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COVER_SPECIFICATIONS

6 min read

COVER SPECIFICATIONS — They Can All Bird

KDP COVER TEMPLATE

Generate exact template at: https://kdp.amazon.com/cover-templates

Enter these specs:

  • Trim Size: 6” x 9”
  • Page Count: 300 (estimated)
  • Paper: Cream
  • Finish: Matte

Template will provide:

  • Bleed area (0.125” extra on all sides)
  • Spine width (calculated from page count)
  • Safe zones for text
  • Barcode location (bottom right, back cover)

FRONT COVER LAYOUT

Dimensions

  • Width: 6” + 0.125” bleed = 6.125”
  • Height: 9” + 0.125” bleed = 9.125”

Composition (Top to Bottom)

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│  [MARGIN: 0.5" from top]            │
│                                     │
│  CONVERGENCE PRESS                  │
│  NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA             │
│                                     │
│  ───────────────────────────────    │
│                                     │
│  [IMAGE: Birdbath, overhead]        │
│                                     │
│       🦜 (green parakeet)           │
│                                     │
│  [Water reflecting sky]             │
│  [Ceramic: color of old bruises]    │
│                                     │
│  ───────────────────────────────    │
│                                     │
│  THEY CAN ALL BIRD                  │
│  Being a True Account of the        │
│  North Platte Experiments and       │
│  the Discovery of Emergent          │
│  Biointelligence                    │
│                                     │
│  Edited from the Papers of          │
│  DR. ELEANORA VOSS                  │
│                                     │
│  With Annotations by                │
│  M. REYES                           │
│                                     │
│  [MARGIN: 0.5" from bottom]         │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

Typography

Publisher Info (Top):

  • Font: Helvetica Medium, 8pt, all caps
  • Tracking: +50
  • Color: 4A5D75 (faded institutional blue)
  • Alignment: Center

Title:

  • Font: Helvetica Bold, 42pt, all caps
  • Leading: 40pt
  • Color: 1A1A1A (near black)
  • Alignment: Center
  • Letter spacing: -20 (tight)

Subtitle:

  • Font: Times New Roman Italic, 14pt
  • Leading: 18pt
  • Color: #333333
  • Alignment: Center
  • Max width: 4.5”

Author:

  • Font: Helvetica Medium, 11pt, all caps
  • Color: 1A1A1A
  • Alignment: Center
  • Spacing above: 0.25”

Editor:

  • Font: Times New Roman, 10pt
  • Color: #555555
  • Alignment: Center

SPINE

Dimensions

  • Width: ~0.64” (for 300 pages, 60# cream paper)
  • Height: 9.125” (including bleed)

Layout (Top to Bottom)

       [TOP]
         │
    CONVERGENCE
       PRESS
         │
    ━━━━━━━━━━━━━
         │
    [90° ROTATED]
    THEY CAN ALL BIRD
         │
    ━━━━━━━━━━━━━
         │
      VOSS
    • REYES
         │
   28409296
         │
      [BOTTOM]

Typography

Publisher (Top):

  • Font: Helvetica Medium, 6pt, all caps
  • Color: F5F1E8 (paper color)
  • Background: 4A5D75 (blue band, 0.75” wide)

Title (Center):

  • Font: Helvetica Bold, 10pt, all caps
  • Color: 1A1A1A
  • Rotation: 90° (reading top to bottom)
  • Position: Center of spine

Author/Session (Bottom):

  • Font: Helvetica Medium, 7pt
  • Color: F5F1E8
  • Background: 4A5D75 (blue band)

BACK COVER

Dimensions

  • Width: 6” + 0.125” bleed = 6.125”
  • Height: 9.125”

Composition

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                     │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────┐   │
│  │  SESSION 28409296           │   │
│  │  ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT          │   │
│  │  DO NOT REMOVE FROM PREMISES│   │
│  └─────────────────────────────┘   │
│     [Faded red stamp]               │
│                                     │
│  THEY CAN ALL BIRD presents the    │
│  recovered papers of Dr. Eleanora  │
│  Voss, a computational biologist   │
│  who vanished from the University  │
│  of Nebraska–Lincoln in February   │
│  2026 following unauthorized       │
│  experiments in cognitive          │
│  enhancement.                      │
│                                     │
│  Based on the original academic    │
│  preprint:                         │
│  DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18912642      │
│                                     │
│  "The birds are patient. They can  │
│  all bird. Can you?"               │
│            — M. Reyes              │
│                                     │
│  ─────────────────────────────────  │
│                                     │
│  [BARCODE ZONE - Leave blank]      │
│  ISBN: 979-8-9952710-0-0           │
│  $14.95 US / $18.95 CAN            │
│                                     │
│  CONVERGENCE PRESS                 │
│  North Platte, Nebraska            │
│  www.kbird.ai                      │
│                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

