Book formatting needs to be professional, for a book to be to be taken seriously.
Book formatting for self-publishing books is often done by the author. Unless they know book design, typography and book formatting, the results can be less than satisfactory. Could you use 10 book formatting tips?
The amateur look of desktop publishing is a dead give away that the book is not professionally designed.
10 book formatting tips for a better designed book:
- Make sure the book has been thoroughly proofread before the design begins. It can affect the layout.
- The text, versus headlines, should not be larger than 12 point. Allow enough space between the lines so the text can breathe, but doesn’t look double spaced.
- Headlines can be larger. Also select a style for subheads and captions.
- Use a traditional typeface that has Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic. Don’t use the function. Use the font.
- Be acquainted with the parts of a book including front matter, the text, and back matter.
And the here are the final five …
- The title page is the first page of a book in front matter. The copyright page is the second page. Then, the text begins with chapter 1. It is always a right hand page.
- Right hand pages are numbered in odd numbers, left hand pages are even numbered.
- Watch out for widows and orphans! That is one word on a line at the end of a paragraph, or one line of a paragraph at the start of the next page.
- Images need to be at 300 ppi or larger, and at the size that will be in the book. Images must be in CMYK format to print on press.
- Know how to use white space effectively! Allow for generous margins as it is more pleasing to the eye.
There are so many more elements that go into professional book formatting. We’ve share just 10 with you. While professional design costs more, your book will sell for more. So, our advice is to add in the cost of book formatting when budgeting.
If you are determined to go it alone, it is best to be proficient Adobe InDesign. It is also important that you have a design background, specifically in books. Book designers should be trained and experienced before taking on a book formatting project. Otherwise, you may end up spending more for a book designer to correct the errors! We are happy to help if you find yourself in this situation!