How to Use the Reading Time Calculator
Type your word count into the first box. If you only know the page count of a finished book, switch Count In to Pages and type the pages instead; the number you already entered is converted, so the answer stays the same.
Then pick the book format and the kind of book. Both settings decide how many words sit on a page, and the kind of book also sets the average reading speed, because adults read fiction a little faster than nonfiction. The last setting is the reader. Choose a slow, average or fast silent reader, someone reading the book out loud, or type any speed you like into Words per Minute.
The results update as you type:
- Reading time is the word count divided by the reading speed, shown in hours and minutes.
- 30-minute sessions is the same time cut into half-hour sittings, rounded up. Eight sessions means a reader who gives the book half an hour a night finishes in about a week.
- Read-aloud time is how long the book takes to read out loud at a typical oral reading pace.
- Audiobook length estimates the finished running time of a professionally narrated edition.
The calculator starts with 60,000 words of typical fiction in a 6" x 9" paperback: 158 printed pages, 3 h 51 min of silent reading, 5 h 28 min read aloud, and an audiobook of about 6 h 27 min.
How Long Does It Take to Read a Book?
An average adult reader gets through a 60,000-word novel in a little under four hours and a 100,000-word novel in about six and a half. A nonfiction book of the same length takes longer, because the average silent reading speed for nonfiction is lower. Here are common book lengths at the average speeds the calculator uses:
| Words | Fiction (260 wpm) | Nonfiction (238 wpm) | Audiobook |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20,000 | 1 h 17 min | 1 h 24 min | 2 h 9 min |
| 40,000 | 2 h 34 min | 2 h 48 min | 4 h 18 min |
| 60,000 | 3 h 51 min | 4 h 12 min | 6 h 27 min |
| 80,000 | 5 h 8 min | 5 h 36 min | 8 h 36 min |
| 100,000 | 6 h 25 min | 7 h | 10 h 45 min |
| 120,000 | 7 h 42 min | 8 h 24 min | 12 h 54 min |
These are times for continuous reading. Nobody reads a novel in one unbroken stretch, which is why the calculator also counts 30-minute sessions. A reader who manages one session a day needs eight days for the 60,000-word novel and thirteen for the 100,000-word one.
How Long Is a 300-Page Book?
A 300-page book takes between five and eight and a half hours to read, and the trim size explains most of that spread. A 6" x 9" page holds far more words than a 5" x 8" page, so "300 pages" describes very different books. At average speed:
| Format | Fiction words | Fiction time | Nonfiction words | Nonfiction time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paperback 6" x 9" | 115,200 | 7 h 23 min | 121,500 | 8 h 31 min |
| Paperback 5.5" x 8.5" | 94,200 | 6 h 2 min | 102,000 | 7 h 9 min |
| Paperback 5" x 8" | 79,500 | 5 h 6 min | 84,300 | 5 h 54 min |
| Manuscript, double-spaced | 96,300 | 6 h 10 min | 110,100 | 7 h 43 min |
Paperback rows assume 11 pt Garamond at 1.15 line spacing; the manuscript row is Times New Roman 12 pt on US Letter with one-inch margins. Larger type, wider margins or many chapter breaks put fewer words on each page, so the same 300 pages read faster. If you have the book's word count, enter that instead of the pages for a closer answer.
How Long Does It Take to Read 100 Pages?
About two and a half hours for 100 pages of a 6" x 9" novel at average speed, and about two hours for a 5.5" x 8.5" one. The reader matters as much as the page:
- 6" x 9" fiction: 2 h 28 min average, 3 h 12 min for a slow reader, 2 h 8 min for a fast one.
- 5.5" x 8.5" fiction: 2 h 1 min average.
- 5" x 8" fiction: 1 h 42 min average.
- 6" x 9" nonfiction: 2 h 50 min average.
Dialogue-heavy fiction moves faster still, because short paragraphs leave more white space on every page. Pick that option under Kind of Book for thrillers, romance and other books told largely in conversation.
Words per Minute: Average Reading Speed
The average speeds come from a 2019 meta-analysis by the psychologist Marc Brysbaert, "How many words do we read per minute?", published in the Journal of Memory and Language. It pooled 190 studies of adult reading rates in English and arrived at these estimates:
- Silent reading of nonfiction: about 238 words per minute.
- Silent reading of fiction: about 260 words per minute.
