Gather Your Materials
You’re a few steps from print-ready files. Here is everything we will need from you, and the exact sizes to prepare them in. If you can hand us these, formatting goes quickly and there is no long back-and-forth.
What we need
- Your manuscript — the complete text. A Word document is perfect; we handle the typesetting from there.
- Front cover art — one image at your size’s resolution (table below; a little larger or smaller is often fine — we adjust). You do not need to build a cover; we create the full paperback and hardcover wraps, with the correct spine for each.
- Copyright details — the year and the copyright holder’s name. As soon as you publish, your work is automatically copyrighted. You don’t need to do anything else.
- A dedication, if you would like one — send the final wording.
- Your author bio — a short paragraph, plus back-cover copy if you would like it.
- Your author photo (if you want one)
- Amazon assigns a free ISBN to your book. You don’t need to worry about it.
Your book’s size, and what to prepare
Start with one decision: the size of your book. Your book is printed in a single trim size and a single ink type — page sizes must be the same for both paperback and hardcover, and you can’t mix color and black-and-white pages within one book (we match the ink to your book). So begin by picking one size from the table below, and prepare your front cover art for that size — everything else follows from it.
Sizes are in inches; cover art dimensions are in pixels at 300 DPI, including the bleed printers need. These pixel sizes are the ideal dimensions for your cover art — if you can supply them at these sizes, formatting goes quickly. If yours are a little different, we may still be able to adjust (larger artwork we scale down; smaller artwork we can often work with too).
All these sizes are available in paperback. If you also want hardcover, you need to select a size that is available in both formats — and hardcover editions require at least 75 pages.
| Trim size | Front cover art | Hardcover |
|---|---|---|
| Square | ||
| 8 × 8 | 2475 × 2475 | Not available |
| 8.25 × 8.25 | 2550 × 2550 | Not available |
| 8.5 × 8.5 | 2625 × 2625 | Not available |
| Landscape | ||
| 8.25 × 6 | 2550 × 1875 | Not available |
| Portrait | ||
| 5 × 8 | 1575 × 2475 | Not available |
| 5.06 × 7.81 | 1593 × 2418 | Not available |
| 5.25 × 8 | 1650 × 2475 | Not available |
| 5.5 × 8.5 | 1725 × 2625 | Available |
| 6 × 9 | 1875 × 2775 | Available |
| 6.14 × 9.21 | 1917 × 2838 | Available |
| 6.69 × 9.61 | 2082 × 2958 | Not available |
| 7 × 10 | 2175 × 3075 | Available |
| 7.44 × 9.69 | 2307 × 2982 | Not available |
| 7.5 × 9.25 | 2325 × 2850 | Not available |
| 8 × 10 | 2475 × 3075 | Not available |
| 8.25 × 10.75 | 2550 × 3300 | Not available |
| 8.25 × 11 | 2550 × 3375 | Available |
| 8.27 × 11.69 | 2556 × 3582 | Not available |
| 8.5 × 9 | 2625 × 2775 | Not available |
| 8.5 × 11 | 2625 × 3375 | Not available |
Every size is available with Premium Color, Standard Color, or black-and-white interiors — we match the ink to your book.
Amazon offers hardcover only in the rectangular sizes marked Available above. Hardcover and paperback dimensions differ slightly at the same size — you do not need two versions of your cover art. You supply the front art for the size you choose; we adjust it and build every wrap, paperback and hardcover alike. Paperback books need at least 24 pages — if yours is shorter, we’ll pad the end with blank pages to meet Amazon’s minimum.
What happens next
When everything is gathered, you pay once, and then we walk you through a short series of pages — one item at a time — where you upload each piece and choose your book’s typeface — we offer a choice of several fonts.
When your files are delivered you get the print-ready paperback, Kindle, and hardcover files (if applicable), plus step-by-step upload instructions, pricing guidance, and category suggestions for your actual book.