Agonizing over trim size and paper color: a waste of time?

I don't like the larger size. Just a preference. I'd make all my books mass market paperback size if CS offered that option. I chose the 8" x 5.25" because it was the closest to the size I wanted. What genre is your book?

I wouldn't want a novel that was 8x10. Too big to hold comfortably to read. That's nearly the size of copy paper - can you imagine holding 210 sheets of copy paper for very long, and flipping pages?

That size is more suited to a photo book, or a children's picture book. Not a novel, which is usually held somewhat upright (or propped on the tummy).

Another vote against 8x10.

Another potential problem: many people wouldn't notice the size when ordering the book; then when they got it, I expect many would be somewhat irritated.

It could be different if this was a nonfiction work, but an 8x10 novel is almost laughable.

8X10? I've never heard of such a huge format. No. Don't do that. That's my opinion, anyway. I am, however, very confused about your royalty calculation. My books in my sig, for example, are 5.25 X 8 - 250 pages, priced at 10.95 and give me just over $2 royalty on the low end, and just over $4 if ordered from CS.

My latest title, not in my sig, is 5.5 X 8.5, 350 pages, priced at 13.95 and gives me a royalty of just over $3 on the low end to just over $6 if ordered via CS.

Don't forget that often your list price is discounted too. Just look at my latest title (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J4VU1BO/?tag=absowrit-20) which is, as I mentioned, listed at 13.95. Amazon has it discounted to just about 10.00.

kevinwaynewilliams said:

Profen4, I think that you are talking about Amazon distribution only. Your 5.25x8 250 page book pays only 53 cents on expanded distribution, while returning a healthy $2.72 when sold on Amazon.

5.5x8.5, 350 pages, priced at 13.95, pays a royalty of 53 cents on expanded distribution. If you sized that paper up to 7.5x9.25 and could knock 100 pages off in the process, your royalty on expanded distribution would rise to $1.73, for example.

Click to expand...

I think you're going to have a problem with people not wanting a book that big - if they notice. If they don't notice, I think you're unlikely to get repeat buyers. But I see what you're saying. I use LSI for everywhere but Amazon(s). If I saw a book the dimentions you're talking about, I'd expect hardcover, and +600 pages. Have you ever seen a book that size that wasn't a door-stopper?

You might be better off with LSI for 3rd party retailers. Something to consider.

6x9 is already rather larger than I prefer but I can live with it. Any larger and I am not likely to buy. It is uncomfortable to scan and does not fit on the bookshelf.

I have a book on my shelf that's tall. I'm not looking at it right now, so I can't say exactly how big, but I'm guessing like 8x13. It's a very non-standard size and is a paperback non-fiction. It's annoying because the size makes it uncomfortable to carry, or to read. It's not a thick book either, so it's not like it needed the height to balance it out. This one book required that I change the height of the shelf on the bookcase, so it just throws everything off. I never understood why they published it like that. I would never have bought it, just on the size alone, except that I was required to do so.

I checked out your site, it's really sleek and I like how you've organized the site. I'm just getting into to this self publishing thing.

I wanted to ask you a question, did you see more sales after you published your second novel?

Thanks!