What Size Do You Use For CreateSpace?

4137 Views 20 Replies 20 Participants Last post by notjohn, Sep 15, 2018

Tyler Danann

Discussion Starter · Mar 15, 2015

Just coming up to the CreateSpace ritual of selecting a size.

I will have to rejig all my margins if I change from 6 x 9.

I'm probably going to go with 6 x 9 again as that's 'trade size', but what does everyone on here use?

Do some go smaller? Bigger?!

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

-alex-

· #2 · Mar 15, 2015

Size can depend on genre. I write YA, and the majority of YA is 5.25 x 8. Some are 5.5 x 8.5.

IMO, sizes should 'match' the books next to them on a bookshelf.

Look at your genre and check your own bokshelf or a local library/book store.

Accord64

· #3 · Mar 15, 2015

I have two novels in the 50k word range that I used 5x8. It seems a better fit. My two others (and a pending release) used the 6x9. All are over 75k words.

From what I've learned, 6x9 is a preferred size by Createspace. They offer better unit pricing. I have noticed that I can price a 6x9 with more pages better than a 5x8 with less pages.

ufwriter

· #4 · Mar 15, 2015

I use 5.25 x 8 for the same reason Alex does. I took a look through the YA books on my shelf, and that was the size of most of them.

Tim_A

· #5 · Mar 15, 2015

CreateSpace charges by the page, regardless of the trim size. So the same book will cost more as a 5 x 8 than as a 6 x 9 (370 pages vs 308 in my case) - assuming you reformat it, adjust the margins etc. Also - in the UK at least - the 5x8 could be more expensive to post. Significant if you sell from your own site (signed copies etc). In my case, postage on the 6x9 was £1.70 and on the 5x8 £3.60, because the extra thickness pushed it up into the next price band.

Perceived value is important too. In the UK, "trade paperbacks" on bookshop shelves in 6x9 format will typically sell for £12.99+, even quite thin ones. But it would be virtually impossible to sell a 5x8 for more than £7.99, no matter how thick.

Looking at the YA, Fantasy and SF shelves in my local Waterstones, there are probably no more than two consecutive books on a shelf that are the same size (unless they are within a single series).

Now if only we could get Createspace books into UK shops...

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Jan Hurst-Nicholson

· #6 · Mar 15, 2015

It depends on the number of words. My 110 000 word novel I did in 6 x 9, but the 80 000 word I did in 5 x 8 because I felt it would have looked a bit 'skinny' as a 6 x 9. I think readers like to think they are getting their money's worth ::)

::)

.

Tim_A

· #7 · Mar 15, 2015

True. 5x8 works very well for shorter fiction, novellas, novelettes etc.

75814

· #8 · Mar 15, 2015

Since I write mostly novellas, I use 5x8. Also as a personal preference, I like that size of books.

IntoTheCloset

· #9 · Mar 15, 2015

I'm getting closer to having to do this myself and just yesterday went through my bookshelf measuring the ones I had and the size I liked the best was a very small 41/3 x 7 which is around the size most of them seemed to be, 6 x 9 just seems massive to me an even 5 x 8 seems a little big considering my novel is just under 50k words, I feel it would be disproportionately thin at a bigger size.

Jena H

· #10 · Mar 15, 2015

I too went with the 5x8 (or very close to it), but my books in paperback aren't huge novels. For long works, a bit larger might be better.

cblewgolf

· #11 · Mar 15, 2015

5.25 x 8 for all of my books, regardless of page count.

Dee J. Stone

· #12 · Mar 15, 2015

It depends on my word count. Anything over 65k, I'd use 6x9, and lower would be 5.5x8.5 or 8x5.

Geoff Jones

· #13 · Mar 15, 2015

Don't forget to account for "gutter margins," a little extra room on the inside margin of the page. This helps to keep the text from getting lost in the crevice.

Also, I vaguely remember there being fewer size options when using cream paper. Since most books in my genre appear to be on cream paper, I wanted cream. It helped narrow down my choices.

A quick search turned up this:

** Books with cream paper must be one of the following trim sizes: 5" x 8", 5.25" x 8", 5.5" x 8.5", or 6" x 9".

(I ended up with 5.5 x 8.5 for a 290 page sci-fi thriller.)

Best,
Geoff

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Z. Rider

· #14 · Mar 15, 2015

I went with 5.5 x 8.5 because the 6 x 9 fiction books I have on my shelf look unprofessional to me (not just because of the size—the interior formatting is pretty "yikes" in most of them too). None of the paperback novels I have from the big five are 6 x 9.

I really wanted 5.25 x 8, but IngramSpark doesn't have that in hardcover, and I needed some hardcovers for Kickstarter backer rewards (and didn't want to have to lay out the book twice). They had hardcover in 5 x 8, but it was pushing the paperback cost up too high. 5.5 x 8.5 turned out to be a good-looking size for Suckers. I'll probably go smaller for Insylum—it's only a novella—and then back up to 5.5 x 8.5 for the Blood Road trilogy.

tknite

· #15 · Mar 15, 2015

I universally use 6x9 because it saves on page count -- although it should be noted that my shortest work so far is 64k, which corresponds to 221 pages at the 6x9 size. My latest book clocked in at 96k and 332 pages in the 6x9 size.

Personally, I find those page counts and the resulting price points that CS gives me to be reasonable. I also have to say that using the 6x9 size makes formatting a better experience for me because I have the ability to do pretty much anything with the layout. The smaller the trim size, the less leeway I have in choosing leading/spacing and font (size) because I have to make sure I compress the book to the smallest page count possible in order to keep the unit price acceptable. Quite honestly, I loathe single-spacing in books -- it's so hard for me to read -- but long books in small trim sizes almost universally require it (I'm looking at you, mass market).

When I look at my shelf, I see books of pretty much every trim size imaginable, including paperback 6x9 from multiple trade publishers. There's no trim size uniformity on my shelves, not even across genre, so I feel perfectly comfortable using 6x9 to give myself the most options for formatting while keeping reasonable pricing.

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CJAnderson

· #16 · Mar 15, 2015

5 x 8

Winter time

· #17 · Sep 15, 2018

tknite said:
I universally use 6x9 because it saves on page count -- although it should be noted that my shortest work so far is 64k, which corresponds to 221 pages at the 6x9 size. My latest book clocked in at 96k and 332 pages in the 6x9 size.

Personally, I find those page counts and the resulting price points that CS gives me to be reasonable. I also have to say that using the 6x9 size makes formatting a better experience for me because I have the ability to do pretty much anything with the layout. The smaller the trim size, the less leeway I have in choosing leading/spacing and font (size) because I have to make sure I compress the book to the smallest page count possible in order to keep the unit price acceptable. Quite honestly, I loathe single-spacing in books -- it's so hard for me to read -- but long books in small trim sizes almost universally require it (I'm looking at you, mass market).

When I look at my shelf, I see books of pretty much every trim size imaginable, including paperback 6x9 from multiple trade publishers. There's no trim size uniformity on my shelves, not even across genre, so I feel perfectly comfortable using 6x9 to give myself the most options for formatting while keeping reasonable pricing.

unkownwriter

· #18 · Sep 15, 2018

And the point of reviving a three year old zombie thread, when Create Space is now a moot point?

BrunoMiller

· #19 · Sep 15, 2018

5 x 8

Travelian

· #20 · Sep 15, 2018

5.25 X 8. Because I read it's standard for thrillers. Plus my word counts are low, so the page bump helps.

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