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Strategies of Writing

New authors writing fiction can build up their experience through trial and error by writing several short stories over time cost-effectively as they hone their craft. By using low-cost or no-cost self-publishing services like Kindle Direct Publishing or Lulu to design and publish those early trial books, they can become seasoned writers without suffering any reputational loss.

The world of nonfiction, however, is not quite as forgiving. When you publish your first nonfiction book, you’ll be automatically deemed to be an expert in your field, right along with those who might be on their fifth or sixth books. After all, why would a non-expert bother writing a nonfiction book?

So from the get-go you’ll have to ally yourself with (and budget for) professional editors who will take your manuscript writing and structure to the next level, allowing your book to bring about your subject-matter expertise in a compelling and engaging way.

Before you hire any editing resources, let me help you get familiar with the different types of editors required to make your nonfiction manuscript truly shine.

Types of Nonfiction Editors

There are four main types of nonfiction editors you can hire, depending on your unique circumstances and budget:

• Developmental Editor (sometimes called a Conceptual Editor)

• Content Editor (sometimes called a Substantive Editor)

• Line Editor (sometimes called a Stylistic Editor)

• Copy Editor (sometimes called a Proofreader)

Sometimes an individual editor will combine two of these editing levels into a single service, so it’s always good to discuss beforehand exactly what level of editing you’re looking for, and what they intend to provide.

Let’s now look at the distinct functions each one performs:

Developmental Editor

The first type of professional editing that your nonfiction book will require is developmental editing. This type of editor will look at the overall structure of your book to assess if it’s adequate to support your main thesis.

As the author, you’re simply too close to your book to be able to have an unbiased opinion, and your developmental editor will help you gain the necessary perspective to help you “see the forest for the trees” and make objective decisions.

In short, the developmental editor is like a coach who’ll lay out the overall strategy you need to follow for your book to achieve its full potential. They’ll do so by using the following two mechanisms.

The Editor’s Letter

Through this letter, they’ll tackle the biggest structural issues in your book by making suggestions so that you can take the necessary corrective action.

This might entail re-writing certain chapters, swapping them around, perhaps writing new ones and eliminating sections of the book that don’t support your thesis and don’t add any value to your readers.

Once you’ve completed this major initial revision, your manuscript will have a much more solid foundation, strong enough to begin the second phase of developmental editing: page-by-page commenting.

Page-By-Page Comments

Here, your developmental editor will go through every page of your manuscript and leave you notes in the margin. These notes won’t be related to spelling, grammar and punctuation errors but to the actual content of the text.

For example, they may point out that an idea you’re exploring is out of place with the other ideas in that chapter and should be moved elsewhere. Or they might show how the subject of one chapter is an outlier compared to the rest of the book and question whether it should be included at all (or re-worked to fit the rest of the book).

Content Editor

The content editor will pick up from where the developmental editor left off and move down to the chapter and sub-chapter level. Their main job is to ensure that your message is delivered with clarity to meet the needs of your target audience. They’ll ensure that your ideas flow naturally from one to the next and that you haven’t included any ideas that aren’t relevant to your main thesis.

For example, they’ll make sure that all chapters have the right structure (at its most basic: a beginning that introduces the main idea, a middle that expands on it, and an end that summarizes it). They’ll also suggest rearranging ideas within a chapter if doing so will improve clarity and flow.

Line Editor

A line editor goes deeper still, right down to the paragraph and word level. They’ll check your manuscript for readability and style, and make suggestions to improve clarity. They’ll do so by rewriting those phrases that are clunky and hard to read, adjust paragraphs that are unclear, shorten run-on sentences and so on.

Finally, they’ll suggest the right placement for any illustrations, images, tables, or any other type of graphical element in relation with the text and the flow of ideas.

Copy Editor

Copy editors are not concerned with idea flow or paragraph clarity: their job is to ensure that your book’s content is correct and its facts are accurate.

They will catch spelling, punctuation, grammatical, syntax, capitalization and hyphenation errors. They’ll ideally correct any fact in your book that is inaccurate, from wrong dates to wrong places to wrong names.

They’ll flag any potential legal infringement issues, check for major formatting inconsistencies, check for proper word usage and check for any type of anomalies in your text.

Before you publish, you want to be certain that your nonfiction book is devoid of errors, omissions, typos and inaccuracies.

