A novel is usually 5×8, 5.5×8.5, or 6×9. The trim is chosen before the template. A later change of a quarter inch rebuilds the wrap and the interior.
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A print cover is a wrap: back, spine, and front, plus bleed past the trim. KDP and Ingram both reject a spine that is short by a millimeter. That width comes from the final page count and the paper, white or cream, because those sheets are not the same thickness. We build the wrap after the interior is locked. An ebook image stretched onto this template puts the title on the hinge and the barcode on the front.
The wrap
We take the shop's template for that exact page count, trim, and paper. Guessing the spine from a round number is how a title lands half on the back cover. White paper and cream paper change the width. A color interior changes it again.
The back cover is a column of type someone will read while holding the book. It needs the description, and room for the barcode. KDP will place a barcode if that box is left empty. Drawing a second one on top of it makes a mess the store will flag.
The file
A novel is usually 5×8, 5.5×8.5, or 6×9. The trim is chosen before the template. A later change of a quarter inch rebuilds the wrap and the interior.
Width comes from the shop's calculator once the page count and the paper are final. Hardcover boards add thickness a paperback does not have. The two files are not a resize of each other.
Art that touches the trim continues about an eighth of an inch past it. Type, the barcode, and the author name stay inside the safe area. A line of text in the bleed gets cut.
One code, matching the ISBN on that edition. Paperback and hardcover need two ISBNs if both exist. A price inside the barcode is a decision, not a decoration.
Before the template
The binding
The book a reader bends. Matte or gloss is the laminate on the same art, not a second illustration. Cream paper shows at the edge and changes the color sitting next to the cover.
KDP's hardcover is a case laminate. The printed sheet wraps the boards. There is no dust jacket. Type near the hinge cracks when the cover opens, so the title stays on the spine and the front, not across the fold.
A jacket is a separate sheet, with flaps. Most print-on-demand shops do not bind one. If the printer does, we say so before anyone writes a biography for a flap that will not exist.
Left off the wrap
A wrap can be careful and still be rejected. We would rather stop at the template than deliver a pretty front that the shop sends back.
Before you order the proof
For the spine, yes, or close enough that the page count will not move. A new chapter changes the width. If you are still rewriting, the honest first job is the interior, then this file.
The front can start from it. The paperback is a wrap with a spine and a back, and the hardcover is another wrap with a thicker spine. We build those files. We do not scale one rectangle and call it printed.
On KDP, leave their box empty and they place a code for that ISBN. If you supply the code, it has to be that edition's ISBN, not the ebook's. Paperback and hardcover do not share one.
You do, once the invoice for that wrap is paid. We keep the working file so a second edition can match the type when the page count changes and the spine has to be built again.
When the pages are counted
If you only know the trim, start there. The spine waits for the count. Call (833) 688-4166 or write [email protected].
The shelf
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