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Books - Perfect Bound, Self-publishing Posted by Ann O'Brien on 09/17/2025

Looking for paperback book tips? A paperback book can convey a high-quality aesthetic. Watch the details, work with an experienced printer, and get a great-looking book.

1. Paperback Book Tips: Finish Strong

Nothing screams “low quality” like amateurish mistakes. Spelling and grammar errors can doom your book in the eyes of a discerning reader. They are unnecessary. You can avoid unforced errors by careful editing at each stage of revision.

When you finish your book, meticulously edit and proofread before you send your manuscript to a printer. Don’t wait until publication to make sudden, major changes to your book’s content. Ideally, hire professional editors and proofreaders to ensure there are no errors.

2. Paperback Book Tips: Look Your Best

If you want your paperback book to look its best, spend the bulk of your non-writing and non-editing time on two key elements: the interior layout and the book’s cover, both are great paperback book tips. Nothing sells a book faster than a great-looking cover. That’s why publishers hire expert graphic artists and specialty book designers. These professionals make a living creating the beautiful-looking books you see on the shelves.

3. Paperback Book Tips: Make Your Cover the Star

If there’s any room to stretch your budget, spend it on the cover. Hire a graphic artist to create a unique look for your book. If you don’t have the budget for this, you can still get an attractive cover. Use a template to make the job easier and ensure you have all the elements in place. The template guide will show you where to place the title, cover elements, and graphics.

These templates make it easy to produce a compelling cover, even if you don’t have an artistic bone in your body. The designs were created by graphic artists who know what the public is looking for in book covers. Once you’ve entered your text and graphics, and your cover is finished, leave it alone. Constantly fiddling with it may result in a muddled mess instead of a nice, clean cover design.

Pay equal attention to your back cover. Include the ISBN, author bio, publisher information, and a bar code. Consult your printing company to be sure you know how they prefer the covers to be formatted.

4. Paperback Book Tips: Focus on Inner Beauty

For the interior layout, it’s great if you can hire a book designer. If you can’t, be sure to follow the rules of good layout and typography. At the most basic level, stick to a clean, uncluttered design with plenty of white space. Use only two fonts. Select a serif font for the main text and a sans-serif font for your headers. Use a minimum 12-point size for readability. Check and double-check to make sure your pages are formatted consistently. Every page should look the same.

Use a professional layout tool like Adobe InDesign or Affinity Publisher. Before you enter your text, set up your style sheets to make sure everything formats the same way. These programs are the next best thing to working with a designer. They need a small learning curve and some costs, but they will help you craft a readable, attractive paperback book.

5. Paperback Book Tips: Watch Margins and Bleeds

When formatting your book for print, keep the inner margins, known as the gutter, wide enough to prevent text from “falling” into the binding. A size of .75 is standard, and a wider size is an excellent choice for thick books and one of many great paperback book tips.

If your book includes artwork or graphics that extend from page edge to page edge, use a bleed. This will ensure the colors fill the page correctly without showing a telltale printer’s cut of a white edge. A bleed of 0.125 on all sides will prevent this.

6. Paperback Book Tips: Choose High-Quality Paper

The right paper stock makes all the difference. High-quality paper will make your black text glossy and dark. It makes colors pop off of the page. A cream or off-white color is easier on the eyes for fiction, poetry, and other books that require emotional engagement. For a nonfiction book, technical book, children’s book, or any book with full-color artwork, choose bright white.

The standard weight for a paperback book is 50 to 60 lb. You don’t need heavier stock than that, except for the cover. Choose a sturdy cover stock that can stand up to lots of handling. A glossy finish on the cover can add to the eye-catching quality.

7. Paperback Book Tips: Use the Right Color Profile

Most design packages use the RGB (red, green, blue) color profile because this is the best way to get full-color results when printing directly from your computer to a desktop printer. For professional printing, you must use the CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, K for black) color profile. If you send an RGB file to a printer, the result will be muddy, inaccurate colors.

Before you begin preparing your book, be sure you are already working in the CMYK color profile. It’s easy to set this up in any design package. Transferring from RGB to CMYK is possible, but you’ll get better results if you start with the right one.

Set your images, artwork, photos, and cover files to at least 300 DPI (dots per inch).

8. Paperback Book Tips: Choose the Correct Trim Size

Common paperback book sizes are:

• 5 x8
• 5.5 x 8.5
• 6 x 9

Fiction books tend to be smaller, while the larger 6 x 9 size is a good fit for books that need more room for graphics and photos. These are typically nonfiction books. Choose the size that fits your genre standards.

9. Paperback Book Tips: Consider Your Printing Method Carefully

You have two choices when it comes to self-publishing a book: print on demand (POD) or offset printing with a professional company. POD may seem like the better choice because you only pay for the number of printed copies you need. It’s also fast and doesn’t require a place to store your books.

On the downside, it costs more to print per copy than a full print run, and it takes control of the printing process out of your hands. You must trust that the POD printer delivers the high-quality results that your book deserves.

10. Paperback Book Tips: Think About Your Reader

Reading a paperback book should be an enjoyable experience for your reader. When creating a cover, for instance, decide whether you want a soft, inviting cover that invites serene reading, or a bright, glossy one that demands the reader’s attention. If your printer offers options like rounded page corners, consider them. Would they enhance the reading experience of your book?

The readability of any book depends on the clarity of the text, the readability of the layout, the weight of the pages, and the way the pages guide a reader from one page to the next. Think about what you can do to enhance this experience.

Your Paperback Book Deserves the Best

Don’t settle for less when it comes to printing your book. Edit and proofread carefully, pay attention to the layout and design, and work with a top-notch printer. At Dazzle Printing, we specialize in working with first-time, self-published writers. Contact us to learn more about our affordable rates and outstanding customer service.