Your copy editor will make sure that your book is free from:

• Punctuation, spelling, grammatical and syntax errors

• Formatting inconsistencies

• Incorrect references

• Inaccurate facts and figures

• Erroneous captions

Unlike most of us, copy editors have the uncanny ability to laser focus on the language of your text without getting distracted by the art.

In other words, the reason we mere mortals can’t seem to detect as many typos as they do is that since we’re so focused on the narrative of the story, our brains will happily skip these minor speed bumps for the sake of our reading enjoyment.

Congratulations, now that the copy editing stage is completed, your book is ready to go to the printer!

What Rates do Nonfiction Editors Charge?

Rates differ with experience, but here are some general guidelines so you know what to expect:

Developmental Editing can charge two separate fees, depending on the nature of your book — a per-word or per-page rate for the textual component of your book, and a per-hour rate for books that are research-intensive (e.g. highly academic, scientific or specialized).

Per-word rates range from 8 cents to12 cents depending on the level of difficulty of your text (or $20-$30 per page). Per-hour rates are typically around $60/hour for non-editing research activity.

Content editors charge a lower rate than developmental editors, which is typically based on dollars per 1,000 words.

For books with standard text – that is, non-specialized, non-scientific or non-academic text – the content editing rates will range between $40 and $50 per 1,000 words. For difficult text (specialized, scientific or academic) the range goes up to $50-$70 per 1,000 words.

Line editors charge between $30 and $40 per 1,000 words for standard text and anywhere between $40-$60 for difficult text.

Finally, copy editors charge between $25-$35 per 1,000 words for standard text and between $35-$45 per 1,000 words for difficult text.

Next Steps

When it comes to editing cost, always keep in mind that the quality of your book will be directly related to your credibility and your professional reputation, so cutting corners in editing isn’t recommended.

On the flip side, consider that a high-quality book will result in more business later on, since your book will act as powerful calling card to promote your professional services. At the end of the day, your editing investment will be return to you multiple times.

Also, as a nonfiction writer, you’ll need the help of top-notch editors to be able to produce a book that can compete with all the bestsellers in your niche, which are guaranteed to be professionally edited.

When it comes to finding the right people for the job, many book editors will specialize in a particular stage, but occasionally you may find a super-editor that can do two stages. Some may even be able to do three, but it’s always good to get at least one more set of professional eyes on a manuscript before publication, especially for copy editing, so I always recommend using two different editors for the different stages.

So, be prepared to hire multiple editors, keeping in mind that the total editing cost may not change that much with fewer editors because all four stages still need to be implemented for your nonfiction book to be competitive in the marketplace.

Now, once your manuscript reaches an advanced stage of editing, it’s time to begin lining up professional layout and book cover designers. Here are a couple of articles to guide you in the right direction: 10 Nonfiction Book Layout Tips That Will Glue Your Audience to the Page and 5 Book Cover Design Principles for Nonfiction Books.

Best wishes!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

 

Bennett R. ColesBennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

What are the Different Types of Nonfiction Editors?

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Strategies of Writing

New authors writing fiction can build up their experience through trial and error by writing several short stories over time cost-effectively as they hone their craft. By using low-cost or no-cost self-publishing services like Kindle Direct Publishing or Lulu to design and publish those early trial books, they can become seasoned writers without suffering any reputational loss.

The world of nonfiction, however, is not quite as forgiving. When you publish your first nonfiction book, you’ll be automatically deemed to be an expert in your field, right along with those who might be on their fifth or sixth books. After all, why would a non-expert bother writing a nonfiction book?

So from the get-go you’ll have to ally yourself with (and budget for) professional editors who will take your manuscript writing and structure to the next level, allowing your book to bring about your subject-matter expertise in a compelling and engaging way.

Before you hire any editing resources, let me help you get familiar with the different types of editors required to make your nonfiction manuscript truly shine.

Types of Nonfiction Editors

There are four main types of nonfiction editors you can hire, depending on your unique circumstances and budget:

• Developmental Editor (sometimes called a Conceptual Editor)

• Content Editor (sometimes called a Substantive Editor)

• Line Editor (sometimes called a Stylistic Editor)

• Copy Editor (sometimes called a Proofreader)

Sometimes an individual editor will combine two of these editing levels into a single service, so it’s always good to discuss beforehand exactly what level of editing you’re looking for, and what they intend to provide.

