10,000 words is about 44 pages at 5.5" × 8.5"
Set as general fiction in 11pt Times on 1.3 leading, with the margins a conventionally typeset paperback uses. Likely between 36 and 50 pages depending on how the book is set — change any of that below.
- Estimated pages
- 44
- Likely range
- 36–50
- Words per page
- ≈ 285
- Spine width
- 0.099"
Change the type, trim or genre
The calculator below starts on this book's settings. Switching to a dialogue-heavy preset or larger type changes the page count, because both change how much text a page carries.
Your manuscript
Choosing a genre sets the type size and leading that genre usually uses. Change either afterwards and your choice sticks.
10,000 words · 5.5" × 8.5" · 11pt
44pages
Likely between 36 and 50 pages, depending on how the book is set.
- Body text
- 36 pages
- Front & back matter
- 8 pages
- Words per page
- ≈ 285
Amazon does not publish a words-per-page figure. This is an estimate derived from your trim size, type size and leading, shown as a range because the final number depends on how your book is typeset.
Take this page count further
Both links use 44 pages, the middle of your range. If your book sets longer or shorter, change the page count on either page.
How this number is worked out
| Step | Working | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Inside (gutter) marginKDP-published | KDP minimum for 24–150 pages, plus 0.375" for a typically set book | 0.750" |
| Text blockOur assumption | 5.500" − 0.750" − 0.750" wide, 8.500" − 0.900" − 0.900" tall | 4.000" × 6.700" |
| Lines per pageYour input | 6.7″ × 72 ÷ (11pt × 1.3) = 33.73, rounded down | 33 |
| Characters per lineOur assumption | 4″ × 72 ÷ (11pt × 0.46 average Times New Roman character width) = 56.92, rounded down | 56 |
| Words per lineCorpus figure | 56 ÷ 6.09 characters a word (4.79 letters + 1 space + 0.3 punctuation) | 9.2 |
| Words per pageOur assumption | 33 × 9.2 × 0.94 — the share of a full page fiction (general) actually fills | 285.2 |
| Body pagesKDP-published | 10,000 ÷ 285.2 = 35.1, rounded up to a whole leaf | 36 |
| Front & back matterOur assumption | Title page, copyright, contents and closing pages for fiction (general) | 8 |
| Total | 36 + 8 | 44 pages |
The 36–50 range is this same calculation run twice more: once at compact margins with the least whitespace this genre loses, and once at airy margins with the most. It is not a percentage added to the figure above.
The same manuscript at other trims
Trim size moves a page count more than almost anything else an author chooses, because it changes both how wide a line is and how many lines fit. The same 10,000 words:
- 5" × 8" — 52 pages
- 5.06" × 7.81" — 52 pages
- 5.25" × 8" — 48 pages
- 6" × 9" — 38 pages
- 6.14" × 9.21" — 36 pages
What a 44-page book means for the cover
A paperback spine is the stacked thickness of its pages, so at 44 pages on white stock the spine comes to 0.099". The full-wrap cover with bleed is 11.349" × 8.750".
This spine is too thin for text. KDP allows spine type only above 79 pages, and this book comes in under that — plan a cover whose spine is a colour or a pattern rather than a title.
On Amazon.com a 44-page 5.5" × 8.5" paperback with a black-ink interior costs $2.30 per copy to print, which sets a price floor of $4.60: below it a sale would earn a negative royalty and KDP will not accept the price.
Amazon does not publish a words-per-page figure. This is an estimate derived from your trim size, type size and leading, shown as a range because the final number depends on how your book is typeset.
SmartKDP is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon. Amazon, Kindle, and Kindle Direct Publishing are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
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