How long should a book be?

A book must be at least 49 pages in length to be factually classified as a book. Of course, it can be hundreds of pages, but shorter books are generally the trend. Consumers judge value, in part, on the number of pages, and it is good to shoot for a book of 150-250 pages, unless your book calls for more pages (like a complete book of computer software) or less (such as a gift book of quotations).

To complete an average-length book of 100-225 pages, with from 200 to 400 words per finished page (this varies widely by page size and type size), you will need to write between 25,000 and 80,000 words. The average first-time author will do well to write between 500 and 1,000 words a day, while professional writers can deliver way more than 2,000 words per day. So it might take two to four months, or roughly 500 hours, for you to write your book. And because most authors don’t write every day, the calendar time can easily double.

It can be hard to estimate how many pages will be in your final book. To estimate, count the number of words per page in an existing book that is the same size and look as you would like yours to be;, then divide that number into the approximate word count of your entire manuscript. For instance, if you plan to write 50,000 words, and the number of words per page in the book like yours is 250, then you could expect about 200 pages of text. Add to that at least 10 pages or more for your title page, copyright page, Foreword, Preface, Acknowledgments, Resources, author bio, and so forth, to get an approximate page count.