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A paperback and a hardcover are two editions. They need two ISBNs, two cover files, and a spine measured after the interior is finished. We set the trim, the paper, and the gutter before anyone designs a jacket around a guess.
The physical book
Most novels and memoirs sit well at 5 by 8, 5.5 by 8.5, or 6 by 9. A workbook often wants 8.5 by 11. A picture book usually wants a square or a landscape, not a novel trim. We pick the size from the book you have, then lock the margins. A 400-page book needs a wider gutter than a 120-page book or the inside letters vanish into the bind.
Paperback on the usual platforms is perfect bound, with a gloss or matte laminate. KDP hardcover is a case laminate: the art is printed on the boards, not on a dust jacket. A jacket is an Ingram option and a different file. Cream paper and white paper also change the spine thickness. We do not build the cover until the interior PDF is final.
Order of the work
Two bindings
Readers treat the hardcover as a gift and the paperback as the copy they actually read. The files should agree, and the prices should both clear the print cost.
What the printer receives
If the interior gains a chapter after the cover is built, the spine is wrong and the barcode may sit in the hinge.
Decisions
Cream is the usual novel paper and it shifts photographs. White is cleaner for images, charts, and a book that will also be read as a reference. We do not pick cream because it feels literary if the book is full of figures.
Matte hides fingerprints and glare. Gloss makes a dark cover look deeper and shows every scuff. We choose from the actual cover art, not from a habit.
KDP paperback is a fast path to Amazon. Ingram adds jacket options, more trim sizes, and the catalog bookstores order from. A book can use both, with your own ISBN, if the files match.
House rule
A pretty front cover is not a print job. The printer rejects the file, or worse, prints the mistake.
Before the files
Sometimes. KDP hardcover has a higher page minimum than paperback, and the list of trims is shorter. A novella may simply not qualify. We check the count before we promise a case.
Only if art or a background runs off the edge. A novel with text on a plain page should not be built as a full-bleed file. Bleed on a text page is how margins get argued with the printer.
You do. Interior, wrap, and the notes on trim and spine come back to you, so a reprint does not depend on us.
When the manuscript is set
We will say which trim and which printer fit the book. Call (833) 688-4166 or write [email protected].
The shelf
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