Let’s now look at the distinct functions each one performs:

Developmental Editor

The first type of professional editing that your nonfiction book will require is developmental editing. This type of editor will look at the overall structure of your book to assess if it’s adequate to support your main thesis.

As the author, you’re simply too close to your book to be able to have an unbiased opinion, and your developmental editor will help you gain the necessary perspective to help you “see the forest for the trees” and make objective decisions.

In short, the developmental editor is like a coach who’ll lay out the overall strategy you need to follow for your book to achieve its full potential. They’ll do so by using the following two mechanisms.

The Editor’s Letter

Through this letter, they’ll tackle the biggest structural issues in your book by making suggestions so that you can take the necessary corrective action.

This might entail re-writing certain chapters, swapping them around, perhaps writing new ones and eliminating sections of the book that don’t support your thesis and don’t add any value to your readers.

Once you’ve completed this major initial revision, your manuscript will have a much more solid foundation, strong enough to begin the second phase of developmental editing: page-by-page commenting.

Page-By-Page Comments

Here, your developmental editor will go through every page of your manuscript and leave you notes in the margin. These notes won’t be related to spelling, grammar and punctuation errors but to the actual content of the text.

For example, they may point out that an idea you’re exploring is out of place with the other ideas in that chapter and should be moved elsewhere. Or they might show how the subject of one chapter is an outlier compared to the rest of the book and question whether it should be included at all (or re-worked to fit the rest of the book).

Content Editor

The content editor will pick up from where the developmental editor left off and move down to the chapter and sub-chapter level. Their main job is to ensure that your message is delivered with clarity to meet the needs of your target audience. They’ll ensure that your ideas flow naturally from one to the next and that you haven’t included any ideas that aren’t relevant to your main thesis.

For example, they’ll make sure that all chapters have the right structure (at its most basic: a beginning that introduces the main idea, a middle that expands on it, and an end that summarizes it). They’ll also suggest rearranging ideas within a chapter if doing so will improve clarity and flow.

Line Editor

A line editor goes deeper still, right down to the paragraph and word level. They’ll check your manuscript for readability and style, and make suggestions to improve clarity. They’ll do so by rewriting those phrases that are clunky and hard to read, adjust paragraphs that are unclear, shorten run-on sentences and so on.

Finally, they’ll suggest the right placement for any illustrations, images, tables, or any other type of graphical element in relation with the text and the flow of ideas.

Copy Editor

Copy editors are not concerned with idea flow or paragraph clarity: their job is to ensure that your book’s content is correct and its facts are accurate.

They will catch spelling, punctuation, grammatical, syntax, capitalization and hyphenation errors. They’ll ideally correct any fact in your book that is inaccurate, from wrong dates to wrong places to wrong names.

They’ll flag any potential legal infringement issues, check for major formatting inconsistencies, check for proper word usage and check for any type of anomalies in your text.

Before you publish, you want to be certain that your nonfiction book is devoid of errors, omissions, typos and inaccuracies.

Your copy editor will make sure that your book is free from:

• Punctuation, spelling, grammatical and syntax errors

• Formatting inconsistencies

• Incorrect references

• Inaccurate facts and figures

• Erroneous captions

Unlike most of us, copy editors have the uncanny ability to laser focus on the language of your text without getting distracted by the art.

In other words, the reason we mere mortals can’t seem to detect as many typos as they do is that since we’re so focused on the narrative of the story, our brains will happily skip these minor speed bumps for the sake of our reading enjoyment.

Congratulations, now that the copy editing stage is completed, your book is ready to go to the printer!

What Rates do Nonfiction Editors Charge?

Rates differ with experience, but here are some general guidelines so you know what to expect:

Developmental Editing can charge two separate fees, depending on the nature of your book — a per-word or per-page rate for the textual component of your book, and a per-hour rate for books that are research-intensive (e.g. highly academic, scientific or specialized).

Per-word rates range from 8 cents to12 cents depending on the level of difficulty of your text (or $20-$30 per page). Per-hour rates are typically around $60/hour for non-editing research activity.

Content editors charge a lower rate than developmental editors, which is typically based on dollars per 1,000 words.

For books with standard text – that is, non-specialized, non-scientific or non-academic text – the content editing rates will range between $40 and $50 per 1,000 words. For difficult text (specialized, scientific or academic) the range goes up to $50-$70 per 1,000 words.

