font size and the page size. My textbook is on B5 paper and set in 10pt and a full page holds about 500 words. With headings and chapter ends etc. it averages about 425 words per page. My first novel is on 8vo (standard paper-back novel size) set in 10 pt and overall averages 400 with a peak of about 450.

I hope that helps, but remember that Quasimodem's reply is just as valid as mine.

 

[oggbashan]

There is a standard A4 page set by the ISO.

The ISO standard page is used to calculate how many pages a printer will produce in a minute.

There is no answer to the question, says Og, as I look around my secondhand book store. Book sizes vary; typefaces vary, spacing varies.

I can have the complete Bible in a very small book that I can conceal in my hand or a book that takes two hands and a mighty heave to lift. I have the complete Oxford English Dictionary (16 large closely typed volumes) in a single volume photographically reduced or on a DVD.

Og

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

While Og is right, as usual, I believe agents and publishers figure about 200-250 words per page for fiction. However, due to the varieties of type and page sizes, the number of pages isn't usually as important as is the number of words.

RF

 

[DarlingNikki]

Thank you.

In case anyone's interested, this is why I asked: I want to submit a couple of pieces for an anthology. They give a max word count of 3000 but they also seem to prefer the shorter stories and only have a few longer ones. However, I didn't know how much shorter the short stories are than 3000 words, which seems short to begin with, because I don't know how long they are or how many pages 3000 words is.

 

[ffreak]

Everything said above is valid.

According to a contact at St. Martin's Press, your manuscript should be about 250 words/page and the final printed book will contain about 350 words/page. In which case a 3000 word story will take 9 pages of space if it is basically all narrative. When you use a lot of dialogue then the words/page is all off. The best you can do is use the ratio of 1.4 times the number of pages of manuscript.

-FF (hope this helps - if they are asking you to submit based on number of words it shouldn't matter)

ps. Good luck!