Glossary · Writing & editing
What is a good word count for a book?
Definition
Word count: Word count is the number of words in a manuscript. It's the standard way to measure book length and varies widely by genre and readership.
Publishers, agents and editors measure books in words rather than pages, because page counts change with trim size, font and layout while word counts do not. Editors often quote fees per word, and printed page count is estimated from word count.
Typical lengths vary by genre, and figures quoted in the industry are rough guides rather than rules. Adult novels commonly fall somewhere between about 70,000 and 100,000 words, with some genres (epic fantasy, for example) running longer and others (some romance and thrillers) shorter. Middle-grade novels are shorter still, and picture books often have under 1,000 words. Shorter works are novellas, novelettes and short stories. Nonfiction varies with the subject.
For traditional submission, a manuscript far outside the usual range for its genre is harder to sell, so look at comparable recent debuts. Self-publishers have more freedom — reader expectations matter more than industry conventions — but length still shapes price, print cost and, in Kindle Unlimited, earnings.
To estimate printed pages, a common rule of thumb is roughly 250–300 words per page for a 6" × 9" paperback in a standard book font; smaller trims hold fewer words. Front matter, chapter openings and back matter add pages your word count does not show.