Before a book has a single chapter, it helps to know its size. This estimator takes the kind of book and shows its typical length, the page count in print, how long a reader needs to get through it, how much of your time it takes when I ghostwrite it, and how long a first draft takes if you write it yourself.
Where the numbers come from
The lengths are the ranges I work to. A memoir runs 60,000 to 80,000 words, a business book 40,000 to 50,000 words, and a typical nonfiction book about 50,000 words. An AI-assisted book is shorter, at roughly 30,000 words.
Pages assume about 250 words on a trade paperback page, and reading time assumes 250 words a minute. Both vary with the trim size and the reader, so treat them as close estimates. Your time as the author covers interviews and reviewing drafts: thirty to sixty hours over the life of a ghostwritten book.
How long does a first draft take to write yourself?
Divide the length by the words you can write on an ordinary day. Five hundred words a day is a sustainable pace for most people with a job, and at that pace a memoir is several months of weekday writing before any revision starts. Type in your own number and the estimate changes.
If that number looks long, it is honest, and revision usually takes as long again as the first draft. Book coaching keeps a self-written draft moving, and the Finish-Date Calculator turns a ghostwritten book into dates.
Frequently Asked Questions
More book planning tools
Book Finish-Date Calculator: when your book will be done, or when to start for a deadline. Which Book Path Is Right for You?: five questions that point you to the right way to get your book written. All tools are on the tools page.