Genre guide · Nonfiction
Textbooks & Academic: word count & book length
How long a textbooks & academic book should be, which trim sizes suit it and what that means in printed pages. Typical length: 80,000–150,000 words.
About textbooks & academic
Instructional books for courses, with exercises, figures and structured chapters. Academic monographs typically run 80,000–100,000 words.
Printed length in recommended trim sizes
| Trim | Pages at 11 pt | Spine (white) |
|---|---|---|
| 7 x 10 in Executive | 186–342 pages | 0.42–0.77 in |
| 8.5 x 11 in Letter | 136–250 pages | 0.31–0.56 in |
| Royal (6.14 x 9.21 in) | 236–440 pages | 0.53–0.99 in |
Page counts for these lengths
Tips for this category
- Larger trims (7 x 10 in) give room for figures, sidebars and margin notes.
About Textbooks & Academic
A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study serving to explain the subject. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions, as well as learners (who could be independent learners outside of formal education). Schoolbooks are textbooks and other books used in schools. Today, many textbooks are published in both print and digital formats.
From the Wikipedia article “Textbook”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Most-published textbooks & academic works in Open Library
| Title | Author | First published | Editions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Julius Caesar | William Shakespeare | 1656 | 1,531 |
| The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin | Benjamin Franklin | 1791 | 679 |
| As You Like It | William Shakespeare | 1734 | 467 |
| Commentarii de bello gallico et de bello civili | Gaius Julius Caesar | 1471 | 411 |
| Heinemann Mathematics | Scottish Primary Mathematics Group | 1983 | 252 |
| Advances in Heterocyclic Chemistry | Alan R. Katritzky, Jeanne Mund Lagowski | 1963 | 226 |
| Principles of Anatomy and Physiology | Gerard J. Tortora, Bryan H. Derrickson | 1975 | 218 |
| The History of England from the accession of James the Second | Thomas Babington Macaulay | 1800 | 214 |
| The English Tongue | Thomas Dilworth, J. Duick | 1740 | 198 |
| Elements | Euclid | 1482 | 175 |
Open Library lists 40,010 works under this subject.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a textbooks & academic book be?
What trim size is best for textbooks & academic?
Sources & data
- Subject statistics from Open Library.
- Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).