Line editors charge between $30 and $40 per 1,000 words for standard text and anywhere between $40-$60 for difficult text.

Finally, copy editors charge between $25-$35 per 1,000 words for standard text and between $35-$45 per 1,000 words for difficult text.

Next Steps

When it comes to editing cost, always keep in mind that the quality of your book will be directly related to your credibility and your professional reputation, so cutting corners in editing isn’t recommended.

On the flip side, consider that a high-quality book will result in more business later on, since your book will act as powerful calling card to promote your professional services. At the end of the day, your editing investment will be return to you multiple times.

Also, as a nonfiction writer, you’ll need the help of top-notch editors to be able to produce a book that can compete with all the bestsellers in your niche, which are guaranteed to be professionally edited.

When it comes to finding the right people for the job, many book editors will specialize in a particular stage, but occasionally you may find a super-editor that can do two stages. Some may even be able to do three, but it’s always good to get at least one more set of professional eyes on a manuscript before publication, especially for copy editing, so I always recommend using two different editors for the different stages.

So, be prepared to hire multiple editors, keeping in mind that the total editing cost may not change that much with fewer editors because all four stages still need to be implemented for your nonfiction book to be competitive in the marketplace.

Now, once your manuscript reaches an advanced stage of editing, it’s time to begin lining up professional layout and book cover designers. Here are a couple of articles to guide you in the right direction: 10 Nonfiction Book Layout Tips That Will Glue Your Audience to the Page and 5 Book Cover Design Principles for Nonfiction Books.

Best wishes!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to generate additional leads for their businesses.

 

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

 

Bennett R. ColesBennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

How to Make a Book Cover for a Nonfiction Book

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How to Get a Book Printed and Bound

The Importance of a Good Book Cover

The bar for nonfiction book cover design is much higher than that for most other genres.

Unlike works of fiction, where the primary goal is to entertain a general audience, nonfiction books are usually more serious in nature. Whether your goal is to help your audience at a personal level or in their business, your book will position you as an expert in their eyes.

As a result, the quality of your book’s presentation will have to meet a high standard: that’s the natural expectation readers have from experts.

Your book cover design is an area where you can’t afford to cut corners by using an inexpensive gig site or cover design templates, because your professional reputation will be riding on the final product.

What Makes a Good Cover Design?

Since you’re writing a nonfiction book, chances are that you’re doing so to solve a problem for your audience. Therefore, your unique solution needs to be reflected on your cover in a way that’s clear and unambiguous.

Since problems tend to have a strong emotional component, your solution and the imagery of your book cover must clearly reflect this fact. A good nonfiction cover design needs to pictorially reflect the outcome of your solution, which is the desired state that your target audience seeks to achieve.

For example, consider the book “The 4-Hour Workweek” that provides strategies to escape the rat race and gain personal and financial freedom.

The title doesn’t explain how this is achieved and neither does the cover – you have to read the book to find out! But the front cover clearly shows the intended outcome by depicting the outline of a person lying on a hammock between two palm trees with a sunset in the background.

The end result is that this cover is able to establish a direct emotional connection with the source of its audience’s problem (living in a financial rat race) while offering an aspirational outcome that symbolizes personal and financial freedom.

Top 3 Best Practices for Your Front Cover Design

Below you’ll find three best practices you need to apply to your front cover to ensure that your book stands out from the crowd:

1- Make Your Title Short and Catchy

Over the last twenty years or so, there’s been a trend in the nonfiction genre from longer titles and shorter subtitles to shorter titles with longer subtitles.

A classic example from the old days is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Even though this title is a bit of a mouthful, it does say all you need to know about the contents of the book.

However, with the migration of book discovery from the offline to the online worlds, ruled by small, smartphone-sized screens, you’d now find it challenging to clearly make out all these words from a tiny thumbprint image.

As a result, books put out by publishers and self-published authors alike have been trending toward short titles in the 1-5-word range with longer subtitles used to expand on the book’s main premise.

Here are some examples:

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking

Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It

2- Use Book Cover Images that Reflect the Aspirations of Your Target Audience

In order to compensate for the limited real estate of book front covers viewed online you’ll need to rely more than ever on your cover imagery to paint a clear picture of your book.

This wasn’t an issue when The 7 Habits was released back in the late 80s – in fact, the original book cover had no imagery whatsoever, just a background color behind the title with some strategic underlining.

