Some thoughts on design and formatting

One book I’ve recently been editing and that is now in design had raised a few questions for me and might provide some food for thought for writers. The bottom line is that the now so familiar manuscript looks totally different. As a writer myself I’m used to this phenomenon. What I’ve seen for weeks and weeks as a double-spaced text on A4 sheets is now a single-spaced – or maybe 1.5 or .75 on a 8 x 5 or a 10 x 7 book page. It may even be in a different font. And it looks strange.

Book sizes

This particular book is being produced as an 8 x 5 book. It is 138 pages long as double-spaced A4. Double-spaced A4 often translates to almost exactly the same number of pages in single-spaced for an 8 x 5 book. A 10 x 7 is a few pages less. Which format to choose depends on getting a book that is neither too thin nor too fat. So, up to about 250 pages goes into 8 x 5 and over into the larger format.

Paragraph lengths

It is a little disturbing as we read the design copy of the book mentioned above that some paragraphs go over a page. They did not seem overlong as we read them at the editing stage and they probably read fine anyway. However, they could be off-putting for the reader – especially as this text is aimed at young adults. Sure, many of them can read at quite a sophisticated level but they still want quick pace and instant outcomes. The paragraph that runs over a page may imply that the text slows down. We might need to see if we can justify some paragraph breaks here.

Lessons for writers and publishers

Many writers swear by changing the font and other aspects of the formatting as they edit. That way they see their text in a new light. It’s probably a good idea for editors to do this as well.  

Some thoughts on book design

There is so much more to producing a book that just writing it, even if the writer is the most important contributor to the process: without writers there would be no books at all.

Yet after all of the editing and rewrites there is still much to be done.

The cover

Books must have a great cover even if they are only being sold electronically. The title must be right too – it must not give too much away but it must entice. The title and the cover are the first two prompts towards a sale. They must attract the reader but they must also represent the contents of the book honestly.

The designer has to make decisions about how and where to include the title, both on the front cover and the spine, and how to integrate the blurb on the back. Even where to display and how large to make the barcode that gives the bookseller information is the designer’s decision.  

The size

This may also be partly an editorial and marketing decision. If the book has a lot of words, a slightly bigger format is recommended. Print costs tend to be per page so using a taller and wider book format keeps the costs down. Plus, a fat stubby book is often physically difficult to read – especially when you are near the beginning or the end.

House style issues

Each publishing house has its own preferences about whether to use single or double quotes for speech and how to express thoughts. Each text must be consistent with itself and with other publications. Many publishers favour Chicago style.

Formatting issues

Most texts are submitted as Word documents. They will be double-spaced, ragged right and all but opening paragraphs will be indented. The published book needs to be single-spaced, the text must be blocked and the indent, even in bigger texts, will be smaller than the Word default of 1.27 cm. Usually it is quite easy for the designer to do this conversion. However, occasionally the writer has used some very strange formatting and the designer has to format the book manually. Forced indents and manually inserted footers and headers can cause havoc.

Because of the blocking of text, some words will be hyphenated across two lines. The designer can set this to a minimum but that in turn can cause some weirdly spaced lines and create widows – singles lines on a new page. The designer has to adjust this manually.

Special fonts

Most publishers use one of the standard fonts.  Times New Roman and Arial are popular and 12 point is normal. Occasionally a text will need an alternative font – perhaps to portray a change of voice or point of view or to include an excerpt from a letter or a magazine article. The designer may not be able use the unusual font the writer has chosen as this may not convert easily to the printed format or indeed may be copyrighted. The designer must make the decision and does have some insight into what works graphically.

Also a text might have a different size font and different spacing – for example a children’s book may have a14 point font and be double-spaced.

Paper weight and colour

This will affect the feel and the look of the book. Normally a publishing house has a house style for this but occasionally a text may demand something else. For instance, a book about death might have black-edged pages or a facsimile of a war-time diary might require thicker sepia-tinted pages.

These decisions are often made between editorial and design staff.

It is clear then that the role of the designer is really important and that the writer has to step back at this point.

Some thoughts about book covers

It’s quite easy to make a striking cover. There are some talented artists around and there are also some very good stock pictures available, which you can download for a small fee and use more times than you’d probably be able to sell books.

However, getting the cover to look right isn’t just a matter of having a fabulous picture. You need to take several other matters into account:

Is there a natural place for the lettering?

Or the blurb?

What colour / shape should these be if they are to show up well?

Will the size of the book allow you to have a decent–sized spine? One where you can fit in the title and the author?

Will the picture bleed okay without losing integrity?

Will the paper version be a good match to what you see on screen? This point can be very vexing. Printers produce colour in a very different way from computer screens. Printers who know what they are doing can make the paper version match the digital file but they can’t guarantee that they can match what you are seeing on your own computer screen. You need to set your screen to industry standards and it’s actually not quite possible with domestic screens and totally impossible with laptops.

You also have to remember that a colour will look much darker on mass than it does in small quantities in the lettering – especially if letters are against a dark background.

Be prepared to be surprised. If you’re using a professional designer, they tend to know what they’re doing, so the surprise can be a pleasant one. You may have a few nasty shocks if you’re doing it yourself. Even so, try to look at that cover objectively. Does it actually work? Does it matter that it doesn’t look exactly as you saw it on your screen? As long as you’ve actually not got any nasty clashes it could be fine.