Free tool
Word count to page count calculator
How many pages will your book be in print? This calculator uses real typesetting math — trim size, margins, KDP’s binding gutter, font size and line spacing — not the flat “250 words a page” rule.
≈ 288 pages
likely between 265 and 311, depending on your prose
| Trim size | Pages | Spine |
|---|---|---|
| 6″ × 9″ | ≈ 288 | 0.72″ |
| 5.5″ × 8.5″ | ≈ 348 | 0.87″ |
| 5.25″ × 8″ | ≈ 392 | 0.98″ |
| 5″ × 8″ | ≈ 418 | 1.04″ |
This is an estimate. Your actual count depends on your prose — upload your manuscript and the free preview typesets your real pages.
Typeset my manuscript freeHow this calculator works
Most word-count-to-pages calculators multiply by a fixed number — usually 250 words a page — no matter what size the book is or how it’s set. This one builds the page the way a book printer does, using the same geometry as doc2epub’s print renderer:
- Your trim size minus 0.75″ top, bottom and outside margins gives the text block — the area type can actually occupy.
- The binding gutter follows KDP’s published table: 0.375″ up to 150 pages, 0.5″ to 300, 0.625″ to 500, 0.75″ to 700, 0.875″ beyond. Longer book, wider gutter, narrower text block — which is why page counts aren’t simply proportional.
- Font size and line spacing set how many lines fit the block and how many words fit a line, using the average character width of book serifs like Garamond and Literata.
- Each chapter costs most of a page beyond its prose: the opening title drop, plus the part-filled page every chapter ends on. Title and copyright pages add a few more.
The one thing no calculator can know is your prose itself — dialogue-heavy fiction leaves more short lines than dense narration, so the result is shown as a range.
Typical page counts at 6″ × 9″
The standard trade paperback size, set in the Classic typography preset (11 pt, 1.5 line spacing) with 25 chapters:
| Word count | Estimated pages |
|---|---|
| 50,000 words | ≈ 188 (173–203) |
| 65,000 words | ≈ 236 (217–255) |
| 80,000 words | ≈ 284 (261–307) |
| 100,000 words | ≈ 358 (329–387) |
| 120,000 words | ≈ 424 (390–458) |
What moves your page count
- Trim size is the biggest lever: the same novel runs about 45% longer at 5″ × 8″ than at 6″ × 9″.
- Font size and line spacing: one half-point of type and a nudge of leading together move the count 10–15% either way.
- Dialogue ends lines early. A conversation-driven novel lands near the low end of the range; dense narration near the high end.
- Chapter count: sixty short chapters spend far more pages on openers and part-filled final pages than twenty long ones.
- Front and back matter: dedication, epigraph, about-the-author and review pages each add a page or two.
From page count to spine width and printing cost
Page count decides more than heft. Your cover designer needs the spine width — on KDP’s cream paper that’s 0.0025″ per page, so a 300-page book has a 0.75″ spine. Printing cost scales with pages too: at KDP’s published US rate for black ink, a paperback costs $0.85 plus 1.2¢ a page to print, and that comes straight out of your royalty on every sale. Knowing your page count early is how you price the book — and it’s why a smaller trim size, which adds pages, can quietly cost you money per copy.
When you typeset with doc2epub, the exact page count, the right gutter for it, and a print-ready PDF interior come out of the same build — with the preview free before you pay anything.