Book Layout Tips
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Many authors are very talented writers, but they often don't have the know-how to properly layout their book. How can you give your book a professional feel? Which font type to use? Where should your margins be set? How do you make sure you have the right page format? These are all questions that may arise while making your book. Since you will need to take care of these matters as well, we are glad to give you some pointers that will surely help.
Format
The page layout of your book file is the same for a hardcover book as for a paperback book. In Word, in the menu ‘file’ you can click on the tab ‘paper size’ to change the format size. Most books you can find in general bookstores have an A5 format (210 x 148 mm) or 6 x 9 inch format (152 x 229 mm). However, also bigger format sizes are possible with us: A4, US Letter or even a square format (21 x 21 cm).
The page layout of your book file is the same for a hardcover book as for a paperback book. In Word, in the menu ‘file’ you can click on the tab ‘paper size’ to change the format size. Most books you can find in general bookstores have an A5 format (210 x 148 mm) or 6 x 9 inch format (152 x 229 mm). However, also bigger format sizes are possible with us: A4, US Letter or even a square format (21 x 21 cm).
Font types
A good font size is 11 or 12 points. Using an 11 or 12 point font will help your text to be easier to read. We also recommend choosing a serif font typeface. A serif font typeface has small features called serifs at the end of strokes. Such serifs give the letters more diversification which makes them easily recognizable next to other letters. It will enhance the readability of your text. These types of fonts are much used in books and newspapers. The most well known serif typeface is Times New Roman (see example).
Margins
It is best to set your top, bottom and outside margins at 3/4". For the inside margins you can add an additional 1/4" because part of this margin will disappear into the spine of the book.
It is best to set your top, bottom and outside margins at 3/4". For the inside margins you can add an additional 1/4" because part of this margin will disappear into the spine of the book.
Styles
In word processor software like Word, you can make use of several styles. You can use these different styles for titles of chapters or paragraphs. The benefit of working with styles is the uniformity you create throughout your document without constantly having to set your layout choices. If you adapt one of your styles, all the text to which this style was applied will change automatically.
Footer and header
Obviously, pages numbers are an important part of laying out a book. Page numbers are typically situated centered on the bottom of each page. You can easily insert page numbers where you would find the ‘footer’.
It is also possible to ad a chapter reference on top of each page. You can make use of ‘section breaks’ in the ‘page lay-out’ menu to add this in each header.
We wish you the best of luck with the laying out of your book.
