To format a fantasy novel for print, use a 5.5”x8.5” trim size (the genre standard), a serif body font like Garamond at 11pt, and plan for genre-specific elements: a front-matter map at 300 DPI minimum, decorative chapter openers with drop caps, ornamental scene breaks, and a back-matter glossary. A 120,000-word epic fantasy — typical for the genre — runs 380-420 pages at 5.5x8.5 and costs roughly $5.50 to print on KDP. Print still accounts for roughly 65% of fiction unit sales, and fantasy readers are among the most format-conscious audiences in publishing.
This guide covers everything specific to formatting fantasy and sci-fi novels for print, including the elements that other formatting guides skip.
Trim size for fantasy
5.5” × 8.5” is the standard for fantasy novels. It provides enough page width for comfortable reading and keeps page counts manageable for the door-stopper-length books the genre is known for.
6” × 9” works for longer books (120K+ words) or books with maps and illustrations that benefit from a larger canvas. Many epic fantasy readers associate 6×9 with a “prestige” or “literary” edition.
5” × 8” can work for shorter fantasy (urban fantasy, YA fantasy, novellas) where you want a mass-market feel.
Why it matters: A 120,000-word fantasy novel at 5x8 can hit 500+ pages, which significantly increases printing costs and requires wider inside margins (KDP’s minimum gutter jumps to 0.625” above 300 pages and 0.75” above 500). At 5.5x8.5, the same book might be 380-420 pages. At 6x9, it could be 320-360 pages. The cost difference is real: a 500-page 5x8 book costs roughly $7.00 to print on KDP, while a 360-page 6x9 runs about $5.14. Trim size directly affects your per-unit cost and your margin requirements. Use our KDP Book Calculator to see the exact page count and printing cost for your word count at different trim sizes.
Maps: the format-defining feature
A map at the front of a fantasy novel isn’t just decoration — it’s a reading tool. Readers flip back to it constantly. Getting the map right in print requires specific technical attention.
Resolution and size
- Maps must be at least 300 DPI at print size (KDP image requirement). Images below 300 DPI will trigger a file rejection.
- For a full-page map in a 5.5x8.5 book, you need the image to be at least 1650 x 2550 pixels (5.5” x 8.5” x 300 DPI)
- For a spread across two pages (verso + recto), you need at least 3300 x 2550 pixels, plus account for the gutter where the pages meet
Placement
Maps traditionally go in the front matter, after the title page and before Chapter 1. If you have multiple maps (a world map and a city map, for example), they can go front and back — world map in front, detail maps in back.
Grayscale conversion
If your interior is black-and-white (which it should be — a 400-page color interior on KDP costs over $15 to print vs. roughly $5.70 for black-and-white), your map must be converted to grayscale. A map designed in full color will look muddy and lose legibility when converted. Have your cartographer design in grayscale from the start, or carefully convert with adjusted contrast.
The gutter problem
If your map spans a two-page spread, the center of the image will disappear into the binding. You need to either:
- Leave a blank band down the center (at least 1” total gutter allowance)
- Design the map so no critical details are in the center
- Use two separate full-page maps instead of a spread
Glossaries and pronunciation guides
Fantasy readers appreciate glossaries, especially for books with invented languages, complex magic systems, or large casts.
Formatting the glossary
- Two-column layout works well for glossaries — it makes the page feel like a reference tool
- Bold terms, regular definitions — the term should be easy to scan
- Alphabetical order — always. Readers are looking up specific words.
- Keep it short — a glossary should be a reference aid, not a spoiler-filled encyclopedia
Placement
Glossaries can go in the front matter or back matter. The argument for front: readers can find it before they need it. The argument for back: it doesn’t slow down getting to Chapter 1. Most traditionally published fantasy puts the glossary in the back.
Pronunciation guides, if separate from the glossary, go in the front matter — readers need them before encountering the names. Cambric lets you add glossaries, pronunciation guides, and dramatis personae as structured back matter nodes and arrange them in whatever order makes sense for your book.
Dramatis personae
A character list at the front of the book is common in epic fantasy with large casts. Format it simply:
- Character name (in bold or small caps) — brief identifier
- Group by faction, family, or region if the list is long
- Keep descriptions spoiler-free (what’s known at the start, not the end)
Chapter openings for fantasy
Fantasy chapter openings can be more decorative than other genres. Readers expect a sense of craftsmanship that mirrors the world-building in the text.
Standard elements:
- Chapter number — “Chapter One” or ornamental numerals
- Chapter title — More common in fantasy than other genres. Often evocative or atmospheric.
- Epigraph (optional) — A quote from an in-world source (a fictional history book, a prophecy, a character’s journal). This is distinctly a fantasy/sci-fi convention and readers love it.
- Drop cap — A large decorative initial letter. In fantasy, drop caps can be more ornamental than in other genres.
