What Do Book Designers Do, Anyway?

With the availability of text processing tools now available to everyone, book design has become a misunderstood craft. It’s not uncommon for book designers to receive a request to “convert my Word file into a PDF for the printer.” While there are certainly some so-called designers who will do just that, the result will be…um…just like your Word file and nothing like a real book.

Experienced book designers don’t just “click a button” that makes the text automatically snap into final form. We work line by line, word by word, and sometimes letter by letter to achieve optimal spacing between words and letters to maximize reading comprehension and minimize reader distractions.

Here are just a few of the issues book designers attend to during the formatting process to give your book a professional appearance:

The first step in designing the interior of your book is to create a sample chapter. A good book designer doesn’t use a template. We always choose fonts and images that are in keeping with your subject matter to give your book a unique (and appropriate!) look.

Normally, several samples will be developed, because there are multiple ways to design any book. These samples will include subtleties in the use of font styles and sizes that make a book look like a real book, and not a word-processed document. Once these initial concepts are presented, it’s necessary to work back and forth with the author/publisher on this sample until all the details are hammered out. Only then is the rest of the book layed out to match the sample.

Here are just a few of the things book designers attend to during the layout process:

We ensure facing pages end on the same baseline without the first line of a paragraph landing on the bottom of a page, or the last line of a paragraph landing on the top of a page. When the text doesn’t cooperate with these rules (which is often), we rework previous paragraphs and pages as needed.

We fix paragraphs that end in a word with less than five characters (including punctuation) or a word fragment (the stub end of a hyphenated word).

We banish “ladders” (too many hyphens in a row) and find and fix hyphenated compound words, both of which distract the reader.

We eliminate word stacks—when the same word falls one above the other on several consecutive lines of text.

We adjust any overly tight or loose lines that software often allows to slip through.

We watch for rivers of white in the text—when word spaces fall in a pattern that is distracting to the reader.

We eliminate hyphens at the bottom of a right-hand page so that the reader won’t have to hold a thought while the page is turned.

We make sure the last page of a chapter has at least four lines of text.

These items are only the beginning. Software out of the box only goes so far . . . it is this level of human intervention that turns your manuscript into typographic art, and when you see the results, we know you’ll agree that this time is well-spent.

1106 Design works with authors, publishers, business pros, coaches, consultants, speakers . . . anyone who wants a beautiful book, meticulously prepared to industry standards. Top-quality cover design, beautifully designed and typeset interiors, manuscript editing, indexing, title consulting, and expert advice. All available from one convenient source. All offered with our most important service, hand-holding. Attractive pricing choices to fit almost any budget. Prompt, personalized service. Satisfaction guaranteed. We’ll take better care of you and your book than any “self-publishing company.” How may we help you? Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

The Parable of the Pumpernickel Baker

Once upon a time, there lived a talented baker named George. Long before dawn each morning, while most people slept, George arrived at his employer’s successful bakery. The boss was demanding and grumpy, always telling George what to bake and when to bake it. “The customer is always right,” the boss said.

George would just shake his head and get back to the work he loved, crafting the tastiest varieties of bread, rolls, cakes, cookies, pies, and pot pies that the neighbors had come to expect. Each afternoon, when he left for the day, he said to himself, Someday, I’ll open my own bakery, and I’ll bake whatever I want. He saved his money and waited patiently for that day to arrive.

At long last,  the perfect building for George’s bakery became available. It was located on a busy street, near a bus stop, a school, a factory, and many homes. This is wonderful, thought George. I’ll have customers all day long, and maybe during the factory’s night shift, too.

For weeks before the grand opening, everyone in the area eagerly anticipated the breads, rolls, cakes, cookies, pies, and pot pies they’d be able to buy. The factory workers and tired commuters looked forward to a savory, ready-to-eat dinner; the schoolchildren waited for a sweet after-school snack; everyone looked forward to their favorite varieties of breads and rolls.

George was more nervous than he expected, so he played it safe. On grand opening day, customers streamed into George’s bakery, but curiously, the only item for sale was pumpernickel bread. Dozens and dozens of loaves of pumpernickel bread. Nothing else. Oh, well, they thought, it’s only the first day. Maybe tomorrow there will be more breads, rolls, cakes, cookies, pies, and pot pies. Some customers bought a loaf  of pumpernickel bread, because they had waited so long for George’s bakery to open, but most customers decided to return the next day.

