A typical novel is 250 to 400 pages in a trade paperback. Behind that sits a word count of 70,000 to 100,000. The word count is the number that matters. Agents and publishers measure a novel in words, because a page count changes with the font, the margins and the trim size.
So there are two things to settle: how many words your novel should be, and how many pages those words will make.
How many words is a novel?
The most widely cited line comes from science fiction's Nebula Awards: a novel is 40,000 words or more, a novella 17,500 to 39,999, a novelette 7,500 to 17,499. That is a floor, not a target. Most published adult novels sit well above it, between 70,000 and 100,000 words.
The other number you will see everywhere is 50,000 words, the goal of the November novel-in-a-month challenge. It is a good first draft. It is short for a finished adult novel in most genres, and many 50,000-word drafts grow in revision.
How many pages is a novel, by genre?
Genres carry expectations, and readers notice when a book breaks them. These are the ranges usually quoted for debut novels, with the page count at about 270 words a page in a 6×9 inch trade paperback:
| Genre | Words | Pages (6×9 paperback) |
|---|---|---|
| Literary and general fiction | 80,000–100,000 | 300–370 |
| Mystery and thriller | 70,000–90,000 | 260–330 |
| Romance (single title) | 70,000–90,000 | 260–330 |
| Category romance | 50,000–75,000 | 185–280 |
| Fantasy and science fiction | 90,000–120,000 | 330–440 |
| Horror | 70,000–90,000 | 260–330 |
| Young adult | 50,000–80,000 | 185–300 |
| Middle grade | 30,000–55,000 | 110–200 |
| Novella | 17,500–40,000 | 65–150 |
Read the table as the middle of the road. Plenty of good books sit outside it. A debut fantasy at 150,000 words is a harder sell to an agent, not a broken book, and a self-published series can run to whatever length its readers keep buying.
Why do page counts differ so much for the same book?
Because a page is a container, and the container changes. Four settings decide how many words fit:
- Trim size. A 5×8 inch page holds less than a 6×9, and both hold far less than A4.
- Type size. One point of body size moves the page count by roughly 8 to 10 percent at book sizes.
- Line spacing. Going from 1.3 to 1.5 drops about 13 percent of your lines.
- Margins and chapter openings. Wide margins and chapters that start on a fresh page add pages that hold nothing.
Dialogue matters too. A page of quick back-and-forth ends most lines early and can hold half the words of a page of description. The word count to page count guide does the full arithmetic, if you want to calculate lines per page and words per line for your own settings.
What about "250 words a page"?
That figure is a convention from the typewriter era, not a measurement. A manuscript set in 12-point Courier, double-spaced, with one-inch margins comes out at about 250 words a page. Editors could judge length from a stack of paper before anyone typeset a word. It still explains why a 100,000-word manuscript is "400 pages" in submission format.
Never use it to estimate a printed book. The standard manuscript format is for submission, and a typeset page of the same novel holds a different number of words.
Does page count matter if you self-publish?
More than it does for a traditional deal, because you pay for it directly:
- Print cost. Print-on-demand services charge per page, so every extra page raises your unit cost and the lowest price you can sell at. Print on demand covers how that works.
- Spine width. The spine on a printed cover is page count times paper thickness. Change the page count and the cover file has to change with it.
- Reader expectations. Store pages show a length. A thriller listed at 600 pages tells readers something before they read a line.
An ebook has none of these limits. An EPUB reflows to the reader's screen and type size, so it has no fixed pages until someone opens it.
How long should your novel be?
Write the story first and measure afterwards. During drafting, a word count tells you where you are. During revision, compare it to the range for your genre: well under it can mean subplots or scenes are missing, well over it can mean repetition to cut.
Then measure in pages the honest way: set the text the way the book will be set and look at the last page. Every estimate above is for planning before you have a layout.
That is the case for a preview that paginates while you write. bukpress turns a Markdown manuscript into a typeset A4 PDF and an EPUB, and repaginates as you type, so you see the page count change when you adjust the type size or margins rather than after an export. It is one payment of $27 for books up to 500 pages, with a 7-day refund. Check the sample book to see a finished export, then write yours in bukpress.
Common questions
How many pages is a 50,000-word novel?
About 185 pages in a 6×9 inch trade paperback at 270 words a page, or about 200 pages in submission format at 250 words a page. At the bottom of the range for most adult genres, it is a common length for category romance, young adult and short novels.
How many pages is a 100,000-word novel?
Around 370 pages in a 6×9 inch paperback and 400 pages as a double-spaced manuscript. It sits at the top of the usual range for literary fiction and in the middle for fantasy and science fiction.
What is the minimum length of a novel?
40,000 words under the Nebula Awards definition, which is the one most often cited. Below that, a story is a novella or a novelette. Publishers and contests can set their own limits, so check the one you are submitting to.
How many chapters does a novel have?
There is no fixed number. Many novels have 20 to 40 chapters of 2,000 to 4,000 words each, and genre fiction tends toward shorter chapters. How long should a chapter be? goes through the ranges and the reasons behind them.