Elements

Institutional Stamp (Top):

  • Rectangle: 4.5” wide x 1” tall
  • Border: 2pt solid red (faded, B85450)
  • Text: Courier Bold, 9pt, all caps
  • Text color: B85450
  • Rotation: Slight (-2°), “smudged” look

Blurb Text:

  • Font: Times New Roman, 10pt
  • Leading: 14pt
  • Color: 1A1A1A
  • Max width: 5”
  • Paragraph spacing: 0.125”

DOI Callout:

  • Font: Courier, 8pt
  • Background: F0F0F0 (light gray box)
  • Padding: 4pt
  • Color: 1A1A1A

Quote:

  • Font: Times New Roman Italic, 11pt
  • Color: #333333
  • Indent: 0.25”

Barcode Zone (Bottom Right):

  • Leave 2” x 1.5” blank
  • KDP will add barcode automatically
  • Price: Position below barcode zone

Publisher Info (Bottom):

  • Font: Helvetica Medium, 8pt
  • Color: 4A5D75
  • Alignment: Center

COLOR PALETTE

ElementHexRGBUsage
PaperF5F1E8245, 241, 232Background, aged paper
Near Black1A1A1A26, 26, 26Primary text
Dark Gray#33333351, 51, 51Secondary text
Medium Gray#55555585, 85, 85Tertiary text
Institutional Blue4A5D7574, 93, 117Publisher, spine bands
Faded RedB85450184, 84, 80Stamp, distress marks
Light GrayF0F0F0240, 240, 240DOI box background

IMAGE SPECIFICATIONS

Hero Image: The Birdbath

Subject: Ceramic birdbath photographed from directly above (flat lay)

Composition:

  • Birdbath centered, filling 60% of frame
  • Water surface catches light (slightly too still, too clear)
  • One green parakeet at the rim, looking up at camera
  • Ceramic texture: weathered, “color of old bruises” (muted blues, grays, hints of green)

Lighting:

  • Overcast daylight (soft, diffuse)
  • Slight vignette (draws eye to center)
  • One highlight on water surface (suggests surveillance/unatural clarity)

Mood:

  • Forensic photography
  • Evidence documentation
  • Slightly wrong — the water shouldn’t be that clean

Technical:

  • Resolution: 300 DPI minimum
  • Color space: CMYK for print
  • Format: TIFF or high-quality JPEG

Alternative: Text-Based Cover

If you can’t source the birdbath image, use typography only:

  • Large institutional stamp as the focal point
  • “SESSION 28409296” in red, distressed
  • “ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT” below
  • Rest of text in black
  • Creates “classified document” aesthetic

DESIGN TOOLS

DIY Option: Canva

  1. Go to canva.com
  2. Search “KDP book cover” template
  3. Enter dimensions: 6” x 9”, 300 pages
  4. Use elements above
  5. Download as PDF (CMYK if available, otherwise RGB)

DIY Option: Adobe InDesign

  1. Create new document: 6.125” x 9.125” (with bleed)
  2. Add spine: 0.64” (calculate exact from KDP template)
  3. Set up master pages
  4. Place elements per specifications above
  5. Export as PDF/X-4 (for print)

Professional Designer Brief

Send them:

  • This specification document
  • KDP cover template (generated from their site)
  • PDF of Chapter 1 (for tone reference)
  • Example covers: Annihilation, House of Leaves, Southern Reach

Budget: $200-500 for professional cover Timeline: 1-2 weeks with revisions

PRODUCTION CHECKLIST

Before Uploading to KDP:

  • Cover template downloaded from KDP
  • Bleed areas included (0.125” all sides)
  • Spine width matches page count
  • Barcode zone left blank (back cover, bottom right)
  • All text in CMYK color space
  • Images at 300 DPI minimum
  • Fonts embedded or outlined
  • Exported as PDF (print quality)

After Upload:

  • Preview shows correctly in KDP previewer
  • Spine text is legible
  • No text in bleed zones
  • Barcode doesn’t overlap text

REFERENCE COVERS

Study these for aesthetic:

  • Annihilation (FSG Originals) — scientific, ominous
  • Authority (FSG Originals) — institutional, bureaucratic
  • Acceptance (FSG Originals) — found document
  • House of Leaves (Pantheon) — layered, academic
  • The Crying of Lot 49 (Perennial) — institutional paranoia
  • Government field guides (USGS, 1970s) — authentic documentation

“The cover is the first marginalia.”

Graph View