Specification guide
Trim Sizes, Binding & Paper
How trim size, binding style and paper stock interact — and how each one moves your page count, unit cost and shelf presence.
These three choices are made together or not at all. Change the trim and the page count moves. Move the page count and the spine width, unit cost and minimum viable price all move with it.
Trim size
Smaller trims read as fiction and travel well. Larger trims suit non-fiction, workbooks and anything with figures or tables. Genre convention is a real constraint here — an unusual trim signals “unfamiliar with the category” to buyers.
Paper stock
Cream is easier on the eye for long prose. White gives better contrast for images, diagrams and reference material. Heavier stock reduces show-through but raises both spine width and shipping cost.
Binding
Perfect binding is standard and economical. Case binding is durable and premium. Layflat is worth the premium for cookbooks, manuals and anything used while the reader’s hands are busy.
What’s included
Cost impact modelled
See how each spec choice moves page count, spine and unit price.
Genre conventions
The trims buyers in your category already expect to see.
Stock comparison
Cream against white, weight against show-through and shipping cost.
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