This is usually determined by whichever company is printing and binding the book. It’s usually around 800-900 pages.
Different publishing and printing companies will offer different options for the trim size (the width and height) of your book. This, along with the binding type (whether it’s paperback or hardback) and the paper type (in particular the paper thickness) will determine the maximum number of pages that your book can have.
For example, if you’re publishing your book through Amazon’s KDP, and it’s going to be a hardcover book (of any trim size), the maximum number of pages it can have is 550. But if it’s a papercover book, depending on the trim size, you could have as many as 828 pages in your book. (True in June of 2024 – Amazon KDP may expand their print options later – check their website for the latest information.)
Other printers may be able to produce books with over 900 or 1000 pages.
The number of pages that your book will have is greatly dependent on the formatting. Slight changes in formatting – in font size, in margin size, in header and footer spacing – can make a huge difference to the number of pages. If your book has too many pages for a given printer, try adjusting the formatting slightly to reduce the number of pages.
From a stylistic point of view, there is no upper limit to the length of a novel – either in number of pages or in number of words. The novel is the largest of the fiction formats.
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