But today, you have to lean more than ever on cover visuals to complement your title. In fact, for maximum effect, you want to choose illustrations or photographs that clearly reflect the aspirations of your target audience.

Don’t choose images that illustrate your audience’s current problem – choose images that illustrate the solution!

3- Use a Color Scheme in Line with the Expectations of Your Niche

When it comes to the color palette for your book cover, there are unlimited choices and combinations available to you, making the task of choosing the right color appear to be overwhelming.

Since colors are very subjective, you certainly don’t want to make a mistake and risk being labeled amateurish or inappropriate by the buying public. Fortunately, different niches tend to gravitate to specific color patterns that align with the expectations of their audience.

For example, you wouldn’t want to use red for the cover of a book on investment advice, since red is typically associated with financial loss. Likewise, you wouldn’t want to color a cookbook in a way that’s not reflective of the type of cuisine that your book conveys.

Colors have the ability to trigger an emotional response in your readers and you want to make sure that this response is always positive and in line with your niche.

The 5 Key Elements of a Nonfiction Back Cover:

Now, let’s switch to the back cover of your book. The goal of your back cover is to shore up the marketing pull of your front cover. In other words, while your front cover draws people in, your back cover needs to do the selling job.

For the marketing pull of your back cover to be effective, you need to hone in on the following five key elements.

1- Testimonials (from Recognized Experts!)

The first order of business is the solicitation of glowing testimonials from people your target audience considers to be experts in your niche. The stronger the name recognition, the better.

Now the question is, how do you get recognized experts to agree to give you a testimonial? Well, you’ll have to be resourceful. You have to uncover direct paths to them and then work those channels to get introduced to them.

Here are some suggestions:

Perhaps you know someone who knows them – check LinkedIn to see if you share a common business acquaintance, making them a 2nd-level connection, then ask them to make an introduction.

Attend paid seminars or workshops that they offer and simply ask them directly (always towards the end of the engagement, once you’ve developed a relationship of trust). This is a little bit harder to do when attending a webinar because all exchanges are publicly shared, which brings us to the next tactic.

Book a paid one-to-one session if they happen to operate a consultancy in your area and then ask them politely (if they published books earlier in their careers, they’ll empathize with you!).

Keep in mind that they won’t endorse you book simply because you ask – as a starting point, your book has to be professionally designed and edited and its content has to be excellent in their eyes.

By giving you an endorsement and having their name appear on the cover of your book, they’re putting their reputation on the line and they’ll be reluctant to do so if they feel that your content is substandard.

Having said that, there are benefits to them in providing their endorsement. If your book does well in the market they’ll benefit from free promotion for their own books, which will be mentioned along with their names.

2- Marketing Blurb

The goal of the marketing blurb, or marketing text, isn’t to provide a summary your book but to engage and entice readers to consider buying it. The text must connect with their emotions, which is ultimately what’s behind most purchasing decisions.

Therefore, your blurb will need to:

  • Clearly identify the main problem afflicting your readers, which your book will address
  • Show them what your book will do to relieve this pain (your solution) without revealing any of its secrets (the “how”)
  • Address their aspirations by painting a picture of what their lives will be like after implementing the lessons contained in your book

3- Your Author Bio

You author bio needs to establish your expertise in your book’s topic. It must mention what your credentials are, show how long you’ve been practicing your trade and give an account of your experience.

When it comes to style, it’s customary to write author bios in the third person. It’s also customary, although not strictly necessary, to close the bio with a personal touch.

This closing could be as simple as mentioning the general area where you live (e.g. west coast, the name of a state, a city, etc.), mentioning how many children you have, if you have a pet, perhaps their name, and so on.

You can also make it as personal as you feel is required to connect with your audience – for example, mentioning a mundane experience from your life that your readers can easily identify with.

4- Author Head Shot

Your author head shot could either be a black and white or a color photograph (black and white is a common choice for nonfiction books), however, make sure it’s taken by a professional photographer.

Although some authors use casual shots for their author bios, I don’t recommend this approach for nonfiction authors because it creates a disconnect with your image as an expert.

When you meet a lawyer or an accountant, you have a certain expectation on how they present themselves – ripped jeans and a t-shirt won’t inspire a lot of confidence. This is no different with experts who publish nonfiction books.

