A Format
The exact production spec speakers use to format a book on Quari: word count, trim size, file types, and front matter ready for KDP or direct sale from your own site.
Professional speakers sell books at the back of the room, on their own site, and on Amazon, and each channel expects a different file. This page lays out the exact production spec Quari uses to format a nonfiction book built for a speaking career: word count range, trim size, file formats for KDP and direct PDF sale, front and back matter, and print DPI. If you're turning a keynote, a signature framework, or years of stage material into a book, this spec tells you what the finished file needs to look like before you upload anything. Generate the manuscript on Quari, then format it against these numbers.
Most books written by public speakers fall into one of two lanes. A single-framework book, built around one signature talk or methodology, runs 25,000 to 45,000 words across 8 to 12 chapters. A full speaking-career book, one that blends personal story with a broader body of material, runs 45,000 to 65,000 words across 12 to 18 chapters. Shorter is not weaker here. Speakers sell books to extend a talk, not replace one, so a tight 30,000-word book that delivers on its promise outsells a bloated 80,000-word book that repeats the stage material without adding anything new.
5.5 x 8.5 inches is the standard trim size for nonfiction sold at speaking events and through KDP, and it is what Quari defaults to for this territory. Interior files need 300 DPI for any images, charts, or diagrams, and the print cover needs a full wraparound file with spine width calculated from your final page count. If you plan to sign copies at the back of the room, order author proof copies before your first event. A cover that looks sharp on screen can still print soft if the source images were under 300 DPI.
KDP requires a reflowable EPUB for the ebook edition and a print-ready PDF for the paperback interior, both generated to Amazon's current specifications. Selling direct from your own site is simpler on the format side: a single print-ready PDF works for both download and print-on-demand fulfillment through a service like Lulu or IngramSpark. Keep both a screen-optimized PDF, with a smaller file size and hyperlinked table of contents, and a print-optimized PDF with embedded fonts and correct bleed if you're selling straight from your site, since buyers reading on a phone and buyers printing a copy have different needs.
A speaker's book has one job the general nonfiction book doesn't: it needs to book the next gig. Front matter should include a title page, copyright page, table of contents, and a short foreword or introduction that states the book's core promise in the first page. Back matter is where the book earns its keep. Include an author bio with real speaking credentials, a list of your signature talks or workshops, and a direct booking or contact page. Readers who finish a good speaker book are your warmest lead list. Give them somewhere to go.
nonfiction
“One talk. One book. One system your audience can actually use.”
For speakers who already have a signature keynote, this concept turns that single talk into a complete framework book, structured around the same core steps the audience hears on stage, expanded with case studies, exercises, and the reasoning behind each step that a 45-minute talk never has time to cover.
nonfiction
“The full career behind the highlight reel, told the way it actually happened.”
This concept builds a book around the speaker's full career rather than one talk, weaving personal story chapters with the practical frameworks behind their most-booked material, giving readers a book they can move through like a narrative instead of a reference manual.
Make Your Own
Write it, illustrate it, publish it. You own the copyright the moment it exists — sell it on Amazon, Gumroad, or your own site. Quari only takes 15% on books sold through your Quari storefront.