The next day, and the next, and the next, they gave George another chance, but again they found only pumpernickel bread. Each day, one or two people bought a loaf. Finally, an exasperated customer asked George, “This is a bakery! When will you offer white bread, rolls, cakes, cookies, pies, and pot pies?”

“It’s expensive to bake those things,” he replied.  “I want to make sure my bakery is a success first.”

“Oh,” said the disappointed customer.

Gradually, the flood of new customers slowed to a trickle. After a few visits, the factory workers went back to brown-bagging it and the schoolchildren realized they would find no cookies at George’s bakery. Everyone else reluctantly accepted that George would only offer pumpernickel bread, no matter what they wanted.

Finally, the day came when not one customer showed up. George was puzzled. Isn’t my pumpernickel bread any good, he wondered? So he walked out front and stopped a gentleman on the street. “Why don’t you come in to my bakery,” he asked?

“Because I don’t like pumpernickel bread,” the man replied simply. “I buy quite a lot of white bread, cakes, and pies.”

“Oh,” said George. “But I can’t afford to bake those things. At least not until I make some money from my pumpernickel bread.”

“Very well,” said the gentleman.

We know how this parable ends, don’t we? Poor George’s bakery failed. He went back to work for his grumpy, demanding boss who understood that it was necessary to give customers what they want.

New publishers who decide to test the market with only an eBook are making exactly the same mistake that George made. They rightly offer their eBook on Amazon and other online retailers where millions of customers can see it 24/7, but then fail to offer the book in other formats that customers want to buy.

It’s undeniably attractive to publish only an eBook. The costs are minimal and it’s scary for any new publisher to invest in cover design and typesetting when they don’t know if their book will be a success. But guess what? Plenty of people still prefer a printed book, no matter how much eBook devotees bend and twist the statistics. No business owner can lock out a significant portion of their potential market and hope to succeed.

Today, publishers are not just book providers, they are content providers. Consumers want to receive information in different ways at different times. Some people buy printed books to read at home, a welcome change from looking at a computer screen at the office all day. Others buy Ebooks to read at the airport. Others listen to audio books while driving. Some consumers buy the same book in multiple formats. It’s risky to provide content in only one form. Publishers may sell some books in that format, but it’s impossible to count the number of sales that were missed.

My advice? Offer that eBook, but also print POD at Lightning Source. Yes, there’s the one-time charge for cover and interior design, but at least  you will be offering your book to everyone who may want it. If and when the day arrives that you are selling only eBooks, you can always stop printing.

As Dan Poynter, The Book Futurist, says: “Some writers plan to publish digitally only—to save money. This is a mistake. If you publish an eBook, you are perceived as a writer. If you publish a pBook (paper), you are regarded as an author. Paper books are retained; PDFs disappear in a click. Self-publishers should offer editions to fit any lifestyle: Paper, eBook, LARGE PRINT for the visually impaired, audio book, etc. Give the buying customer what he or she wants.”

Just like George’s very smart boss.

1106 Design works with authors, publishers, business pros, coaches, consultants, speakers . . . anyone who wants a beautiful book, meticulously prepared to industry standards. Top-quality cover design, beautifully designed and typeset interiors, manuscript editing, indexing, title consulting, and expert advice. All available from one convenient source. All offered with our most important service, hand-holding. Prompt, personalized service. Satisfaction guaranteed. We’ll take better care of you and your book than any “self-publishing company.” How may we help you? Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Self-Publishing for Business Owners: The Wrong Way

Today, like never before, it’s possible for entrepreneurs to promote themselves and their companies with a self-published book, and many are taking full advantage of the opportunity. The trouble is, what they’re doing is not truly SELF-publishing. The industry has been hijacked, and the unhappy result is that many well-meaning, smart and ambitious business owners are walking around with books that don’t begin to meet professional standards.

It’s understandable that people would be misled. A Google search for “self-publishing” returns page after page of companies, some small and some very large, who offer “do-it-yourself” publishing solutions.

