Help CenterBefore you upload your paperback manuscript and cover to KDP, you will need to choose your ink and paper type, trim size, bleed setting, and cover finish.
You have four ink and paper options:
- Black ink and 55# (90 GSM) cream paper
- Black ink and 55# (90 GSM) white paper
- Premium color ink and 60# (100 GSM) white paper
- Standard color interior with 55# (90 GSM) white paper
The most commonly used option for low-content and no-content books is #2 Black & white interior with white paper. Cream paper is not preferred for these types of books, and color ink is not used because of the high printing cost.
The ink and paper type, trim size, and number of pages you choose for your interior have to be the exact same settings you select for your cover. If the settings don’t match, your cover will be rejected by KDP saying that the cover size doesn’t match the interior size.
Let’s take an example as an illustration that should avoid any confusion while creating and submitting your paperback book to KDP.
We are creating a simple lined journal with the following settings:
- Trim size: 6×9 inches
- Paper color: White
- Page count: 110
- Bleed settings: Bleed
- *Cover finish: Matte
*The cover finish can either be Matte or Gloss, and this setting doesn’t have any effect during the creation process – it’s just something that you can decide during the submission process.
The settings we listed above are the exact ones that should be used for creating your cover and interior. If either your cover or interior doesn’t match one of these settings, your book will be rejected by KDP.
When you are submitting your cover and interior to KDP, you need to match the settings that you used for creating them. In our case, these are the settings that we have to choose:
If all the settings you choose during the submission process match your interior and cover file, you should be able to publish your book successfully.
Troubleshooting – Things that could go wrong
There are a few different scenarios that can lead to KDP rejecting your submission.
#1: Page count
You have created an interior with 110 pages, but you made your cover file for 100 pages. In this case, the cover will fall short in dimensions and it will be rejected. To fix the issue, you either have to create a new cover file for 110 pages, or a new interior file with 100 pages. In any case, the cover and interior page count should be the same.
#2: Trim size
You have created an interior file with 6×9 inches trim size, but you made your cover file for 8.5×11 inches. Since the trim size is different, your submission will be rejected. To fix the issue, both of your documents need to have the same trim size settings.
#3: Paper type
You have created an interior and cover file with white paper settings, but during the submission process, you have selected cream paper. Your submission will be rejected because cream paper is thicker, and when 100 pages add up it will also affect the cover size – meaning it will need different cover dimensions. To fix the issue, you will need to select the paper type settings you used during the creation process.
#4: Bleed settings
Bleed is a printing term that refers to when printed items on a page, such as images or illustrations, reach all the way to the edge of the page. All book covers on KDP require bleed. However, you can choose whether your interior has bleed or not. If you have created an interior and used no bleed, but during the submission process you select bleed, your submission will be rejected. You need to exactly match the bleed settings that you chose when you created your interior, with the bleed settings you choose during submission.