Support for Indie Authors discussion

CreateSpace "recommends" the "standard" size for my book, and it is what is usually called "trade paperback" size. I'm used to seeing these sell in the 12-15 dollar range. I expected to publish in what is usually called a "mass market" paperback size, which generally bears a $8 to $10 pricetag. I am printing a middle school fiction book of about 50,000 words. What size should I print?

A mass-market paperback is about 4.25" X 6.88"; a trade paperback is 6" X 9". Therefore, a mass-market sized paperback will require more pages than a trade paperback, and will likely be more expensive as a result. I did print in that size for two of my short-story collections at Lulu, but those are fairly short books compared to a novel. The mass-market paperbacks you see on book racks in stores are mass produced; Createspace is print-on-demand, which is more expensive.

The sizes can vary some.

Mass market paperback for Goosebumps looks like 5.5" x 7.8". Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsong from the Harper Hall Trilogy is 5.1" x 7.1". (Pulled dims from Amazon)

I'm guessing that above 5" x 7" seems like a good size (though I don't remember what CreateSpace offers).

My 5"x8" Createspace book is 442 pages and mandated starting price is over $15. Next time I'm going to do 6x9 (even if I have less word count) to get the page count down and thus be able to offer a lower price point.

Mass market is called such for a reason: they are cheap to mass produce in bulk batches by large run distribution houses. Print on demand is priced more in line with the cost if materials, so a bigger trim size=less paper=lower price.

6x9 is actually a little bigger than the standard trade, but it allows for a lower cost. For example: my biggest books, which are over 100k words, only run about 300 pages with the larger trim size without having to sacrifice font size or make my margins tiny. And I can price them at $13.99, which is reasonable. My smaller books (50-60k words) I can price under $10 and still make a $1 minimum on expanded distribution.

Christina wrote: "Mass market is called such for a reason: they are cheap to mass produce in bulk batches by large run distribution houses. Print on demand is priced more in line with the cost if materials, so a big..." My expanded distribution is weep-worthy - 4, yes 4, cents a book.

Yikes! Definitely check a different trim size!

Christina wrote: "Yikes! Definitely check a different trim size!"

I was going to do the sequel in a larger size but then that turned into a "1 of these is not like the other" in the series. Maybe I'll change both next year. But, next series will definitely be bigger!

Do you think there is much difference in response depending on size? I know I try not to buy trade (6 x 9) because they don't fit on my bookshelves, which I have set up for mass market size.

I seem to have a real (even if irrational) prejudice against the 6x9 size. Does anyone else feel this way? And I had this feeling BEFORE publishers started holding off the mass market version for a year to get more $$ from an intermediate trade version. (It used to be the hardback version would come out, then a year later the cheap mass market version would come out. Now it's the trade version in a year -- at twice the cost of the eventual mass market edition -- and the mass market in two years.)

Susan wrote: "My 5"x8" Createspace book is 442 pages and mandated starting price is over $15."

How many words is that? I have about 52K, but expect 55K after next round of editing, and I'm not sure how many pages that will be.

Not exactly same size but close enough...I do mine 5.5x8.5. 110k words. It gives about 360 pages (but I do the 'always start new chapter on right thing). 55k should be about half the pages. Add a bit more for tiny bit smaller size book.

I just published my cat mystery in 5.5 x 8.5, It's just a little under 40,000 words. It has a thicker spine and I think it has a larger feel than if I had done it in 6 x 9. Just a thought.

Susan wrote: "Do you think there is much difference in response depending on size? I know I try not to buy trade (6 x 9) because they don't fit on my bookshelves, which I have set up for mass market size.

I see..."

I know how you feel. First time I held my book printed in a 6x9 format in my hands, it felt a bit too bulky. I'm used to smaller books. But you do get less pages and a cheaper price, so I just went with it. Besides, I think if you have a great cover, it makes an even better impression that way.

Thanks! I was pondering mass mkt and trade: you've convinced me to go trade.

I really like the feel of the 6 X 9. I prefer it over the smaller mass market size.

As for the size... that really depends on your font and line spacing. I like 1.3 line spacing and an 11 pt font. 55K words should ring in around 220 pages with that setup.

Susan wrote: "Susan wrote: "My 5"x8" Createspace book is 442 pages and mandated starting price is over $15."

How many words is that? I have about 52K, but expect 55K after next round of editing, and I'm not sur..."

125k. Your estimate sounds about right.

My first novel was about 95K words, trimmed out at 298 pages, and sells for $12.99. My second novel was about 130k words, 374 pages at $15.95. Both 6"X9". As I mentioned in another thread, I use 11pt Cambria font, with drop caps at the beginning of each chapter, and it looks good.

Susan wrote: "CreateSpace "recommends" the "standard" size for my book, and it is what is usually called "trade paperback" size. I'm used to seeing these sell in the 12-15 dollar range. I expected to publish in ..."

My middle-grade fantasy adventure is around the 50,000 word count you mention Susan and it went to 214 Createspace pages in 5"x8". It sells for $8.99 US.

I've just released my first paperback. I went 5"x8" as that seemed to be a nice size. It's quite comfortable to hold and not far off the size of my classics on my bookshelf.

J. Riley wrote: "Susan, you should read this article on formatting your book for CreateSpace. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/201406..."

Thank you. It's bookmarked and I'm going to go through it Monday.

My size is 505x700 pixels
Is that small ?

That's very very small Peter.
The covers I use for Createspace are about 1650pixelsx2550 pixels

Mine are about 2000 X 3100.

Susan wrote: "[...] they don't fit on my bookshelves, which I have set up for mass market size.

I seem to have a real (even if irrational) prejudice against the 6x9 size. Does anyone else feel this way?"

Yes - I even feel that way about the 5x8 size. I was informed at a book signing by a bunch of authors recently, that the only reason for the large size (at least in Australia, maybe it's different in the US), was that the large chain stores (here, Big W, K-mart etc.) won't stock anything except the large size, so the traditional publishers will always now first produce that inconveniently large and wasteful-of-tree size. Other sizes will only be considered if the first print run is a massive success, I believe.

The size issue was the 2nd most important reason I chose Ingram Spark over Create Space. (1st was POD in most countries of the world, reducing delivery costs everywhere except the US.)