Make a cursive handwriting workbook for Amazon KDP
Trace Press writes a whole tracing workbook in joined cursive: 26 A–Z pages, the numbers 0 to 9 if you want them, a page for each practice word you add, and a cover to match. Each page has the letters once in solid cursive, then rows of them in light grey to write over, then empty rows to write alone, all on four-line handwriting guides. It's laid out to KDP's paperback rules, in your browser.
Open Trace Press in cursiveWhat's in the book
- A to Z: one page per letter, the capital and lowercase together. Or a book of capitals alone, or lowercase alone, with the Letters setting.
- Numbers 0 to 9: ten more pages after Z, written in the same hand.
- Practice words: a page for each word you type, written joined, with empty rows at the end of the page.
- Pre-writing lines and a “This book belongs to” page, if you want them.
- The cover: your title, subtitle and author, with "Aa" in the same cursive on the front, sized from the page count.
To see a finished book first: a 76-page cursive workbook as a PDF: A to Z, 0 to 9, and the 40 Dolch pre-primer sight words, at 8.5" × 11" with 0.75" lines. It's what the free version makes, footer line and all.
Open Trace Press with that book set upThe cursive
The letters are Playwrite US Trad, a traditional American cursive, free under the SIL Open Font License. The license says the font may be "used, studied, modified and redistributed freely as long as they are not sold by themselves", so selling a book written in it is fine. You don't need to install it, either: Trace Press draws each cursive letter into the PDF as a shape. Schools that teach a different cursive model will show some capitals differently, so look through the A–Z pages before you publish.
Quoted from the license file that comes with the font (Copyright 2023 The Playwrite Project Authors).
Page count, spine and cover size
KDP allows text on a paperback's spine only from 79 pages. Every book here is under that, so the cover Trace Press makes has a blank spine. For white paper:
| Book | Pages | Spine | Cover, 8.5" × 11" | Cover, 6" × 9" |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A–Z | 26 | 0.059" | 17.309" × 11.25" | 12.309" × 9.25" |
| A–Z, 0–9 | 36 | 0.081" | 17.331" × 11.25" | 12.331" × 9.25" |
| A–Z, 0–9, 40 words | 76 | 0.171" | 17.421" × 11.25" | 12.421" × 9.25" |
What it costs to print
For black ink on Amazon.com, KDP charges one flat printing price for any paperback of 24 to 110 pages, so all three books cost the same to print: $2.84 a copy at a large trim (8.5" × 11") and $2.30 at a regular trim (6" × 9"). At a $9.99 list price the royalty is $3.15 at 8.5" × 11" and $3.69 at 6" × 9". The handwriting workbook guide has the full price table, and the KDP royalty calculator on our sister site works out other prices.
Figures from KDP's Paperback Printing Cost help page for the Amazon.com marketplace. Other marketplaces print at different prices.
Make the book
Open Trace Press in cursive, pick a trim and a line size, add numbers or words, page through the preview, and download the interior and its cover. It's free to try, with a small footer line on every page and PREVIEW on the cover. $19 once removes both, for every book you make after.
For a word list to start from, the sight word workbook guide has the Dolch lists. For one page instead of a book, the free cursive name tracing worksheet writes any name.