Book designers usually charge by the page, so you’ll need to estimate your book’s page count. But how can you come up with an accurate estimate by looking at your Word document?

There is no hard and fast formula because it depends on the trim size (page size) of the book, as well as font choice, font size, leading (space between lines of type), margins, and graphics. But here’s a very rough guideline for approximating page count based on various trim sizes. Please note that you can use this guideline to get a ballpark cost estimate from your designer, and then the designer’s final invoice will be based on actual page count.

First, find the character count in Word by going to “Word Count” under the “Tools” menu and looking for “Characters – with spaces.”

Then, figure the estimated page count. Divide your total character count by the characters-per-page number listed below for your chosen trim size:

5″ x 8″ trim = 1,400 characters per page
5.5″ x 8.5″ = 1,800 characters per page
6″ x 9″ = 2,100 characters per page

The best way to set up a Word document is to give each heading a style and name. So from the main heading down to sub-headings, they would be named
A Head
B Head
C Head
D Head
E Head

or something similar.

You can decide what style each heading has. So, for instance:
A Head = 30 pt. Times Bold Centered
B Head = 22 pt. Arial Bold Centered
C Head = 16 pt. Times Bold Left
D Head = 12 pt. Times Bold Italic Left
E Head = 10 pt. Arial Bold All Caps

(Just a quick example)

The point is that you select each heading and give it a style name.

When the typesetter/book designer imports the Word doc into InDesign or Quark, they will give all the headings different styles & fonts. But it will be easy for them to know what level of heading each one is b/c you’ve set up the style names.

So, it’s not important what particular font you use. What’s important is that you give each heading a style name. Without styles in the Word doc, the book designer might typeset the headings at the wrong level. They might confuse a Level C head with a Level D head in the manuscript if they are both in the default “Normal” style, even if they look different.

Using style sheets in Word will save you and the book designer lots of time, and it will ensure that your book is formatted correctly.