word counts - formatting

[Golden]

Sorry for the amateur question, but I really would like to ask about word count.

How does a double spaced page on a word document with 267 words translate to a page in a book?
I'm curious about what a 250 or 300 page book really equates to in terms of a word document and vice versa.

Also, I've read many, many opinions on formatting...what is it: courier or times? 11 or 12? 2.0 double spacing?

I'm currently working on a MG (and though I know word count, etc should not be my concerns right now), I'd like to have that knowledge in the back of my mind.
(From my readings, MG can be 40,000 -60,000??...does it seem to you that MG in recent years seem very, very long?).

Thanks for any advice.

[Hillsy]

Ok...I'm a hooooge nerd so I've done a few bits of maths around this.

There are basically 3 types of formatting I come across in books, and they equate to 3 numbers for .doc-to-printed page conversion. To find out which one, simply count the lines on a printed paperback page.

1) <30: This will probably be between 250-310 per page, depending on how dialogue heavy it is. (You'll probably find this is most the MG format). So a traditional 400 page thriller is probably about 90-110K (at 27-28 lines per page).

2) 30-35: I find normally this is about 34 lines per page. You get this a lot in trade paperback Fantasy novels and is the formatting I use. You're looking at 320-390 (again based on dialogue). I format as I type so it fits this scale (so I know exactly how it looks on the printed page) - for that it's always Verdana, single-spaced, 14pt. Gets almost exactly the right number of words per line.

3) 35+: Often hovers around 39/40: You get these on the doors stoppers such as a Robert Jordan novel, or the last book of the Dark Tower. Basically 370-450 (dialogue adjusted). So something like Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson was roughly 1100 pages and around 440K words.

As for MS formatting....I think it's Times, 12, Double-Spacing.....but basically whatever makes it the easiest to read.

[polymath]

Factoids from a typsetter apprenticed to a colonial master printer, currently a journeyperson editor;

Publication format serves one purpose; to reduce reader awareness of the page as an abstract constuct. To that end, proportions loosely follow the Golden Proportion, roughly 1 to 1.68. A page of publication type loosely resembles a human face, the most soothing appearance known to humankind. The text, the line, the page, the book should disappear altogether when a reader is artfully enegaged. But publishers have overlooked of late the aesthetics of publication format for the sake of the almighty dollar. Harumph, awareness of the physical object disturbs my reading pleasure.

The number of glyphs per line is a function of how human eyes move across a page. A line is two glimpses for experienced readers. Though many readers read word-by-word. Dispropotionate line widths alter reading pace, uncomfortably, for readers like me.

Times New Roman is a periodical publication typeface, designed to condense publication space in newspapers, magazines, digests, where content space is at a premium. But the wordproccessor age introduced in 1966 by IBM has since adopted Times New Roman for its slick publication format appearance. Proofreading Times Roman is eyestraining, marking it up on paper a nightmare, Though digital editing Times is not as tedious, digitally prooreading it is just as eyestraining as paper. From someone who proofreads and copyedits thousands of pages a week.

Frankly, I prefer New Courier for its ample white space, ease of proofreading, ease of markup, and for its statement that "this is a manuscript offered for consideration" not an irrevocably finished product.