Sizes for a book of fiction are usually 6 inches by 9 inches or 8 ½ inches by 11 inches, but specialty or coffee table books are often much larger. They’ll usually come with a dust jacket over the outside that features some manner of art or graphic design. These books feature a flexible spine with the pages glued or even sewn in place. Hardcover books, or hardbound books, have covers made by wrapping cloth around thick, heavy cardboard. They’ll have a smaller trim size and feature lower quality, thinner paper for the covers. Format paperback, or mass-market paperback, is a style usually reserved for the lowest priced books and are typically romance novels. The sizes are typically 6 inches by 9 inches or 5 ½ inches by 8 ½ inches.

These books are made with a paperboard cover, and pages held to the binding with an adhesive. Paperback books, or softcover books, were originally intended as an inexpensive way to keep printing a book after the hardcover version was already on the market for a while. Which is right for your book? What Is a Paperback Book? hardcover conundrum are changing due to modern reading and purchasing habits. This seemingly simple choice requires forethought and planning, and some of the traditional answers to the paperback vs. Authors pondering the decision have to factor in many details, including the cost that either or will pose to the reader. Verso: In an open book, verso is the page on the left side.The choice of paperback vs hardcover shouldn’t be decided by a coin flip.

When a book is on the shelf, the spine is what faces outward. Spine: The outside case of the binding, where all the pages are glued together. Signature Block: A bundle of pages, usually in groups of eight, 16, or 32, that begin as one large sheet of paper and are then folded and trimmed to create individual pages. Recto: In an open book, recto is the page on the right side. Inside Cover (of a paperback): The inside cover of a paperback is the literal back of the cover. Headband: A special band at the top of the spine that hides the glue and helps keep the spine together. Anything within the gutter typically isn't visible. Gutter: The space on the inside margin of pages where the book is bound. Because a flyleaf is part of an endsheet, it can also be colored or have something printed on it.įootband: Similar to the headband (see below), a footband is a special band at the bottom of the spine that hides the glue and helps keep the spine together. While the standard endsheet is white and blank, you can choose to have solid-colored endsheets or print on white endsheets.įlyleaf: The flyleaf is the loose part of the endsheet (see above). Some of the more complex parts we've explained below.Ĭover Material: Hardcover books are built from cardboard that is wrapped with either a solid color material (typically a colored paper or a leatherette) or a printed text stock (laminated glossy or matte).Įndsheet: A piece of paper, usually blank, that's glued to the inside cover of a hardcover book. Use the infographic above to familiarize yourself with the parts of a book.