Your word count is critical for a variety of reasons. The word count of your book impacts the price you can sell your paper back book to consumers. If you are an unknown you can’t price your book too high. And really if you aren’t one of the top selling authors today you shouldn’t price your book above $9.99. Consumers are barely willing to spend above the price point for best selling authors today.
When you price your books there has to be enough profit to cover your books selling in Expanded Distribution. This is the lowest profit margin for a self-published book. Below is a rough estimate of Expanded Distribution Royalty using a 6×9 trim size, black and white paper interior printing, and a minimum number of page breaks between chapters. Your price could be higher or lower depending on chapter breaks or color printing.
| Word Count | Page Count | Price Point | Royalty in Expanded Distribution |
| 50,000 | 148 | 9.99 | 1.37 |
| 60,000 | 173 | 9.99 | 1.03 |
| 70,000 | 200 | 9.99 | 0.74 |
| 80,000 | 226 | 9.99 | 0.43 |
| 90,000 | 250 | 9.99 | 0.12 |
| 100,000 | 277 | 9.99 | -0.19 |
If your book is 80,000 to 100,000 words the best strategy may be to consider making it a series. You don’t want to pay to be in Expanded Distribution. The best Word Count to be within is 50,000 to 60,000 words including front matter, back matter, bio, introduction and so forth.
Suggested Word Counts
Book 50,000-60,000
Back Cover Blurb: 100 to 200 words
Bio Back of the Book: 30 words written in 3rd person
Bio inside the Book: 150 – 350
Bio for Amazon: 75 words
For more on pricing check out The Importance of Kindle Pricing.
