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Why Publish A Large Print Edition of Your Book? Plus Tips On How To Do It

Indie authors often focus primarily on ebooks because that's where we can compete in terms of price and readership. But there are still a LOT of readers who prefer print, and an underserved market with Large Print editions.

Since print-on-demand means a low cost to create and then profit each time a book is printed, why wouldn't you consider doing a Large Print edition for your book? In this video with notes below, I explain why Large Print is a good idea and some of the things you need to consider. Watch the video below or here on YouTube.

Notes from the video:

  • You can get large print on ebooks by turning up the font size, but some readers still prefer print books and need larger print in order to enjoy them. Plus, there are library markets, which still cater for their older demographic.
  • Love, Second Time Around by Penny Appleton. Revenue split by format for 1st year of sales

    Love, Second Time Around by Penny Appleton (the sweet romance I co-write with my Mum), has sold surprisingly well in the first year in Large Print. 52% ebook, 12% Print, 36% Large Print. All 3 sweet romances are now in Large Print, and I'm moving into doing my mystery series as well.

  • Use a larger trim size. I use 6.14 x 9.21 / 234mm x 156 mm.
  • Use a larger font. I use 16 point.
  • You will need a different ISBN as it is a new edition.
  • Find a list of formatting options here. [Update Feb 2019: You can now use Vellum for Large Print formatting.
  • Consider something on the cover to indicate Large Print. I use a “sticker” which is part of the cover design. Click here for book cover designers.
  • When printing with Createspace, you can use the Large Print checkbox, and on Ingram Spark, just use Large Print in the text and then you can email them to add the metadata if doesn't come through correctly.
  • If you're just starting with self-publishing, click here for more on how to self-publish with print-on-demand.

Once you claim the book on Amazon Author Central, it will be added as a new edition as below and linked to the reviews for your other editions.

You will also find your books grouped by format on your Amazon Author page.