An ebook and a paperback are two editions of the same book. KDP publishes them separately, and Amazon shows them on one page when their details match. The text can stay the same. Almost everything around it changes.
What changes between the two
| Part | Kindle ebook | Paperback |
|---|---|---|
| Pages | None; the reader's device lays out the text | Fixed pages at a trim size you choose |
| Margins | None to set | An inside margin that depends on the page count |
| ISBN | Optional | Required, and its own |
| Cover | The front only | One PDF: back cover, spine and front |
| Links | Tapped to follow | Printed text, so a web address has to be readable |
1. Start from the Word file
Use the manuscript the ebook was made from. If you corrected the ebook after it went live, make the same corrections in the Word file first. Otherwise the paperback prints the old text.
Torcul reads a Word (.docx) or Markdown file. It does not read a Kindle Create file or an EPUB. A book written in Google Docs can be saved as Word with File → Download → Microsoft Word (.docx).
2. Choose a trim size
The trim size is the page size of the printed book. KDP calls 6 × 9 inches the most common trim size for books in the US. A smaller size, such as 5.5 × 8.5 or 5 × 8, makes more pages from the same text; see how many pages your book will be.
Choose it first. The page count, the spine width and the cover all follow from it, and so does how well your ebook cover fits the front (step 5).
3. Lay out the pages for print
A printed page needs what an ebook leaves to the reader's device:
- Margins. KDP's minimum inside margin grows with the page count, and changing the margin changes the page count. How KDP gutter margins work explains the loop.
- Page numbers, and chapters that open on a new page.
- Front matter in print order, with a copyright page that carries the paperback's ISBN. See what goes at the front of a book.
- Web addresses written out in full, since a printed link cannot be tapped.
- Type of at least 7 points, with every font embedded in the PDF.
- An even page count. KDP rounds an odd count up to the next even number.
Torcul does this from the Word file. It lays the book out until the inside margin and the page count agree, and checks the finished PDF before you download it.
4. Get a paperback ISBN
A paperback needs an ISBN of its own. KDP does not allow the same ISBN on two formats, so the ebook's cannot be reused. Many ebooks have none anyway, because an ISBN is optional for an ebook.
KDP offers a free ISBN for paperbacks. It can only be used on KDP, and the imprint then reads “Independently published”. An ISBN you bought yourself carries your own imprint instead.
Take the ISBN in KDP's paperback setup before you finish the interior. The copyright page can then print it.
5. Build the full cover from the ebook's front
A paperback cover is one PDF: the back cover, the spine and the front, with 0.125″ of bleed on the outside edges. Its width depends on the spine, and the spine depends on the page count and the paper. So the cover is made last, from the finished interior.
cover height = bleed + trim height + bleed
The spine calculator gives the full cover size for a page count.
Is the ebook cover sharp enough for print?
KDP's ideal ebook cover is 1,600 × 2,560 pixels. For a paperback cover, KDP asks for images of at least 300 dpi. On the front of a paperback, bleed included, that picture comes out like this:
| Trim size | Front with bleed | Resolution | Cropped to fit | Pixels for 300 dpi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 × 8 | 5.125 × 8.25″ | 310 dpi | 0.6%, at the sides | 1,538 × 2,475 |
| 5.5 × 8.5 | 5.625 × 8.75″ | 284 dpi | 2.8%, top and bottom | 1,688 × 2,625 |
| 6 × 9 | 6.125 × 9.25″ | 261 dpi | 5.6%, top and bottom | 1,838 × 2,775 |
A 1,600 × 2,560 cover fits a 5 × 8 paperback almost exactly. For 6 × 9, ask your designer for the front at 1,838 × 2,775 pixels or more. Keep the title clear of the top and bottom edges, where the crop falls.
Torcul measures your picture against the front of the trim size you chose. It states both figures, the resolution and how much is cropped, and it crops rather than stretches. The back and the spine can take a color from the picture, with your back-cover text and an author photo.
KDP allows text on the spine from 79 pages. Torcul sets spine text only when a 7-point line fits between KDP's spine margins: from 112 pages on white paper, and from 101 on cream. Unless your cover carries a barcode, KDP prints one on the back cover, and Torcul keeps that area empty.
6. Publish, and link the two editions
Publish the paperback from the same KDP account as the ebook, and enter its details exactly as the ebook has them. Amazon links the two on one page when these match: title, subtitle, author, contributors, series, language, edition and volume.
Linking usually takes up to a week after each edition is live. If the two are still apart after that, contact KDP with the ebook's ASIN and the paperback's 10-digit ISBN.
Linking books on your KDP Bookshelf is a different thing. It groups them in your account, and does not link the Amazon pages.
Before you order a proof
- The Word file has every correction the ebook has.
- The trim size is chosen, and the ebook cover is checked against it.
- The copyright page carries the paperback's ISBN, not the ebook's.
- The page count is final and even, and the inside margin is right for it.
- The cover was made from that final page count.
- Title, author and series are typed exactly as on the ebook.
Then order a proof copy from KDP and read it on paper. Margins, the spine and the colors of a cover look different in print than on a screen.
Sources
- Set Trim Size, Bleed, and Margins
- Paperback Submission Guidelines
- What is an ISBN and Imprint?
- Create a Paperback Cover
- Cover Image Guidelines for Kindle eBooks
- Why are my books not linked on Amazon?
- Link Your Books on the KDP Bookshelf
None of this guarantees that KDP will accept a file. KDP changes its help pages, so check the date on this one and on any report a tool gives you.