5- The Barcode

The final key element in your back cover is the ISBN barcode. You want to make sure that it’s of the highest possible quality to ensure that laser scanners in retail locations can read it.

Some barcodes have the suggested retail price encoded, but this isn’t mandatory, especially if your book will be offered in multiple currencies.

Depending on where you live, the barcode may be supplied by the same agency that generates the ISBNs. In the U.S. this agency is Bowker (https://www.myidentifiers.com/identify-protect-your-book/barcode)

Next Steps

In order to formulate initial ideas for your cover, search Amazon for bestselling books in your niche and inspect their covers for visual and textual messaging.

Figure out what you find compelling about them, how they make you feel and how they align with the book’s thesis and the aspirations of their intended audiences. Then take notes about those design elements you think would work on your book.

The goal is not to copy what you see in other books, but to use those books as source of inspiration and an idea generator for yours.

Good luck with your cover!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors
How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

 

Bennett R. ColesBennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling writers (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghost writing, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

What Are the Best Book Sizes for Nonfiction?

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Top Book Publishing Companies

Nonfiction books come in different sizes depending on the category. The size of your book will determine your overall page-count, and the lower the page count the less costly the book will be. For example, an 80,000-word manuscript can fit in a 400-page 5” x 8” book as well as a 230-page 6” x 9” book, but the latter will be less expensive to manufacture.

I often hear the term trim size, is this the same as book size?

Yes. The reason the printing industry refers to the size of a book as “trim size” is because once pages are printed, books are glued or stitched together at the spine and then “trimmed” by printing guillotines to their final size — hence the terminology.

When it comes to manufacturing books, even though you could technically trim a book to any custom size, it’s not cost efficient for the production equipment to have to be reset every time a new book size is printed.

For this reason, the industry has settled on certain popular trim sizes so that they can set up entire printing lines dedicated to those sizes.

In this article, I’ll show you what the most popular trim sizes are in the nonfiction genre and I’ll show you the trim sizes that are supported by the two main on-demand printing services for nonfiction self-publishers.

Sample Book Sizes for Typical Nonfiction Categories

Below you’ll find some popular trim sizes for different nonfiction categories:

Memoir/Biography/Autobiography

These books tend to be printed in smaller sizes to be more comfortable to carry and to hold while reading.

Popular memoir/biography/autobiography book sizes are: 5.25” x 8”, 5.5” x 8.5”.

Textbooks:

These books tend to carry a lot of information and thus tend to have very large page counts. For this reason, larger trim sizes are the norm.

Popular textbook sizes are: 6” x 9”, 7” x 10”, 8.5” x 11”.

Cookbooks

Cookbooks don’t typically have a large word-count, however they do have a lot of images: photographs, tables, charts, illustrations, etc. For this reason, larges page sizes tend to be preferred by readers — but not so large that they won’t fit on a bookcase shelf.

Popular cookbook sizes are: 8” x 10”, 8.5” x 11”, 9” x 10”.

Directories, Manuals and Reference Books

These books tend to carry vast amounts of information, which demands both a large page count and a large trim size.

Popular book sizes in these categories are: 8” x 10” and 8.5” x 11”.

General Nonfiction

Consumer types of nonfiction, like psychology, health, parenting, spirituality/new age, and so on, come in the most popular trim sizes — since they’re both easy to carry and easy to hold while reading.

Popular general nonfiction book sizes are: 5.5” x 8.5” and 6” x 9”.

Photography and Art Books

These books are usually printed in full color on a thicker paper weight to minimize see-through (i.e. you want the paper to be thick enough that an image on one side of the page doesn’t “show through” on the other side.

They also tend to be very large so readers have the opportunity to appreciate the details in the art pieces depicted in the books.

Popular book sizes are: 10” x 8” (landscape), 12” x 12”, and 13” x 11” (landscape).

Book Sizes Supported by Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing

Amazon’s KDP offers one of the most popular on-demand printing services in the world for self-publishing authors. With printing facilities on three continents, KDP has created a truly a cost-effective solution for independent authors and publishers everywhere.

