Tips and Timesavers
Wordcount
There is a formula for determining word count. The good ole 'word count' button may be considered suitable in the future but, for now, at least, most publishers still use the tried and true 25-lines to a page method.
Why? Because there's a difference in the way the computer determines what an average 'word’' size is and the way the publishing industry determines it. Remember the industry has been here a heap longer than the computer! So it wins by virtue of longevity.
It's not precise but it does give the publishers a good idea of how many pages your book will be (including all that blank space), and that's what matters to them at the end of the day.
Setup for wordcount - 250 words per page
- Take your correctly formatted manuscript and tweak your top & bottom margins until you have 25 lines on each page (including blank ones). Yes, count them the good old fashioned way.
- Tweak the left & right margins until you have 60 characters to a line (including blank spaces).
- 60 characters x 25 lines = 1500 characters divided by six characters (ie: the average 'word' size according to the publishing industry) = 250 'words' per page
- Multiply 250 by the number of pages in your MS (eg: 350pp x 250 words = 87,500 words); or, multiply by four to get 1000 words and then you just need to divide your MS by four as it grows to keep an eye on its length.