Module 3 · Turning a Manuscript Into a Professional Book
Trim size, margins and the interior
What you'll understand: Understand the choices that shape the inside of your printed book.
- Trim size
- The finished page dimensions, e.g. 6 x 9 inches. It affects page count, printing cost, and how the book feels in a reader's hand.
- Margins
- The space around the text. The inner margin is wider than the outer one because part of it disappears into the binding.
- Typesetting
- Choosing and setting the typeface, size and spacing so pages read comfortably rather than looking like a printed word-processor document.
- Front and back matter
- Title page, copyright page, contents, dedication, acknowledgements, about-the-author. Small pages, but a book without them reads as unfinished.
Different kinds of book sit at different sizes by convention. As examples only, novels often appear around 5.25 x 8 or 6 x 9 inches, and non-fiction is commonly seen at 6 x 9. Children's books, poetry and illustrated books follow their own conventions. The right trim for your book depends on its content, genre conventions, readability and production economics.
Why this matters
Trim size is one of the earliest production decisions and one of the hardest to reverse, because everything downstream is measured against it.
What to do with this information
Look at three published books in your genre and note their trim sizes.
Quick check
No score, no pass mark — just a way to check the idea landed.
Why is the inner margin usually wider than the outer margin?
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