KDP’s equipment supports the following trim sizes for both black & white and color books. The only constraint is that KDP doesn’t offer hardcover printing. All sizes below are for paperbacks:

Trim Size
5″ x 8″
5.06″ x 7.81″
5.25″ x 8″
5.5″ x 8.5″
6″ x 9″
6.14″ x 9.21″
6.69″ x 9.61″
7″ x 10″
7.44″ x 9.69″
7.5″ x 9.25″
8″ x 10″
8.25″ x 6″
8.25″ x 8.25″
8.5″ x 8.5″
8.5″ x 11″
8.27″ x 11.69″

Book Sizes Supported by IngramSpark

IngramSpark is the print-on-demand subsidiary of Ingram Books, the largest brick-and-mortar book distributor in the world. Like Amazon KDP, IngramSpark has distributed printing facilities around the world, offering another low-cost solution for nonfiction self-publishing authors.

Unlike KDP, however, they do offer hardcover printing in addition to paperbacks. Here are their available book sizes:

Paperbacks (black & white)

Trim Size
4″ x 6″
4″ x 7″
4.37″ x 7″
5″ x 7″
5″ x 8″
5.06″ x 7.81″
5.25″ x 8″
5.5″ x 8.25″
5.5″ x 8.5″
5.83″ x 8.27″
6″ x 9″
6.14″ x 9.21″
6.5″ x 6.5″
6.625″ x 10.25″
6.6″ x 9.61″
7″ x 10″
7.44″ x 9.69″
7.5″ x 9.25″
8″ x 8″
8″ x 10″
8″ x 10.88″
8.25″ x 10.75″
8.25″ x 11″
8.268″ x 11.693″
8.5″ x 8.5″
8.5″ x 9″
8.5″ x 11″

Paperbacks (standard color)

Trim Size
4″ x 6″
4″ x 7″
4.37″ x 7″
5″ x 7″
5″ x 8″
5.06″ x 7.81″
5.25″ x 8″
5.5″ x 8.25″
5.5″ x 8.5″
5.83″ x 8.27″
6″ x 9″
6.14″ x 9.21″
6.5″ x 6.5″
6.625″ x 10.25″
6.69″ x 9.61″
7″ x 10″
7.44″ x 9.69″
7.5″ x 9.25″
8″ x 8″
8″ x 10″
8″ x 10.88″
8.25″ x 10.75″
8.25″ x 11″
8.268″ x 11.693″
8.5″ x 8.5″
8.5″ x 9″
8.5″ x 11″

Paperbacks (premium color)

Trim Size
4″ x 7″
5″ x 8″
5.5″ x 8.25″
5.5″ x 8.5″
5.83″ x 8.27″
6″ x 9″
6.14″ x 9.21″
6.5″ x 6.5″
6.625″ x 10.25″
7″ x 10″
7.5″ x 9.25″
8″ x 8″
8″ x 10″
8.25″ x 10.75″
8.5″ x 8.5″
8.5″ x 9″
8.5″ x 11″
11″ x 8.5″

Hardcovers

Trim Size
5″ x 8″ Case Laminate/Cloth/Dust Jacket
5.5″ x 8.5″ Case Laminate/Cloth/Dust Jacket
5.83″ x 8.27″ Case Laminate
6″ x 9″ Case Laminate/Cloth/Dust Jacket
6.14″ x 9.21″ Case Laminate/Cloth/Dust Jacket
6.69″ x 9.61″ Case Laminate
7″ x 10″ Case Laminate
7.5″ x 9.25″ Case Laminate
8″ x 8″ Case Laminate
8″ x 10″ Case Laminate
8″ x 10.88″ Case Laminate
8.25″ x 10.75″ Case Laminate
8.5″ x 8.5″ Case Laminate
8.5″ x 11″ Case Laminate

In closing

Choosing an optimal trim size for your book is a critical decision you’ll need to make early on because your overall print cost will be determined by your book size and page-count. Keep in mind also that your audience is accustomed to certain book sizes for very practical reasons.

For example, if you publish a memoir in an 8” x 10” format, it’ll likely not move many copies because this is just too awkward a format to hold in your hands while reading. Conversely, you don’t want to publish a cookbook in a 5.5” x 8.5” format either (the format of many mass-market novels) because the writing will be too small to read at a distance and readers won’t be able to hold it open on the kitchen counter while cooking.

Hopefully, this article will help you choose the right format for your nonfiction book!

Best wishes,

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or need any help – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

 

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

 

Bennett R. ColesBennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling writers (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghost writing, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

How Do You Use the Active Voice in Nonfiction Writing?

