Support for Indie Authors discussion

So I was just playing around in a pre-made book cover sight, entering my name and book title and daydreaming of the day Hollywood knocks on the front door. And one of the purchase options is to include print book trim size. There were half a dozen sizes ranging from 5x8 to 6x9. Needless to say, I’m going to need a print version for my award acceptance speeches. But what size? I mean, I honestly had not considered print versions on my other books.

Terry wrote: "So I was just playing around in a pre-made book cover sight, entering my name and book title and daydreaming of the day Hollywood knocks on the front door. And one of the purchase options is to inc..."

With my first two books I chose the 6x9. I felt it would be better for a larger cover image and a nice size to hold, and perhaps giving more ease of reading if it seemed there may be less pages to read in the volume (larger page size equals less pages, less pages for reader to read if page number was a stumbling block for readers).

It depends on your genre. There are some industry standards for Scifi, romance, etc and it's best to stick with the standards. Readers tend to gravitate toward what's familiar.

Page count is also a factor. It you have a very long book, it may benefit from a larger trim size in order to keep the page count lower and vice versa.

For my two books, I also chose 6 x 9. I think it's just easier for readers to read. I'm all for making it easier to read, but that is just my opinion. The covers stand out better as well.

To me, it seems like 6x9 is the most common, even though the first time I held one (after years of "pocket books" - 10,5 x 17cm so I guess 4x6?) it felt quite large.

I've used 5.5 x 8.5 and like the feel.

Definitely check what the standard is for the genre because there are slight deviations, and readers prefer it when you stay within the norm. I find that the most common size for trad paperbacks is 5x8 (hardback standard is 6x9 but you can't do that through KDP).

Feedback and advice very much appreciated. My genre is sci-fi, and I’m staring down the barrel of 140k words, so I’ll be absorbing all your points. Thank you.

Good luck

Terry,
The 6x9 is a good size for a sci-fi that is longer, but do check what the top selling paperbacks are in that genre. You do need to keep to what the most common size is to meet your reader's expectations.

Things like Cozy Mysteries are the 5.5x8 size. Romance can go either way. Thrillers seem to be larger in the 6x9 but they tend to be longer. The same with literary books, they tend to be larger.

Best advice, go with your genre's normal/expectations.

I went with 5 x 8 because I personally like it best. I sell mostly digital copies, so it didn't seem to matter very much.

Definitely 6x9 for print books regardless of platform, especially longer books. 5.5x8.5 would work with novels less than 120 pages. Size of font is the key here.