I’ve decided I absolutely must have a book sleeve, now what?
First of all, welcome to the club! Thousands of readers worldwide are using book sleeves to protect their books, so you are in good company. I should also mention that the first rule of book sleeve club, is that you should absolutely tell everyone about book sleeve club. The more awareness we can raise, the more books that will be saved from preventable damage – and that’s the real goal here, right?
Sizing
The first thing you need to consider when looking for a padded book sleeve, is what size books you’re looking to protect. A lot of us readers have books in a multitude of different sizes, so your book sleeve isn’t necessarily a “one-size-fits-all” deal.
Let’s take a look at the standard book sizes – note that these are based on fiction books, so other types of books (like comic books and text books) might not fit into this guide.
Mass market paperback books (A format) – these are your small size at 4.25 x 6.87” (110mm x 178mm)
Trade paperbacks and hardcovers (B/B+ format) – these are your regular sizes at 5 x 8” to 5.5 x 8.5” (128 x 198mm to 135 x 210mm)
Trade paperbacks and hardcovers (Demy/C format) – these are your larger sizes at 6 x 9” to 6 x 9.2” (152 x 229cm to 152 x 234mm)
When it comes to pairing your book with a book sleeve, you’ll need to consider not only the height of your book, but also how thick it is (Kingdom of Ash and Priory of the Orange Tree, we’re looking at you).
Small size
Our small padded book sleeves are perfect for your mass market paperbacks, and your regular trade paperbacks and smaller hardcovers up to 8.5” in height. If your book is particularly thick, we recommend sizing up to the large.
Large size
Our large padded book sleeves are our most popular size, and are perfect for your larger trade paperbacks and hardcovers up to 9.2” in height.
XL size
This size is for your THICK larger paperbacks and hardcovers up to 9.2” in height. If the number of pages in your book scares you and the book itself could double as a weapon, then chances are it’s best suited to the XL size.
I’m new to book sleeves and just want one to try, where should I start?
We definitely recommend starting out with our large size padded book sleeve. If you’re a fiction reader, it’s more than likely that this size will accommodate most of your books (and is the size I personally take with me when I’m travelling). This will also give you a good idea of what larger books in your collection would appreciate the XL, and will naturally fit all of your small books (albeit with a bit of room to spare).
Okay I’m sold, now what?
Now comes the hard part – picking your favourite style of book sleeve. Naturally and with complete bias I recommend our snap-shut padded book sleeves. Fair warning, there are a lot of designs to choose from and I completely understand if you end up choosing seven different sleeves (one for each day of the week which is totally justifiable). If you need a little help choosing, the green botanical and daisy blush designs have been crowd favourites since they first released in early 2021.
Ready to start your journey as a certifiable book guardian? Grab your padded book sleeves and let’s go!
Until next time,
Jess @ Charlie & Fox