Major newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal in this recent article, correctly emphasize the benefits of self-publishing, but instead of writing a balanced article that includes the tried-and-true way to turn a manuscript into a quality book, they focus only on the cheesy companies who  encourage people to do exactly the opposite.

It should not be a surprise that professional book publishing takes a team of experts. Book editors, book cover designers, book interior designers and others combine their talents to produce a product that makes a terrific first impression, and then keeps that promise with quality information and easy-to-read text inside. What business owner would want any less than that, when a book is being used as a business card or as an introduction to sell consulting services?

Unfortunately, the self-publishing companies encourage clients to design their own book covers, and upload a Word file for the book’s interior. This may seem like perfectly sensible advice to anyone with a computer, until you compare the results to a “real” book.

Here’s an example of a typical self-published book that came to my attention last week. I never met the author of this book, Dave Cooke, but I’m certain he put a tremendous amount of effort into this project, and has high hopes for its success. (If you see this post, Dave, I hope you’ll accept the following analysis as an offering from one business owner to another, as a sincere effort to help.)

First, let’s look at Dave’s cover and compare it to one released by bestselling sales guru, Zig Ziglar. Zig’s images are screen shots from Amazon. See the difference?

The photo on Dave’s cover isn’t bad. It needs a little color adjustment (his face is too red), but otherwise it’s a nice, open pose with attractive negative space around his figure. This negative space could have been used to make Dave look even more friendly and approachable, but instead, it boxes him in, not once, but twice with the blue corners. Then the photo is placed on an olive drab background. With a rainbow of colors to choose from, why olive drab?

The type faces used on Dave’s cover are old fashioned, and the use of all caps with a drop shadow gives the cover a homemade look. (Designers use drop shadows, too, but usually in a more subtle way, so that they are barely noticeable.) The dark blue text on the olive background is difficult to read. The “Sales Cooke” play on the author’s name is clever, and since the cooking theme is carried throughout the text, it’s appropriate. But using it four times (title, apron, author name, and subtitle) is a wee bit overwhelming.

Now look at the Zig Ziglar cover design. Zig isn’t in a box. He’s there in the room with you. His dark suit causes him to almost, but not quite, blend into the dark background of the cover. His picture is small, which leaves maximum space for the title and subtitle.  The typography on this cover is top notch, and the subtle ornamentation gently guides the eye from title to subtitle. The use of caps and small caps says “first class” and the author’s name in a wide red band at the bottom anchors the design.

Now let’s compare the interiors of both books. Dave’s chapter opener is on the left, Zig’s is on the right:

Dave’s chapter opener is rather dull. The chapter number and title start high on the page, and barely stand out from the text below. It would be easy to miss the fact that this is, indeed, a chapter opener, and not just another page of text. Dave’s text is set ragged right instead of  justified, which is one mark of a self-published book. The gaps on the right side are huge. Much of this is due to the inadequacy of Word for the job.

Zig’s chapter opener is much more eye-catching and attractive. The chapter number is small and placed at the upper right hand side of the page. The chapter title is large and the chapter subtitle is smaller and italic, with a line above to divide the two. White space is used beautifully in this design. The space between the chapter number and the title is slightly smaller than the space between the chapter subtitle and the beginning of the text, so it looks open and airy, but with a purpose. The text is justified, and it begins with a drop cap. The first subhead toward the bottom is beautifully set in slightly letterspaced text for an overall classy appearance. There’s no doubt that this is the beginning of a chapter.

Now let’s compare two more interior pages:

At the top of Dave’s page on the left, look at the downward angle of the text in the first paragraph. The sidebar below is much too dark, and the type is practically crashing into the edges of the box. You can’t see it here, but this sidebar continues on the next page, and on to a third page for a few lines. A book designer would have started the sidebar at the top of the page above, and made the text fit on two facing pages. A book designer would also make the gray background much lighter for POD printing, due to the limitations of the equipment.

Zig’s interior page is much cleaner and more organized. Even though his sidebar text is much smaller than Dave’s, and not a direct comparison, the text wraps around it in an interesting way, to keep the reader engaged.

Not visible in the above examples are the typos in Dave’s text, or editing that leaves quite a lot to be desired. All in all, this book doesn’t make Dave look like a professional consultant,  even though the advice in the book is very good. That’s a shame, and I’m sure it’s not what Dave intended.

