Trim Size For a POD Book

Have you considered measuring an existing paperback to see what size it is?

I think 6x9 is your typical trade paperback format. But you might check the books in your genre to see what they are.

I like the smaller size of 5.25" X 8". I think 6" X 9" is too large. I'd prefer to have it mass market paperback size, but CS doesn't offer that size.

my experiences

I started with Lulu and had my novel published at the 6x9 size. I too would have rather had mass market size, since all the books I have are that size, but when I received the published book, it seemed fine by me. Then, I went with Createspace and at the time, they offered only 8.5 x 5.5 as the closest approximation. Since then, I like the smaller version a bit better, so I've been going with that size.

If you have a lot of pages, might be better to go with the larger size and if you have few pages (and want the book to be physically easier to hold; I had a poetry collection that was smaller re page number and benefited from going with a smaller page size), maybe go smaller.

Just my experience.

Michael

My experience at Lulu has been:

Mass market (rack size) sells better than Trade Paper size (6x9), with the same text, the same cover, and the same blurb, even though the smaller size costs the reader more.

My theory is that the larger trim size makes the book look too much like it's self-published.

Old Hack's suggestion is a good one, because different genres can have different trim sizes. I know that a lot of young adult paperbacks in the UK have a trim size of 5.06 x 7.81, while the American YA books I have can be a lot bigger, and my copy of White Wolf, by David Gemmell is smaller. And yes, I'm pretty sure you measure the outside cover.

Old Hack said:

Have you considered measuring an existing paperback to see what size it is?

Click to expand...

I've one right here: it's 4.25" x 6.75" (10.5cm x 17cm)