- First-line small caps — Standard typographic convention after a drop cap. See our guide to chapter heading design ideas for more on how these elements work together.
The sink: The blank space above the chapter heading should be 1/3 to 1/2 of the page height. This is standard across genres but especially important in fantasy, where the chapter opening is part of the book’s visual identity.
Ornamental headers
Some fantasy books use decorative ornaments above or around chapter numbers — swords, dragons, Celtic knotwork, geometric patterns. If you go this route:
- Keep the ornament consistent across all chapters
- Ensure it’s high-resolution (300 DPI minimum)
- Make sure it reproduces well in grayscale
- Don’t overdo it — subtlety reads as “classy,” excess reads as “self-published”
Scene breaks in fantasy
Fantasy novels tend to have longer scenes than romance or thriller, but scene breaks are still critical for POV shifts and time jumps.
Options that fit the genre:
- A small ornament — A sword, a rune, a stylized star, a simple geometric symbol
- Three asterisks — Clean, classic, works everywhere
- A horizontal rule with a center ornament — Elegant, distinctive
The scene break ornament should complement your chapter heading style. If your chapter headings use a Celtic knot, your scene breaks might use a simpler version of the same motif.
Cambric ships with decorative chapter openers and matching scene break ornaments designed for fantasy — you pick a style, and every chapter and scene break in the book updates to match. The ornaments are vector-based, so they stay crisp at any size and reproduce cleanly in grayscale.
Front and back matter for fantasy
Fantasy novels often have more front and back matter than other genres:
Front matter
- Map(s)
- Dramatis personae / character list
- Half title page
- Title page
- Copyright page
- Pronunciation guide (if needed)
- Epigraph (if applicable)
Back matter
- Glossary
- Acknowledgments
- Author’s note (world-building notes, historical inspirations)
- About the Author
- Also By (organized by series — critical for fantasy series)
- Preview of next book
For a complete reference on the standard sequence, see our guide to the parts of a book in order.
A note on page count: All this extra material adds pages. In a long fantasy novel, front and back matter can add 20-40 pages. Factor this into your margin calculations — if your front matter pushes you across a KDP page-count boundary (e.g., from 295 to 310 pages), your minimum inside margin jumps from 0.5” to 0.625”. That 0.125” difference can reflow your entire book.
Typography for fantasy
Fantasy typography should feel timeless and literary. The text should suggest a world where words matter.
Body text:
- Garamond — The reliable default. Elegant enough for any fantasy subgenre.
- Palatino — Wider letterforms with more visual presence. Good for literary fantasy and shorter books.
- Minion — Designed specifically for book work. Clean, readable, professional.
Chapter headings and display text: Fantasy gives you more freedom here. Options include:
- A larger, bolder version of your body font
- A complementary serif with more character (like Cormorant Garamond)
- Tasteful blackletter or uncial for ornamental chapter numbers (used sparingly)
What to avoid: Don’t use Papyrus, Copperplate, or any “fantasy-looking” display font. Your readers will notice, and not in a good way. Clean, professional typography with one or two distinctive touches reads as “this author cares about their craft.”
Series consistency
If you’re writing a fantasy series — and most fantasy authors are — formatting consistency across books is essential:
- Same trim size for all books in the series
- Same fonts for body text, chapter headings, and page numbers
- Same scene break style across all books
- Same map style if multiple books have maps
- Same chapter opening treatment — drop cap style, heading format, sink depth
Readers shelve series together. The spines should line up, and the interiors should feel like they belong to the same world. According to BookScan data, fantasy series outsell standalones by roughly 3:1 — readers who commit to a series expect a consistent physical product.
Use our Spine Calculator to verify that your spine width stays consistent across books with different page counts — a 320-page Book 1 and a 420-page Book 2 will have noticeably different spine widths, and you’ll want to account for that in your cover design.
The practical approach
You can manage all of this manually in InDesign — and if you enjoy typesetting, it’s a satisfying project. For authors who want professional fantasy interiors without the manual work, formatting tools with fantasy-specific templates handle the typography, ornaments, and layout automatically.
Cambric, Vellum, and Atticus all offer templates suitable for fantasy. The key features to look for: ornamental scene breaks, decorative drop caps, support for front matter pages (maps, glossaries, character lists), and the ability to customize chapter heading styles.
Skip the Manual Work
Cambric was built for exactly this kind of complexity — decorative chapter openers, ornamental scene breaks, front matter maps, glossary pages, and consistent series formatting, all from a single desktop app. One-time purchase, no subscription, and your 400-page epic stays on your machine while you typeset it.
What matters most is that your book’s interior matches the quality of the world you’ve built. Fantasy readers are the most visually attentive audience in fiction — they notice when a book is formatted with care, and they notice when it isn’t.