- Reading aloud: about 183 words per minute.
Those are averages, and individual readers spread out widely on both sides of them. The slow and fast presets in the calculator (200 and 300 wpm) are round settings on either side of the average, there to show how much the answer moves. They are not measurements of any group of readers.
To find your own speed, read a page of a book you know the word count of for exactly five minutes, count the words you got through, and divide by five. Type that number into the Words per Minute box.
Audiobook Length Calculator: Words to Finished Hours
ACX, Audible's marketplace for producing audiobooks, gives authors a rule of thumb of about 9,300 words per finished hour. The calculator divides your word count by that figure. An 80,000-word novel comes out at about 8 h 36 min of finished audio, and a 40,000-word nonfiction book at about 4 h 18 min.
That works out to about 155 words a minute, slower than the 183 wpm read-aloud time above. A narrator performs the text: pauses between scenes, character voices, emphasis and room for the listener to keep up all add time, while a person reading aloud to themselves goes faster. Treat the read-aloud row as the time to read your manuscript out loud during revision, and the audiobook row as the length a listener will see on the store page.
The audiobook estimate is worth having before you publish an audio edition. Narrators who work for a fee on ACX quote it per finished hour, so the running time is the number a production budget is built on. Anything the narrator reads beyond the main text, such as an introduction or an author's note, adds to it, so include those words before you estimate.
Using Reading Time When You Write and Sell
Reading time turns a word count into something a reader can picture. "A 60,000-word novel" means little to most buyers. "About four hours" or "a week of bedtime reading" tells them whether the book fits their evening, their flight or their vacation.
- Chapter length. A 3,000-word chapter takes about 12 minutes to read at average fiction speed. If you want each chapter to fit one sitting, keep chapters inside one 30-minute session, which at 260 wpm is about 7,800 words. When you outline the book, a target word count per chapter keeps that pace even.
- Novellas and series starters. A short book read in one evening is an easy first step into a series. 20,000 words is about 1 h 17 min at average speed.
- Revision out loud. Reading the whole manuscript aloud catches clumsy sentences, purple prose and dialogue nobody would say. The read-aloud time tells you how many evenings to set aside for it.
- Page count and price. The page count shown here is the same estimate the Words to Pages Calculator gives, and the page count drives your print cost. The KDP Royalty Calculator takes it from there.
How the Calculator Works
Reading time is the word count divided by the words per minute you chose. Sessions are that time divided by 30 and rounded up. Read-aloud time uses 183 wpm, and audiobook length uses ACX's 9,300 words per finished hour.
When you enter pages, the calculator first turns them into words using the words per page of the format and kind of book you picked. Those figures are shared with the Words to Pages Calculator, which measured them by setting public-domain prose in each format: a 6" x 9" paperback page in 11 pt Garamond holds about 384 words of typical fiction, a 5.5" x 8.5" page about 314, a 5" x 8" page about 265, and a double-spaced manuscript page about 321. Going the other way, from words to pages, the paperback count is rounded up to an even number, because every printed sheet has two sides.
The result is an estimate for an average reader. Real books carry headings, scene breaks, images and tables, and real readers slow down for dense passages and speed up through dialogue.
Reading Time Calculator FAQ
How long does it take to read a 300-page book?
At average speed, about 7 h 23 min for a 6" x 9" novel and about 6 h for a 5.5" x 8.5" one. Nonfiction in the 6" x 9" format takes about 8 h 31 min.
How long does it take to read 100 pages?
About 2 h 28 min for 100 pages of a 6" x 9" novel at 260 words per minute, and about 2 h for the smaller 5.5" x 8.5" trim.
What is the average reading speed in words per minute?
Brysbaert's 2019 meta-analysis puts adult silent reading in English at about 238 wpm for nonfiction and 260 wpm for fiction, and reading aloud at about 183 wpm.
How long is the audiobook of an 80,000-word novel?
About 8 h 36 min, using ACX's guideline of about 9,300 words per finished hour.
Why is the audiobook longer than the read-aloud time?
Professional narration runs at about 155 words a minute, with pauses, voices and pacing for the listener. Reading aloud to yourself is quicker, at about 183 words a minute.
How long does it take to read a 50,000-word book?
About 3 h 12 min for fiction and 3 h 30 min for nonfiction at average speed, or seven 30-minute sessions of fiction.
