The usual procedure in making a book is as follows: When the publisher
sends the manuscript to the printer, a request goes with it for a
sample page, set to a size and in a type which will make a volume of
the desired number of pages. A novel is supposed to run from 320 pages
to 400 pages. The first thing to be done is to estimate the number of
words in the manuscript, and this is accomplished by averaging the
number of words in say thirty lines, and then multiplying by the number
of lines on a page. No allowance is made for fractional lines, as these
also occur in the printed page. If the manuscript is carefully written,
each page will contain the same number of lines, so the total number
of words may be found by multiplying the number of words on the page,
as arrived at above, by the total number of pages in the manuscript.
This explains the importance of having a standard number of lines on
each page.[32] No allowance is made for fractional pages at the end of
chapters, as there are also fractional pages in the printed book, and
it averages up.
The front matter has to be estimated separately, with allowance for
the blanks on the reverse of bastard-title, dedication, etc.,[33] but
the usual number of pages is eight. Then, again, an allowance of half
a page for each chapter sinkage[34] has to be made. Suppose we have a
manuscript of 90,000 words, with 24 chapters: A type page of 280 words
gives us 322 pages, to which we add 8 pages for front and 12 pages
for chapter sinkages, giving us a volume of about 344 pages. As the
presswork is usually done in forms of 32 pages, an effort is always
made not to exceed even forms by a small number of pages. Striking out
the bastard-title will often save a form of press-work.
Various short-cuts have been suggested for estimating the number of
words in a printed page, but the old-fashioned method of counting is
the safest. Here is a table which is as accurate as any short-cut can
be:
Words in
sq. in.
18-Point (Great Primer), solid 7
14-Point (English), solid 10
12-Point (Pica), solid 14
12-Point (Pica), leaded[35] 11
11-Point (Small Pica), solid 17
11-Point (Small Pica), leaded 14
10-Point (Long Primer), solid 21
10-Point (Long Primer), leaded 16
9-Point (Bourgeois), solid 26
9-Point (Bourgeois), leaded 20
8-Point (Brevier), solid 30
8-Point (Brevier), leaded 21
7-Point (Minion), solid 38
7-Point (Minion), leaded 27
6-Point (Nonpareil), solid 47
6-Point (Nonpareil), leaded 33
5-Point (Pearl), solid 69
5-Point (Pearl), leaded 50
In cases where the number of lines to the inch of certain sizes of type
is desired, the following table may be employed up to 18-point body:
No. lines
No. lines leaded with
Size of type set solid 2-point leads
5-pt. 14 10
5½-pt. (agate) 13+ 9+
6-pt. 12 9
8 " 9 7+
10 " 7+ 6
12 " 6+ 5+
14 " 5+ 4+
18 " 4 3+