Words to pages converter

How many pages a word count fills in a given format, or how many words a page count holds. Every format shows a range, because no single number is right for every book.

Pages

360 pages

At 250 words per page. Realistic range 328 to 400 pages. 90,000 words is a novel by the Nebula Award categories.

90,000 words in every format

Format	Words/page	Pages	Range
Standard manuscript (double-spaced)	250	360	328–400
Document, 1.5-spaced	350	258	237–282
Document, single-spaced	500	180	164–200
Trade paperback	300	300	258–360
Hardcover (6 × 9 inch)	350	258	225–300
Mass-market paperback	300	300	240–360
Large print	180	500	410–600

How the conversion works

Pages are the word count divided by words per page, rounded up because a part-filled last page is still a page: pages = ⌈words ÷ words per page⌉. Going the other way, words = pages × words per page.

The calculation is trivial. The judgement is in the words-per-page figure, which is why each format has a typical value and a range. The range comes from applying the high and low ends of the words per page: more words on a page means fewer pages, so the low page count uses the high figure.

The formats

Standard manuscript (double-spaced): 12 pt Times New Roman or Courier, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, Letter or A4. About 250 words a page, usually 225 to 275.
Document, 1.5-spaced: 12 pt Times New Roman, 1.5 line spacing, 1-inch margins. About 350 words a page, usually 320 to 380.
Document, single-spaced: 12 pt Times New Roman, single-spaced, 1-inch margins. About 500 words a page, usually 450 to 550.
Trade paperback: Typical of a 5.5 × 8.5 inch novel set in 11–12 pt type. About 300 words a page, usually 250 to 350.
Hardcover (6 × 9 inch): Larger trim size; common for non-fiction and literary hardbacks. About 350 words a page, usually 300 to 400.
Mass-market paperback: Small 4.25 × 6.87 inch format, usually set tighter than a trade paperback. About 300 words a page, usually 250 to 375.
Large print: 16 pt type or larger. About 180 words a page, usually 150 to 220.

The document figures assume Letter or A4 paper with 1-inch margins and Times New Roman. A4 is a little taller and narrower than Letter, and the two come out within a few percent of each other. The printed-book figures are typical of commercially set fiction; there is no standard, and two publishers can set the same text to quite different page counts.

A worked example

You have finished a 75,000-word novel draft.

In standard manuscript format: 75,000 ÷ 250 = 300 pages, which is what an agent would picture when you quote the length.
Single-spaced in a word processor: 75,000 ÷ 500 = 150 pages.
As a trade paperback: 75,000 ÷ 300 = 250 pages, realistically 215 to 300 depending on how it is typeset.

The same book, then, is anything from 150 to 300 pages depending on who is counting. This is why publishing talks in words, and why a page count on its own tells you little about length.

Story length categories

The word-count boundaries used by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association for the Nebula Awards are the most widely cited fixed definitions. Other awards and markets vary.

Category	Words	Manuscript pages
Short story	0–7,499	up to 30
Novelette	7,500–17,499	up to 70
Novella	17,500–39,999	up to 160
Novel	40,000+	160+

What changes the real number

Dialogue. Every new speaker starts a new line, often a short one. A dialogue-heavy thriller can have noticeably fewer words per page than a novel of long descriptive paragraphs in the same layout.
Chapter breaks. Most books start each chapter on a new page, often partway down. A book of many short chapters takes more pages than its word count suggests.
Font and size. Wide fonts such as Arial or Courier fit fewer words per line than Times New Roman. Going from 12 pt to 11 pt fits noticeably more words on a page.
Front and back matter. Title pages, contents, acknowledgements and notes add pages without adding to the story. A printed book's page count usually includes them.

For a real book, the most accurate figure is your own: count the words on three full pages from different parts, average them, and enter that as a custom words-per-page value.

Common questions

How many pages is 1,000 words?

About 4 pages double-spaced in standard manuscript format (12 pt, 1-inch margins), or 2 pages single-spaced. In a printed paperback, 1,000 words fills roughly three to four pages. The exact figure depends on font, size and how much dialogue the text has, which is why the calculator shows a range.

Why do publishers use 250 words per page?

It is a long-standing convention for manuscripts in 12-point Courier or Times, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins. It was always an estimate rather than a measurement, and it tends to overstate the pages for dialogue-heavy text and understate them for dense narrative. Most publishers and agents now ask for an actual word count from your word processor rather than a page count.

Does the font change the page count?

Yes, noticeably. At the same point size, a wide font like Arial, Verdana or Courier fits fewer words on a line than Times New Roman, so the same text runs to more pages. Moving from Times New Roman to Arial at 12 pt often adds a tenth or more to the page count. Line spacing matters even more: single to double spacing roughly doubles the pages.

How many words is a 300-page book?

Somewhere around 75,000 to 105,000 words for a typical trade paperback novel, at 250 to 350 words per page. Use the "pages to words" mode above with the format closest to your book. If you need an exact count for a specific book, counting the words on three full pages from different chapters and averaging them is more reliable than any rule of thumb.

How long is a novel, a novella and a short story?

The most widely cited boundaries are those used by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association for the Nebula Awards: a short story is under 7,500 words, a novelette 7,500 to 17,499, a novella 17,500 to 39,999, and a novel 40,000 or more. Other awards and publishers draw the lines differently, so check the guidelines of the market you are submitting to.