Barnes and Noble Classics edition page count

[Elizabeth]

Two books I've read recently have the wrong page counts. I've double-checked the ISBNs, publishing dates, etc. and looked online for the page counts. They appear to be correct, however the book I have in my hand has a different number of pages.

I'm currently reading Candide ISBN 159308028X, and the book I own has 146 pages, not 176. My copy of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, also a Barnes and Noble Classic, had about fifty pages fewer than what's officially listed. Can anyone tell me why this is?

[Scott]

Is there an introduction or foreword before page 1?

[Elizabeth]

Scott wrote: "Is there an introduction or foreword before page 1?"

There is. It only lasts fifteen pages, though. I suppose if the blank pages and indexes count as well, it might add up to those thirty.

[vicki_girl]

Publishers send out the data to the online resources. They usually use estimates, based on the number of "sheets" they think they will need. A sheet is 8 pages. Therefore, for Candide, they estimated that they would need 22 sheets, which would be 176 pages. It's not worth the trouble for them to update this info once the book is printed.

ETA: The publisher estimates of sheets also includes introductory material, blank pages etc. Goodreads uses the last numbered page of the book, which may or may not include introductory material.

[Scott]

Indexes would count, but blank pages shouldn't.

[Elizabeth]

vicki_girl wrote: "Publishers send out the data to the online resources. They usually use estimates, based on the number of "sheets" they think they will need. A sheet is 8 pages. Therefore, for Candide, they esti..."

Oddly enough, the last numbered page is 146. I have a lot of the B&N classics series, and it seems to be a trend that the page numbers don't match up between Goodreads and the physical copy of the book.

Oh, well. It might be a strange way of numbering the pages. The book starts on page 11, but for the final page count to make any sense it should start on page 41.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

vicki_girl wrote: "Goodreads uses the last numbered page of the book"

Not quite true. We do count pages after the last numbered page if they are from the book (and not ads or excerpts for other books), and we don't count numbered pages that are ads or excerpts for other books.

But as Scott said, we do count indices.