๐ฅ
15d โข ๐งก Publish
๐ Amazon KDP Trim Sizes: Does Size Matter?
I've been getting a LOT of questions lately about Amazon KDP trim sizes, so let's talk about it!
Your ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ is simply the final physical size of your printed book. And while there isn't one trim size that's right for every book, there are certain sizes that tend to make more sense depending on what you're publishing.
Here are a few examples:
Standard Nonfiction - 6" ร 9"
Guided Workbook - 7" ร 10" or 8" ร 10"
Coloring Book - 8.5" ร 8.5" or 8.5" ร 11"
Children's Picture Book - 8.5" ร 8.5"
Activity Book- 8.5" ร 11"
Journal / Planner - 7" ร 10" or 8.5" ร 11"
โ ๏ธ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐, ๐ก๐ข๐ง ๐ฟ๐๐น๐ฒ๐!
Before choosing your trim size, I recommend looking at comparable books in your niche. What size does your reader expect? How much room does your content need? Will someone be writing, coloring, or completing activities inside?
But here's something else you need to know...
๐ KDP has "Large Trim Sizes" Amazon currently considers a book ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐๐ฒ if it is ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ.๐ญ๐ฎ" ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฅ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ต" ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น.
That means:
โ
๐ฒ" ร ๐ต" = ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ด๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐๐ฒ
โ ๐ณ" ร ๐ญ๐ฌ" = ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐๐ฒ
โ ๐ด.๐ฑ" ร ๐ด.๐ฑ" = ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐๐ฒ
โ ๐ด.๐ฑ" ร ๐ญ๐ญ" = ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐๐ฒ
Why does this matter?
๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฆ๐ง๐ฆ!
Large trim books can cost more to print.
Here's a simple example using Amazon.com's current paperback printing rates for a ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฌ-๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ, ๐ฏ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ-๐ถ๐ป๐ธ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ:
๐ฒ" ร ๐ต" ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ด๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ
$1.00 fixed cost + (200 pages ร $0.012)
= $๐ฏ.๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐
๐ณ" ร ๐ญ๐ฌ" ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ
$1.00 fixed cost + (200 pages ร $0.017)
= $๐ฐ.๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐
That's $๐ญ.๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ just from moving into the large-trim category, assuming the same 200-page count.
Sell 1,000 copies and that's potentially $๐ญ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐๐ affecting your royalties.
Now, that DOESN'T mean you shouldn't use a large trim size. A workbook may benefit from the extra writing space.
A coloring book might be much more appealing at 8.5" ร 11".
A children's picture book may look fantastic as an 8.5" ร 8.5" square.
The goal isn't always to choose the cheapest trim size. It's to choose the trim size that makes sense for the ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ.
๐ก ๐ข๐ป๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด: A larger trim size can sometimes reduce your total page count because you're fitting more content onto each page. So don't assume larger automatically means your final book will cost dramatically more. Format it and run the numbers!
Amazon has a full reference showing its available trim sizes, page-count requirements, and which sizes are considered Large Trim:
๐ ๐๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ข๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ & ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐:
And you can check your actual estimated printing costs here:
๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐๐ต, ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐. A seemingly small formatting decision can change the economics of your book!
38
18 comments
๐ Amazon KDP Trim Sizes: Does Size Matter?
Leaderboard (30-day)
1
๐ฅ
+1879
2
๐ฅ
+1560
3
๐ฅ
+1200
4
+899
5
๐ฅ
+722
Powered by