One of the best investments you can make in your self-published writing career is to work with a professional who specializes in interior book design. Most writers aren’t book designers, and you don’t have time to learn the necessary skills that designers use. Here’s what you need to know about creating a book that is as beautiful to look at as it is interesting to read.
- Why Interior Book Design Matters
- Is Interior Book Design the Same as Formatting?
- Book Formatting
- Typography and Typesetting
- Interior Book Design
- What Does a Book Designer Do?
- Elements of Interior Book Design
- How Long Will Interior Book Design Take?
- Cost of Professional Interior Book Design
- Professional Printing Gives You the Edge
Why Interior Book Design Matters
Interior book design is more than just printing out a manuscript in a certain font size or setting your margins correctly. That’s a start, but it doesn’t produce a professionally designed book that readers will enjoy paging through. Reading involves more than just words. It’s an active process that uses a reader’s eyes and hands to draw them into a story.
Is Interior Book Design the Same as Formatting?
When most writers talk about interior book design, they mostly refer to layout. Are formatting and interior book design the same thing? While they both refer to the inside pages of a book and how those pages look, they are different.
Book Formatting
Book formatting generally refers to the standards set by publishers when reviewing a manuscript. It includes all the technical parts of your book layout.
If you send your novel or nonfiction book to a publisher or literary agent, they will expect a manuscript that’s in a standard format. Many publishers and agencies have their own formats. For instance, they may specify 12-point font, headers in all caps, double-spaced text, and other standards.
These are technical matters you can correct using any word processing program. Some even come with built-in outlines and templates for formatting a book.
Formatting also applies to the rules set by online publishing formats. To prepare your e-book for an online publisher like Kindle DTP or IngramSpark, you must format the book correctly.
They specify the layout, cover information, and digital elements that are needed before you can publish. These technical standards are exacting, and writers spend considerable time getting them right.
Typography and Typesetting
Typography is part of layout and formatting. It refers to the choice of font style and text size. It includes kerning and tracking, which involve the spaces between letters and between words.
Interior Book Design
Interior book design goes beyond the basics of formatting. It incorporates the technical elements of formatting, but it is more visual and artistic. Good interior book design creates a book that is pleasant to read because the amount of white space and black text are well-balanced.
The typeface, font size, paper choice, and margins make each page easy on the reader’s eye. The placement of margins and paragraph endings make it feel natural to turn each page and keep reading.
When you read a book, you’re not just taking in words on a page. To make the reading enjoyable, you need legible text, dark printing, crisp paper, and formatting that makes the book easy to read. This is the goal of interior book design.
What Does a Book Designer Do?
Professional book designers are experts at using a combination of formatting, layout, and typography to improve the physical appearance of a book.
Some questions a professional book designer will consider are:
- Does every page look balanced? Is there symmetry across the entire layout?
- Is this the best font choice for this book?
- Are the margins even on every page?
- Do the kerning and tracking need adjustment?
- Is the type size readable, and do words have proper spacing between them?
- Are there widows and orphans? In print terminology, a widow is the last word or sentence of a paragraph that sits at the top of a page. An orphan is the first line of a paragraph that sits at the bottom of the page. Both are considered design mistakes. In proper typesetting, the paragraph would begin on the next page.
Book designers check all this and more. A designer can recommend the right front and back cover design ideas. A book designer with a graphic design background may be able to design the cover for you as part of their service.
Elements of Interior Book Design
To understand interior book design, it’s helpful to know what the elements of superior design are. These are the main things you should look for in your book.
- Readable, reader-friendly layout: A good design leads your reader effortlessly from page to page. It has the right balance of text, white space, and images. The words are clear, and the word spacing makes them easy to read. Words on a page should flow together seamlessly, and paragraphs should lead from one to the next without interruptions by blank spaces or blocks of text.
- Chapter titles and subheads: These should stand out and be easy to read without calling too much attention to themselves. You don’t want to overwhelm the reader, but you want to make it easy to find specific chapters and sections. This is especially true for how-to books, textbooks, recipe books, and other instructional books.
- Paper choice: If you haven’t thought about paper choices for your book, you might be surprised at what a difference it can make. There are many options for paper choices and for finishing the ends of pages.
- Typography: The font must be clear and readable. Words should be properly aligned on the page with the correct indentations, spacing, and alignment. There should be consistency in margins and indentations on every paragraph and on every page.
- Margins: The right margins have a large effect on readability. Cramped pages with tight blocks of text are hard to read.
- Page numbers: You need consistent page numbers that are in the correct order and placed in the same spot on every page.
- Running heads: These, like page numbers, should be consistent across every page.
- References: If your book includes research citations, the numbers for them should be the correct size and alignment. Every citation should go to a reference on the right page.
- Design elements: Borders, shadows, and typographical symbols can add to a book’s overall looks and appeal.
- Consistency: Uneven margins, inconsistent numbering, and other mistakes will make your book look sloppy and unprofessional. A well-designed book is consistent from first page to last.
How Long Will Interior Book Design Take?
Once you hire a designer, expect to take some time for a complete project. If you’re only publishing online, it will take two weeks to a month for the work to be done. This time depends on the book length and whether it involves complicated elements like references, indexes, or a table of contents.
For a print book, the process is longer. It will be at least two to six months before your book is ready. Print books require more care and diligence than e-books, and the cover design involves more work.
Cost of Professional Interior Book Design
An experienced book editor may charge $800 to $1,200 or more for a project involving a standard book. For an e-book designer, you can expect to spend from $200 to $500. Again, a more complicated book, or one with lots of pictures, will take longer and cost more to design.
Professional Printing Gives You the Edge
A well-designed book deserves a printer that can produce the results you want. At Dazzle Printing, we print books every day. Our lengthy list of satisfied customers is a testament to our expertise and outstanding service. Call us today or use our contact form to get a quote.
