# Word count

> Source: https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/word-count

Last updated: 2026-09-06
Category: Manuscript & structure

Word count is the number of words in a manuscript — the trade’s measure of a book’s length, because page count depends on trim size and typesetting.

## Definition

**Word count** is how the trade measures a book's length before it is typeset. Pages are a property of the printed object — change the trim size, typeface or leading and the page count moves — so agents, publishers and contests set their limits in words.

The conventions by category are well established. An adult novel usually runs **70,000–100,000 words**; epic fantasy and historical fiction stretch to 120,000; young adult sits around 50,000–80,000; middle grade 30,000–55,000. A memoir or narrative nonfiction typically lands between 60,000 and 90,000, and a practical nonfiction book between 40,000 and 70,000. NaNoWriMo's famous target of 50,000 is a short novel.

To estimate pages, most typesetters assume roughly **250–300 words per page** at a 6 × 9 in trade trim in a normal book face, so an 80,000-word novel becomes about 280–320 pages before front and back matter.

## In Bindery

Bindery sizes the spine from the real typeset page count rather than from a words-per-page estimate, so the printed book matches its files.

## Related

- [Manuscript](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/manuscript)
- [Novella](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/novella)
- [Chapter](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/chapter)
- [Trim size](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/trim-size)
- [Spine width](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/spine-width)
- [How to Write a 50,000-Word Novel](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/guides/how-to-write-a-50000-word-novel)
- [How to Write a 100,000-Word Novel](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/guides/how-to-write-a-100000-word-novel)
- [How to Hit Your Daily Word Count Goal Every Day](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/guides/how-to-hit-your-daily-word-count)
- [Book Publishing Glossary — 59 Terms Defined](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary)
- [Bindery — the Claude-powered book studio](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/bindery)

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