Over the past couple months I’ve started to work on creating physical copies of my books. I’m starting out slow and just using Amazon to make them. I’m aware there are other ways but right now formatting is a pain to me and I just want to lock down one workflow. Once I at least make it a possibility for every book I’ve written to exist physically in some way, I’ll consider exploring physicalizing them in other editions with Draft2Digital or IngramSpark.
For a hot minute I used the Kindle Direct Publishing cover creator tool to make the covers because it wasn’t super janky, however it is just a little more thaumaturgic for me to use Canva because I can pick other fonts that way, plus there is indeed a small but annoying amount of jank to that first tool. I write my works in Atkinson Hyperlegible Next as a reference to myself, but I think most of your devices will not display that because their own settings tend to override embedded fonts. Or whatever. But I at least use Atkinson on the back and spine of my physical books. I use Palatino Linotype for thee body text. I make them 5.5″x8.5″ in trim size, with cream paper and glossy covers. I sure love gloss. I also probably have the font too big which may bulk up the page count a little, but I like chunky books.
To create a physical book I have to take my manuscript, paste it into Libre Office, change the font, insert page breaks wherever the headings demand them, change the indents and spacing, and then go fix all the headings. I have to remember to update the headers and the table of contents as well. Then I use Amazon’s cover calculator or whatever it’s called to make a template I can use in Canva to arrange the elements of the physical books’ cover. I like hardcovers more than paperbacks because they are deadlier, so for my own personal copies of my books I get hardcover. It’s easy for me to impress myself when it comes to covers. The neon theme the story collections share means that a simple black back cover is appropriate for that nocturnal effect; I don’t need crazy wrap-around art.
I’ve considered inserting Easter eggs into physical copies of my books to make them more special. For example, I’ve read Isaac Asimov collections where he chatted with the reader before or after every story. Some people might think that’s stupid but I think it’s kind of fun. Sort of like… Alfred Hitchcock or whoever Presents. I try to physicalize one book a week. Unfortunately that’s faster than I write them, so it won’t be long before the task is complete.