Dave was misled by a company that didn’t want him to “go away” once he found them. They lied and told him he could do everything himself, rather than encourage him to search for the right experts to help with his book design. Why? Because those experts would have told Dave to run away and never look back; that there are better, more profitable ways to self-publish.

Every designer and editor I know is frustrated about this situation. We’re not sure how to make ourselves heard against the overwhelming noise produced by the self-publishing companies, but we’re working on it. If you’d like to  help, please share this post.

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Children’s Book Author Asks: What Am I Leaving Out?

I’ve been corresponding this week with a children’s book author on the SPAN website: http://www.spannet.org (SPAN is an excellent resource for self-publishers.) The discussion started as a comment on my blog post there, “A Book Cover Is Everything” (http://www.spannet.org/profiles/blogs/a-book-cover-is-everything) and it touched on several topics that every self-publisher must address. The conversation has become a prime example of where many self-publishers go horribly wrong. I don’t believe that any author sets out to fail when self-publishing a book, but it happens far too often because the author is working with incorrect or incomplete information, or because the author resists correct information when it is offered.

For the record, even though I haven’t seen the manuscript yet, I think this book could have “legs” in a variety of markets. I truly hope this author heeds reliable advice, whether from me or someone else, because he’s clearly heading in the wrong direction, and my heart already aches for him. Here’s our conversation:

Author: My problem I have is my title — I find it catchy, but it doesn’t convey well what the purpose of my non-fiction book is all about.  A dilemma!

Me: Catchy isn’t enough. A title must be specific…a promise to the reader, telling them what your book is about. It’s tough (maybe impossible) for an author to take a step back into the mind of someone who has never seen or heard of the book before. Why not post your title here and test it with me?

Author: Here’s the title: Jack’s Fish Bones. Of course, you can’t figure out from the title that it’s actually a book that teaches children how to read, and write in Chinese.  On my mock-up I follow that with ‘A fun step-by-step guide for writing and reading Chinese.’  But that will have to move to the back cover. See the dilemma?

Me: I think your subtitle must be on the front, in this case. Without it,  your book sounds like any other children’s story. Remember, not everyone will read the description online or turn the book over to find out otherwise.  You told me in your message that the book teaches children, but your title and subtitle don’t say that. I  recommend working with a professional title consultant for this book, so that every word on your front cover speaks directly to the folks most likely to buy your book, and tells them what it is about.

Author: I think you’re right. I might re-title it ‘Jack and Ivy and the Mysterious Chinese Code’ or something of that nature. But I like short and catchy titles.

Me: Just my opinion, but that may be too long, and it sounds more like a novel.

Author: I will just have to let the name issue percolate in my brain for a while. I still have to connect with someone to do the illustrations — maybe in the process of doing that part of the book something will leap out at me.

Me: Yes, there are so many decisions to be made to launch any book. I wrote a blog post about children’s book illustrations that may be helpful: http://1106design.com/finding-an-illustrator-for-your-childrens-book/ Have a nice weekend! (In this post, I recommended a good site to find qualified children’s book illustrators, and explained why why a book designer should be hired BEFORE an illustrator is retained. I wrote this post because authors often bring terrible illustrations to designers, to the detriment of the final product. )

Author: Thanks for the tip — I had already checked Society of Children’s Book Illustrators, but got tired of searching through the gazillions of illustrators, ha!  (Will find time to look again). Since I’m a newbie, my book production idea is simple. I have made Word files which contain clip art. I convert these into PDFs, and voila! that’s my book! So my next step is, I find an illustrator with the right style, who creates and converts their original art work into ‘clip art’ which I can pull into my Word files. For me identifying exactly how many pieces and what to draw is no problem – it’s already by and large in the draft.  I negotiate on a price per piece, delivery dates, payment terms, etc.  Easy! Of course, this all may sound very naive to anyone with some real experience like yourself in the book publishing business.  Any comments?  What am I leaving out? Thanks, Michele.

So ended our conversation (at least as of this moment).

