Paperback or hardcover
The two bindings take different page-count ranges, different trims and differently shaped covers. Deciding late means redoing the cover.
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How they differ physically
A KDP paperback has a flexible card cover glued to the spine of the text block. A KDP hardcover is a case-laminate binding: the printed cover is wrapped round rigid boards and the text block is attached inside it. There is no separate dust jacket.
Page counts
A paperback can be as short as 24 pages. A hardcover needs at least 75, because the case needs a text block thick enough to hold. Both are capped in this app at 800. A short book may therefore be a paperback only.
Trim sizes
Fewer trims are offered for hardcover. In this app, 8.25" x 6" and 8.25" x 8.25" are paperback only. Check the binding you want is available in your size before you lay out an interior for it.
Covers are not interchangeable
The hardcover cover wraps round boards and adds 0.5" on every outer edge, so it is a different size and shape from the paperback cover for the same book. You need a separate cover file for each binding, built from its own dimensions. The interior, by contrast, can usually be shared if the trim and page count are the same.
Which to choose
This is a commercial decision rather than a technical one. A hardcover costs more to print and sells at a higher price; it suits gift books, reference books and books readers keep. A paperback is the default for most titles. Many authors publish both, so the reader chooses — which is straightforward as long as each binding gets its own correctly sized cover.
Publishing both
If you plan both bindings, design the paperback cover first and adapt the artwork to the hardcover's larger, wrapped dimensions, keeping text inside the hardcover's own safe area. Treat them as two cover files from the start rather than resizing one to make the other.
What to do
- Check the page-count minimum for each binding against your manuscript.
- Check the trim you want is offered for hardcover before planning one.
- Build each binding's cover separately; a paperback cover cannot be reused.
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