Page count & spine
width calculator.
Turn your word count into an estimated printed page count and the exact spine width your cover needs. Free, instant and no sign-up.
Estimated printed pages
Estimates only. Final page count depends on font, spacing, chapter openings and images. Spine width uses Amazon KDP's published paper thickness values. KDP prints spine text only on books with more than 79 pages.
Get Your Book Formatted →Why page count matters
Page count affects three things: printing cost, cover size and how readers judge the book. Printing cost rises with every page, so a compact layout can make a paperback more profitable. The spine width sets the size of your full cover wrap. And readers expect books in each genre to fall within a familiar range.
Typical lengths by genre
- Romance and thrillers: about 60,000 to 90,000 words
- Fantasy and science fiction: about 80,000 to 120,000 words
- Memoir and general nonfiction: about 50,000 to 80,000 words
- Self-help and business: about 35,000 to 60,000 words
- Picture books: usually 32 pages
Once you know your page count, estimate earnings with our royalty calculator, or let our team handle formatting and cover design.
Page Count and Spine Width Calculator questions
How the numbers are worked out and what they mean for your book.
It depends on trim size, font, spacing and margins. A standard novel at 5.5 x 8.5 inches often holds roughly 250 words per page, while a 6 x 9 inch nonfiction book may hold around 300.
Spine width is page count multiplied by the thickness of each page. For Amazon KDP, white paper is 0.002252 inches per page, cream paper 0.0025 inches and premium color 0.002347 inches.
Every sheet of paper has two sides, so printed books always have an even number of pages. Printers add blank pages if needed.
Amazon KDP only prints spine text on books with more than 79 pages, because thinner spines are too narrow for readable text.
Most novels use 5 x 8, 5.25 x 8 or 5.5 x 8.5 inches. Nonfiction often uses 6 x 9 inches. Picture books and workbooks use larger sizes.
Yes. Our typesetters format interiors for KDP, IngramSpark and offset printers, and our designers build the cover to the exact spine width.
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