Whenever I translate my books, I notice the same thing: the English version always ends up with fewer pages than the German one. But this isn’t a matter of word count. In fact, the word count for my latest release (Like A Rolling Stone – US | DE) is quite similar:
- German version: 79,793 words
- English version: 79,210 words
The Print Copy
A difference of about 500 words equals roughly one DIN A4 page. In a paperback, that would amount to two or three pages. Yet the page count of the print editions differs significantly:
- German: 420 pages
- English: 350 pages
This discrepancy is mainly due to my decision to experiment with two different formatting styles. Fewer pages mean lower printing costs. At the same time, readers often check the page count before buying a book. A 200-page book priced at €15 feels very different from a 400-page book at the same price—and I think that as a reader too.
So it’s always a balancing act: finding a cost-efficient formatting style without underselling your word count. At the same time, you don’t want the font size to be too small or the margins too wide, as that would reduce reading comfort.
Personally, I think the English formatting works well. But if any of you readers disagree, feel free to let me know in the comments.
The Digital Copy
Beyond formatting, there’s another interesting difference. Here’s the page count for the digital editions:
- German: 324 pages
- English: 297 pages
If you didn’t know: for many file types, Amazon applies its own default formatting to ebooks. In my case, I uploaded both the English and German versions using the exact same formatting for the digital release. Still, the English version ends up with nearly 30 fewer pages—even though the word count is essentially the same.
The reason lies in the language itself. German words tend to be longer on average. Linguistically speaking, German makes heavy use of compound words and inflection. Here’s an example:
Versicherungsvertreter is a real German word meaning insurance agent.
Versicherungsvertreteragentur means insurance agent agency.
Versicherungsvertreteragentursteuerrückerstattung would be a tax refund for an insurance agent agency.
While there are many specific shorter English words, in German you simply combine smaller words to create that specific new one. That probably sounds strange to non-German speakers, but this is simply how my native language works.
When I asked ChatGPT about this, it estimated that word-for-word translations from German to English typically result in texts that are about 10% shorter in page length despite having the same word count due to these linguistic differences.
Conclusion
All of my future English books may have fewer pages, even though they have comparable word counts and contain exactly the same storylines and character arcs. It’s simply a translation effect that makes English books a bit shorter.