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Active Voice

In this article I’ll explain what the active voice is in the English language, I’ll highlight its benefits for the nonfiction genre and then I’ll show you several examples in a variety of tenses to highlight the contrast between the use of the active and passive voices in a sentence.

What is the Active Voice?

The active voice is a way of phrasing a sentence in which the subject appears ahead of the verb and the object appears after the verb. In essence, the subject is “actively” acting upon the object — e.g. “This fitness exercise (subject) works (verb) on your deltoids (object).”

How Does it Differ from the Passive Voice?

In the passive voice, the order of the sentence is reversed by placing the object first, followed by the auxiliary verb “to be,” followed by the original verb phased as a past participle, then followed by the preposition “by,” ending the sentence with the subject. The above example converted to the passive voice will now read: “Your deltoids (the object) are being (conjugation of auxiliary verb “to be”) worked on (past participle of “to work on”) by (preposition “by”) this fitness exercise (the subject).

How do You Use Active Voice in Nonfiction?

The active voice is the preferred voice by most nonfiction authors, because it makes the writing much more clear and direct for readers.

For a nonfiction book to be effective at engaging with its audience you need to establish a deep connection with your readers, and the best way to do so is to write with honesty and authenticity — which the active voice best captures through its simplicity.

Whenever you write authentically, you’re automatically doing so in a direct and unencumbered way. The passive voice, on the other hand, doesn’t lend itself to authentic writing because of its circuitous way of conveying a message. It’s almost as if you, the subject, were “hiding” behind your words.

For example, if you write the following sentence: “This weight-loss technique was specifically developed by me in order to help people who suffer from type II diabetes, which has been a part of my life since I was a teenager,” there’s a sense that you may be trying to hide behind your words because the goal of the sentence is for other type II diabetes sufferers to identify with your journey.

But if you were to rewrite it in the active voice as follows: “I specifically developed this weight-loss technique in order to help people who suffer from type II diabetes, which has been a part of my life since I was a teenager,” you’re being much more clear and direct with your readers, giving them a chance to identify with the subject of the sentence: you.

Nonfiction Active vs. Passive Voice Examples

For your reference, here are some useful examples that clearly illustrate the contrast between the active and passive voices through the use of sentences that share the same subject, verb and object:

(Note: PP means “past participle”)

 

 

Passive Voice
Active Voice

Present Simple

is + PP

are + PP

Corn is grown by farmers in the Midwest

Most electric cars are bought by Californians

Farmers grow corn in the Midwest

Californians buy most electric cars

Present Progressive

am being + PP

is being + PP

are being + PP

are going to + PP

I am being made to wait by the doctor

The engine is being repaired by the mechanic

The travel plans are being made by the agent

Several meals are going to be cooked by us

The doctor is making me wait

The mechanic is repairing the engine

The agent is making the travel plans

We are going to cook several meals

Present Perfect

has been + PP

have been + PP

Susan has been picked up by the taxicab

The players have been selected by the scout

The taxicab has picked up Susan

The scout has selected the players

Past Simple

was + PP

were + PP

The gate was installed by the contractor

The curtains were dry-cleaned by her

The contractor installed the gate

She dry-cleaned the curtains

Past Progressive

was being + PP

were being + PP

He was being kept alive by science

The plans were being altered by the man

Science was keeping him alive

The man was altering the plans

Past Perfect

had been + PP

The chairs had been brought inside by staff

Staff had brought the chairs inside

Future

will be + PP

am going to be + PP

is going to be + PP

are going to be + PP

The house will be vacuumed by me tomorrow

I am going to be promoted by my boss soon

A new assistant is going to be hired by me

The parts are going to be delivered by the supplier

I will vacuum the house tomorrow

My boss is going to promote me soon

I am going to hire a new assistant

The supplier is going to deliver the parts

Future Perfect

will have been + PP

The project will have been delayed by legislation

Legislation will have delayed the project

In Conclusion

I hope you can now appreciate how much better suited the active voice is to communicate your nonfiction writing with clarity and honesty.

If you feel the need to make use of the passive voice, rewrite your sentence using the active voice and see which version fits better with your narrative. Nine times out of ten, you’ll probably conclude that the active voice is serving your writing better.

All the best!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or need any help – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

 

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

 

Bennett R. ColesBennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling writers (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghost writing, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.