Let’s start with what is ‘standard size’ – that’s simple, there isn’t one!
Look at your bookshelf, I’m confident that, while many books will be a similar size, there will be quite a few that don’t ‘fit’ that same height and depth formula.
When I published my first book it came out at 8×5 inches (20x13cm) – that was standard for the time (early 2000s), but my last two books were A5 size and most non-fiction books are in that ball-park today. That doesn’t mean you have to stick rigidly to the ‘norm’.
If your book includes images, charts, diagrams or other graphics that don’t sit well on an A5 layout, there are plenty of other options.
If your subject is visual and you want to include a lot of photographs – if you’re writing about interior décor, photography, antiques, paintings, animals or other nature subjects, you may find that A5 isn’t big enough to show off your images well. You can end up with a much bigger format – something that people might describe as a ‘coffee-table book’.
You’ll also be printing on a different kind of paper – with a more shiny finish. If you print colour images onto normal book paper, the colours will simply soak in and look faded.
Yes, that means the cost per copy to print will increase, but the result is worth it – and people usually expect to pay more for an image-rich book, so your cover price can reflect that.
If your graphics reproduce well in black and white, there won’t be a problem, but you may want to add some photos – without the cost of a much higher quality paper throughout your book. In this case, you’ll find that some books achieve this with an inset in a couple of places of images on different paper. This can work well, providing the image isn’t essential to the narrative at that point.
It’s wise to consider what you book’s final format will be before you arrive at publishing stage – it can save a lot of work rethinking it later. Talk to your publisher about different shapes, sizes and formats before making a decision.