What is he leaving out? I’m not sure where to begin, but let’s start with this:

It’s amazing to me how many self-publishers judge their own work in isolation and not against the competition in the real world.  Even a casual trip to a bookstore will reveal that the  children’s book section is filled with top-quality books. If this author took his mockup to said bookstore, and objectively compared his efforts with any book on the shelf, I’m certain he would immediately see the difference.

It might be helpful to describe how a “real” publisher achieves this difference. First, they’ll research the market to determine if there is a demand for the book and how strong that demand might be. Part of this research involves a look at competitive titles and how well they are selling. If, and only if there is a demand, will a publisher move to the next step: determine the costs to professionally write, edit, illustrate, design, and market the book. Once these expenses are tallied, the question becomes, “can this book be sold at a price point that will attract consumers?” If not, the project ends right there. If so, the wheels are set in motion, and when the final product finally hits the store shelves, it is a masterpiece. More importantly, it is what buyers have come to expect when they shop for children’s books.

This process is far different than that taken by most self-publishers, as my conversation so far with this author reveals. Stay tuned.

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Four Wise Words from an “Old” Book

A couple of months ago, a client gave us a small book of quotations to use as a design model for his upcoming title. This handsome book, The Book of Excellence: 236 Habits of Effective Sales People by Byrd Baggett, published in 1990, is the very definition of a traditional book design: black leatherette hard case, gold foil stamping on the front and spine, classic fonts and ornaments, printed on textured ivory stock. We designed the client’s book in a similar style, and everyone was pleased with the outcome.

In today’s business world, where a typical day means processing a long list of emails and juggling tight deadlines, I promptly forgot about the book, until this holiday weekend, when I finally caught up with my “to be filed” pile. Somehow, it didn’t seem right to bury this lovely little book in a filing cabinet, so I decided to read it.

Most of the quotations were classic, quick tips designed to inspire anyone who provides customer service. Some were a revealing look into how much our world has changed in just 20 years. For example: “Use a beeper. That will let the office get in touch with you when a customer needs you in an emergency,” and “Carry a business card file. You never know when you’ll need a phone number.”

One quotation stood out from all the others for me:

Excellence is not optional.

The moment I read this, I realized with some sadness that our world has changed in this way, too. Today, the voices of excellence in book design and typography are drowned out by those who claim that “template” cover and interior design is good enough. That “do-it-yourself” book layout is just fine. That craftsmen in the field are quaint, old-fashioned folks who offer an unneeded product at a high price. And even worse, this advice is doled out by so-called publishing “experts”  (including some very large companies) just waiting for the next naive self-publisher to come along.

It was good this holiday weekend to take a breath, leave all the posts, tweets, emails, and updates behind,  and remember that the quiet voice of wisdom can still speak to us in profound ways. My client’s updated book of quotations is: LifeExcellence Treasury of Quotes. I promise, it will inspire you, and it doesn’t contain one word about beepers.

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

It Takes More Than a Great Cover to Sell a Book

Most first-time self publishers understand the importance of a professionally-designed cover, but then some make a very big mistake and attempt to produce their book interior in a word-processing program. Read more

Book Layout: What You Don’t See Matters

We’ve heard the question many times, “Should I lay out the interior of my book myself?” Seems like a no-brainer. You have word processing software. You know how to set margins and choose a typeface. You even know about books that describe the process (written by folks who are not trained in typography by the way). So why shouldn’t you lay out your own book?

Of course you can and should use your word processing software to write your text, but interior design and formatting are best left to people who do this for a living. Why? Because there are a lot more details involved in page composition than you’d think.

For starters, word-processing software does not have the sophisticated hyphenation and justification controls that professional page layout software does. This results in tight and loose lines that are unsightly and that distract the reader. And even if you were to buy page layout software, there is a very steep learning curve. It’s a mistake to assume that no knowledge of typography or design is required to use it effectively. As the saying goes, “Owning a hammer does not make one a carpenter.”

There are several dozen conventions to be followed in book design that may not be perceptible to the reader, but when followed, they give your book a polished appearance. But it’s not only about knowing the rules, it’s knowing how and when to bend or break them on a case-by-case basis that makes the difference between an amateur layout and a professional one. These decisions must be made quite often when the words in the text don’t cooperate with the page geometry.

