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How Many Pages Will My Book Be? Word Count, Trim and Font Size

A page count you can plan around, from word count and trim size, with every assumption out in the open. Use it to choose a trim and price early; trust only the formatted file for the final number.

Published October 17, 2026. Figures are calculated from KDP's published rates when the page is built.

Start with the table, then read the rest to adjust it for your book. Each cell is an estimated printed page count at 11 pt type with normal (1.2) line spacing, 20 chapters, and 10 pages of front and back matter (title page, copyright, contents, acknowledgements, about the author).

Estimated pages by word count and trim

Read across a row and the trim effect is obvious: the same 80,000 words make 360 pages at 5" x 8" but 250 at 6" x 9". Read down a column and page count rises almost in step with word count, plus a fixed amount for chapters and front matter that doesn't grow with the text.

The levers, one at a time

Each lever below changes one setting on an 80,000-word, 6" x 9" book and leaves everything else as in the table (250 pages).

Trim size

Trim decides how much text area each page has, so it is the biggest single lever. A 5" x 8" page with 0.75" margins has a text block of 3.5" x 6.5"; a 6" x 9" page has 4.5" x 7.5", about half as much again, hence the much longer 5" x 8" column. Smaller trims suit shorter books that would otherwise look thin; larger trims keep a long book from turning into a brick.

Font size

Type size works on both line length and the number of lines, so its effect is roughly squared: a one-point change moves the count far more than a one-point change sounds like it should. Going from 11 to 12 pt adds 44 pages here. Large-print editions rely on exactly this effect.

Line spacing

Leading changes only the number of lines, so it acts in proportion. Tight spacing saves pages but looks cramped at 11 pt; loose spacing reads easily and costs pages in direct proportion.

Chapters

The estimate assumes each chapter starts on a new page and leaves about half a page blank before it. If you start every chapter on a right-hand page, the blank left-hand pages add more: roughly another half page per chapter on average. A thriller with 60 short chapters can gain a surprising amount from this alone.

Front and back matter

These pages are added as they are. A lean novel might have six: half title, title, copyright, dedication, and two at the back. Non-fiction with a contents page, index, notes and an author bio can easily reach two dozen. Count them from a book you like the layout of, rather than guessing.

Every total is rounded up to an even number, because printed pages come in pairs.

What page count does to cost and spine

Back to the 80,000-word book on each trim, black ink on cream paper, sold on Amazon.com at $14.99. Printing cost comes from KDP's paperback printing cost table; all three trims are "regular" size, so the per-page rate is the same and only the page count changes the cost.

Choosing a smaller trim for its look has a price. The 5" x 8" edition prints to 110 more pages than the 6" x 9", which costs $1.32 more per copy and comes straight off the royalty. Over a few hundred copies that is real money, and readers get nothing for it unless the smaller format genuinely suits the book.

The spine moves with the page count too: per page, cream paper is thicker than white, so the same book is wider on cream. Your cover cannot be finished until the page count is final, which is one more reason to format the interior before commissioning the wrap. The cover dimensions walkthrough follows one book through that step.

At the short end the rules change. Black-ink books of up to 110 pages pay a flat printing fee on Amazon.com, so a 20,000-word novella at 5" x 8" (98 pages) costs $2.30 whether it has 80 pages or 110. Below that line, a slightly bigger font or more generous spacing costs nothing to print. The printing cost calculator shows where your own page count falls.

The limits at either end

Page count also decides what KDP will print at all. Its print options page lists page limits by trim size. For a 5" x 8" paperback in black ink, that is 24 to 776 pages on cream paper and up to 828 on white; check the row for your own trim. With the settings in the table above, a 5" x 8" book on cream paper runs out of room at roughly 178,000 words. Past that you either move to a larger trim, tighten the type, or split the book.

Hardcovers are narrower still: KDP prints them from 75 to 550 pages. The 100,000-word book in the table comes to 306 pages at 6" x 9", comfortably inside that range, but a much longer book that fits as a paperback may be too long for a hardcover edition. The hardcover vs paperback guide covers what that edition costs and earns.

Using the estimate

An early estimate is for decisions you have to make before formatting: which trim, roughly what price, whether the book needs splitting into two volumes, whether a hardcover is possible. For those, being within a few dozen pages is enough. Once the interior is laid out, take the count from the PDF and redo the cost, royalty and spine with that number.

If you are still drafting, it works backwards too. Decide the page count that suits the format and price you want, read the word count off the table, and plan the writing with the words per day calculator.

More guides

• What KDP Charges to Print a Paperback, With Every Table
• KDP Groundwood Paper: Cost, Eligibility and the Cover Catch
• KDP's Own Royalty Calculator vs Book Math Tools: What Each Covers