| Manuscript Word Count |
If you are submitting a manuscript to a publisher, you should include an estimated word count. I say estimated, because the publisher doesn't want that
remarkably convenient number that your word processor can generate. Publishers are more concerned with pages than words, but still want it expressed
as a word count. So, as much as I hate to say it, disregard that wonderfully accurate number your word processor gives you. Unfortunately, there isn't a
true consensus regarding method, so I've included the two most popular methods for estimating word count. (They should yield similar results.) The good
news is that generally, the calculated word count will run 10%-20% higher than your actual word count (regardless of calculation method).
METHOD 1 (My personal preference because it most accurately represents the number of book pages)
[1] Properly format your manuscript.
[2] Select all and convert the font to Courier or Courier New. (Note, be sure not to save these changes to your manuscript, they are only for
word count purposes.)
[3] Adjust the side margins to 1".
[4] Adjust the top and bottom margins to whatever equates to 25 lines per page. (Turn off widows/orphans.)
[5] Multiply the number of pages by 250 (a constant used for number of words per full manuscript page).
[6] Round off to the nearest 1,000.
That's all there is to it.
METHOD 2
[1] Format the manuscript as described on the Manuscript Format page.
[2] Count the number of words in ten (10) representative lines of text from the manuscript. (Count full lines, not blank lines.)
[3] Divide the number of words by ten (10) to get the average number of words per line.
[4] Count the number of lines per full page.
[5] Multiply the average number of words by the number of lines per page to get an average word count per page.
[6] Multiply the total number of pages in your manuscript by the average word count per page.
[7] Round the number to the nearest 1,000.
It's just that simple (and just that annoying). The good news is that the estimated word count almost always exceeds the actual word count.
As a formula, it looks something like this:
([# words in 10 lines] / 10) x [# lines per page] x [# of pages in the manuscript]
remarkably convenient number that your word processor can generate. Publishers are more concerned with pages than words, but still want it expressed
as a word count. So, as much as I hate to say it, disregard that wonderfully accurate number your word processor gives you. Unfortunately, there isn't a
true consensus regarding method, so I've included the two most popular methods for estimating word count. (They should yield similar results.) The good
news is that generally, the calculated word count will run 10%-20% higher than your actual word count (regardless of calculation method).
METHOD 1 (My personal preference because it most accurately represents the number of book pages)
[1] Properly format your manuscript.
[2] Select all and convert the font to Courier or Courier New. (Note, be sure not to save these changes to your manuscript, they are only for
word count purposes.)
[3] Adjust the side margins to 1".
[4] Adjust the top and bottom margins to whatever equates to 25 lines per page. (Turn off widows/orphans.)
[5] Multiply the number of pages by 250 (a constant used for number of words per full manuscript page).
[6] Round off to the nearest 1,000.
That's all there is to it.
METHOD 2
[1] Format the manuscript as described on the Manuscript Format page.
[2] Count the number of words in ten (10) representative lines of text from the manuscript. (Count full lines, not blank lines.)
[3] Divide the number of words by ten (10) to get the average number of words per line.
[4] Count the number of lines per full page.
[5] Multiply the average number of words by the number of lines per page to get an average word count per page.
[6] Multiply the total number of pages in your manuscript by the average word count per page.
[7] Round the number to the nearest 1,000.
It's just that simple (and just that annoying). The good news is that the estimated word count almost always exceeds the actual word count.
As a formula, it looks something like this:
([# words in 10 lines] / 10) x [# lines per page] x [# of pages in the manuscript]
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