How to build a box set from finished books

In short

On the projects page, click New project and choose Box set. In the Box set panel, click Add a book for each finished book, drag the rows into order, then click Publish and Print PDF.

A series often needs one interior file that holds every book in order. Pasting each book into a new file leaves two copies, and the next edit lands in only one of them. A box set keeps a list of the books you already finished, and each export reads those books again, so the file matches them. The panel shows how many pages the set runs once it is laid out, so you can see whether it fits a paperback before you upload it.

Build the box set#

1. Choose Box set

   On the projects page, click New project. The dialog is titled New Project. Under What are you making?, choose Box set.

   Leave How do you want to start? on Open the editor. That opens the editor as soon as the project exists, with the Box set panel already open.

2. Create the project

   Type a name in Project Name. Also create a cover for this book is on by default, and it makes a separate cover project. Turn it off unless you want that cover now, then click Create project.

   The editor opens with the Box set panel already open. The Box set button on the tool rail closes that panel if you click it while it is open, and opens it again if you click it while it is closed.

3. Add your books

   In the Box set panel, click Add a book. Find the book and click Add. The list closes, and the book appears as a row with its name and its word count. Repeat for each book you want in the set.

   You can add up to 12 books. When the list is full, the panel says A box set holds at most 12 books. A book that is itself a box set is not one part of this set. Its row says This is itself a box set — remove it and list its books.

4. Drag the books into order

   Drag a row up or down. The number on the left is the order the books print in. There is no separate up or down button.

   When the line under the heading says in print, from the layout., that count is the laid-out length. Before the layout finishes, the same line begins with Roughly and ends with in print (an estimate — pagination decides).

   Under each book's word count, an empty field shows that book's own title. Type over it to print a different name between the books. Open → opens that book. Remove takes it off this list.

5. Export the set

   In the top-right corner of the editor, click Publish. Under Downloads, click Print PDF. The card is marked For your paperback's interior. While the file is made, the card reads Print PDF… and Making your file — keep this page open. When it finishes, Print PDF downloaded appears. The file is the books in the panel's order, and each book's text is read again as the file is made.

   A notice above the cards says the free plan's file includes a watermark and skips KDP's checks. The upload checklist above that notice can still be unfinished. Print PDF still makes the interior file.

Reading the Box set panel#

Trust in print, from the layout. as the length of the print file. While the line still begins with Roughly, the number can move. KDP checks the file you upload, not this estimate.

Take a book off the list#

Click Remove on a row to take that book off the list. The book is not deleted, and you can add it again. Drag the rows to put the order back, or click Add a book to return a book you removed. Adding, removing, and changing the order are not undone with ⌘Z (Ctrl+Z on Windows).

For what KDP checks in the interior file you upload, read What KDP checks in an interior PDF.