Your background should extend 0.51” past the edge of the front cover.The basic requirements for Amazon hardcover cover designs are: In the image below, the hardcover version required wider “bleeding” at the edges (1), wider inner margins (2), a wider spine (3), and some design elements to be repositioned (4). Raúl Gil, the cover designer for Ricardo Fayet’s How To Market A Book, explained how he adapted the design from paperback to hardcover. Your spine will probably be thicker than it would be for a paperback, so you’ll need to keep a space clear of important elements alongside the spine (the “spine hinge”) to prevent text or barcode distortion. You’ll also need to consider some other factors. The design on a case laminate hardcover wraps around the edge of the cover, as you can see here. Therefore, your design will need to extend beyond the actual cover dimensions (this is referred to in the industry as “bleeding”). As a result, certain parts of your cover design will wrap around the edges of your cover. Amazon has yet to introduce the clothbound or dust jacket option you may be familiar with. This is largely down to the only style of hardcover they offer: case laminate.Ĭase laminate covers are made of chipboard, and wrapped with laminated paper. Hardcovers come with their own unique requirements for cover designs and on KDP, these requirements are very particular. Know the rules of creating a case laminate cover For one, you may lose quality by simply scaling up the design! Here’s what you need to know about modifying your cover design for a flawless KDP hardcover. Unfortunately, creating a cover for your hardcover edition is not as simple as scaling up your paperback design by 20%. Tweak your cover design for case laminate Once your interior is good to go, the next step is to prepare that all-important cover.Ĭlick to tweet! 3. It’s best to review the file after exporting to make sure nothing changes during the export process and everything looks perfect. KDP does have a tool for catching formatting errors, which we’ll mention later, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, so give your manuscript a thorough review at this stage. Doublecheck your book files after you export them Also check that any images look good when resized, and aren’t awkwardly aligned on your newly expanded page. However, make sure your wider margin doesn’t push your book above the 550-page limit. Many authors prefer wider margins for their hardcover edition, as it gives a more premium feel. While you’re checking your page count, you may want to make some other formatting tweaks. Luckily, a larger trim size will usually bring down the page count, but if you’ve written a 1,000-page doorstop of a novel, you may be out of luck for now. While your paperback can be anywhere from 24 to 828 pages, your hardcover must be between 55 and 550 pages. Check your page count, margins, and imagesĪnother difference between Amazon’s paperback and hardcover specifications is the page count. Learn how Reedsy can help you craft a beautiful book.Ģ. Basically, it’ll take care of almost all your formatting needs! To learn more about its features, check out our post on the Reedsy Book Editor. Reedsy’s tool will automatically fix common formatting hiccups such as widows and orphans (those awkward lone words that overhang a paragraph). You can export your book in a range of sizes (including the Amazon compatible 5.5 x 8.5”, and industry-standard 6 x 9”) with the click of a button. If you do need to change the trim size to qualify, don’t worry! The Reedsy Book Editor can do that for free. Two Murakami short story collections: one in paperback, one in hardcover Create your print-ready file for free with the Reedsy Book Editor While Amazon offers 16 trim size options for paperback books, they currently only have five available for hardcover:Ĭonventionally, hardcover editions are larger than their paperback counterparts, so you’ll likely need to return to your word processor, formatting software, or book designer, and resize your book file accordingly. Luckily, the interior part is pretty simple to prepare! Know your trim sizes To meet Amazon’s specifications, you’ll need to make some changes to your book’s interior and cover. Sadly, you can’t just click a button and instantly convert your paperback into to a beautiful hardcover. If that’s the case, here’s everything you need to know about preparing your book for a hardcover edition on KDP: 1. With hardcover sales rising year on year, you might be keen to dip your toe into this undeniably cool book format. But in late 2021, Kindle Direct Publishing finally launched its hardcover print-on-demand service (first via a private beta). Naturally, using a middleman would all but decimate an author’s royalties on any Amazon sales. In the past, the only way to sell a self-published hardback on Amazon was to publish it via IngramSpark.
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