Create a Length estimate

Before the editing and book design process begins, we a provide a length estimate for our clients. This gives us an idea of the amount of work ahead of us as well as a cost estimate for ourselves as well as the publisher. Recently, I have completed several estimates, which can be extremely tedious, but are very important nonetheless.

How to count: More than 1, 2, 3

A length estimate begins by counting characters including spaces. We use Microsoft Word’s word count, and log the count on a spreadsheet in Open Office. The part that takes a little extra time is the extracts, which are common in the historical books we work with. These are counted separately from regular text, because they are set at a smaller size than the regular text and so take up less space within the book.

The word count is not only broken into regular text, extracts, and notes, but by chapter as well. Our spreadsheet contains the preliminary information, acknowledgements, table of contents, and sections for each chapter. Then there are slots for the bibliography, index, and author biography sections as well.

Screen shot of recent spreadsheet

Once all the word counting is complete, we factor in the number of pages that illustrations require also. Now we have an idea of how many pages will be in the book, and can send a bid to the printer or publisher.