Blackwell Publishing

Authors - Preparing the Text

Writing to length

Whether you are the author or editor of a book or a contributor of a single chapter, it is very important that you keep to the length agreed in your contract. The selling price of a book is directly affected by the cost of producing it, which in turn is related to the number of printed pages and illustrations. There can also be problems if a manuscript comes in much shorter than planned; the book may miss the gap in the market it was intended to fill and therefore will not be successful. 

  • You will have been given either a word count or a page count to work to by your editor; please plan your writing accordingly

  • If you have been set a maximum number of photographs, figures, tables and references, please keep within the limit

  • If you are an author or an editor, the terms and conditions of your contract will give details of one or more of the following:
    • The number of words as text
    • The number of pages as text
    • The number of words as references
    • The number of figures and tables 

  • If you are a contributor of a chapter to a multi-authored work:
    • The word/page count given usually includes the reference list, figures and tables  

  • In instances of writing to word count, it is useful to bear in mind that:
    • An illustration will, on average, occupy the same amount of space as 250–300 words of text
    • There are approximately 20 words per reference
    • A double-spaced sheet of A4 (UK) contains 250–350 words
    • It may be helpful to use the word count function provided on your word-processing program

  • If your manuscript contains portions of previously published material, please be cautious of estimating how this will affect length.       
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