Quality typesetting has never been about the tools. Experienced typesetters rarely use software at the default settings. We adjust the settings for better results, sometimes paragraph by paragraph, line by line, and even word by word. Why? Because someone once trained us to see the difference between “so-so” type and great type.

For what it’s worth, only beginning self-publishers consider using a word processor for page layout. Successful publishers wouldn’t think of producing the text in this way. They know that experienced book designers bring real value to the table, offering creativity and aesthetic judgment that only comes with training and experience.

It’s been clinically proven that quality typography improves reading comprehension. More importantly, an amateur job won’t satisfy the distributors, reviewers, and book retailers, the “gatekeepers” of the book industry, who will immediately spot a beginner’s efforts and reject your book as “self-published.”

When we show customers the difference between their attempt at book layout and our own, they are usually blown away. They’ll say something like, “Wow! I thought my layout was just fine. Now I see how bad it really is!”

Nowadays, many people think that converting a word-processed file to a PDF is all the printer needs. That’s true. But it’s not all that YOU need. Printers won’t turn away a PDF that was made from a word processed document. They’ll print your book because that’s what they’re in business to do. Their success is measured in how many books they print. Your success, on the other hand, is measured in the number of books you sell.

Your book design, inside and out, establishes your credibility in the eyes of the buyer. Buyers may not be able to pinpoint exactly what is wrong, but without a professional interior design, your book will not measure up to those that are professionally prepared. For the success of your new publishing endeavor, we hope you’ll give this issue some serious thought.

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design

What Typesetters Do: A Before-and-After Example

There’s a lot of misunderstanding about the craft of typesetting. Now that virtually everyone has word-processing software, it’s easy to believe that very little skill is needed to put words on paper. Of course, software is just a tool, and while we can all become adept at using it, the fact remains that advanced training leads to more professional results, no matter what package we’re using.

I’m a guilty as the next person of this offense. Like a lot of small business owners, I use QuickBooks to create invoices and pay bills. In a ham-fisted sort of way, I’ve added items to the default chart of accounts as needed, and in more than a few instances, I’ve created quite a mess when entering more complicated transactions. Once a year, I hand a disk to my accountant and run for the door, so I don’t have to hear what he is surely muttering under his breath as he reviews my complete lack of accounting skill. So I’m not criticizing anyone for trying. I’m just saying it’s important to know what we don’t know.

Here’s an example of a bit of text created for the top of a calendar in Word.

Not bad, right? All the information is neatly centered and readable. But how can it be better? This is where training comes in. Here are the problems with the image above:

1. There is very little emphasis and grouping of the elements. Except for the first three lines at the top, everything else runs together. While it’s all there, the reader really has to try hard to find what he/she may be looking for.
2. The underlines are probably meant to bracket the names of the church staff, but they’re misplaced. The top underline seems to be emphasizing just a part of the phone number; the bottom underline just a part of the name.
3. The word Phone is overused, possibly in an attempt to help the reader focus on the necessary information in a sea of sameness.

Below is the typeset version. See the difference?

1. Minor adjustments in spacing now group like information together for easy navigation.
   The most important information (the name of the church) is the largest, followed by two levels of slightly smaller text for church phone numbers and service times.
2. While it’s a little difficult to discern on a monitor, various levels of boldness were used to add emphasis, and italics were used on email addresses and web URLs to help them stand out from the rest of the text.
3. The repetitive use of the word Phone was eliminated and replaced with a tabular arrangement using leader dots to bring the reader’s eye from the name to the phone number.
4. A background color that coordinates with the artwork was added, and the text was aligned to the top and bottom of the graphic for a nice, neat, look.

Is this little example going to win any design awards? Of course not. But it is a very basic example of the thought process that goes into every typesetting and design job.

Turning the first example into the second took 30 minutes of experimenting and adjusting…a fact that would probably surprise some people. Do you think the results are worth the time?

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design

How to Typeset a Book: Part 9

In this last installment of How to Typeset a Book, we’ll get into professional typesetting territory. These are the things that separate amateur-looking typesetting from top-notch graphic design. Read more

How to Typeset a Book: Part 8

In this installment of How to Typeset a Book, we’ll deal with hyphens. What’s the big deal about hyphens, anyway? Well, for starters, they can seriously impede reading comprehension if you don’t control them. Read more

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