Designing is the crucial part of the book. It may improve the reader’s entire reading experience. A well-designed book attracts the readers and they read it more. Also, it helps improve the visual attractiveness of the information. One can pass the message effectively through the suitable design of the book. Reading becomes simple task when the book suits to the interest of the reader.
When it comes to sale, the books that are visually impressive and appealing sold easily. The first impression of the buyer comes from the design of the book. The cover page trigger the buyer to view the book in the bookshop. Once the buyer looks inside the book, he is attracted by the interior design of the book. So, it is always better to invest in the designing of the book.
One of the factor that decides the success story of a book is its readability. The design of a book can determine how easy or difficult is to read. Good fonts, nice layouts, easy formats all lead to the increase in the readability.
Some authors and publishers use unique design. This help establish the author or publisher’s brand. A regular design across all books in a series or by the same author can help establish a recognizable brand identity.
Here are some tips to help you design your eBook nicely:
Page Size
When it comes to designing, choosing right size is crucial. If you think that size is not fit after designing your book, you will need to redesign after changing the size.
Always better to choose the standard sizes. As per the country and region, the popular size for the book changes.
There are some factors to consider before selecting the size for your book. You can visit bookstore to check books printed within same category your are writing so that you will have some ideas.
Size determines the price of the book. So, consider calculating the expense and potential sales of the books. Printing a book is not like writing a book. Printing is a business. So, if the author directly sells the book, he needs to double-check with printing house about the cost of the book and changes in the cost in terms of size.
Typography
Once you decide the size, you need to look in to the fonts and its sizes. In the body of the book use always clear and simple fonts. Classic fonts are recommended in the body. You can use verities of fonts like bold, italic as per the context. Don’t’ use many types of fonts in the same book. Try to include fonts from same family in a book.
Normally a book has couple of text types. Title always comes in biggest sizes. Chapters or sections come as primary headers. You may have sub headers under primary headers. The footnote is always written in small fonts.
One publishing house recommended the font size as follows:
• Large Headers (30 pt or above):
• Primary Headers (16-24 pt):
• Sub Headers (12 pt bold):
• Body Copy (10-12 pt regular
• Footnote/Page Count (8 pt):
Line spacing is also one of the factors for readability. To navigate easily through the content, line spacing should be appropriate to the readers. Some factors should considered when determining the vertical space between lines.
Font size is one of the major factors to consider. When the font size increases, the line space also increases. Line spacing should be 120-145% of the font size as a general rule.
Font style differs as per font type. The amount of space needed between lines varies depending on the font type. Larger x-height typefaces, for example, may require less line spacing than smaller x-height fonts.
The size of the book also affects the font size. The large size book require more space between the lines. The small size page require less line spacing compared to big pages.
Reader’s age also decides the line spacing. Old age reader needs more line spacing while young age reader prefers less line spacing.
So consider factors such as font size, font style and line spacing to make sure that readers can read book easily.
Layout
A book has the top margin, the outside margin, and the bottom margin. The inside margin, where the pages are bound together, is called the gutter.
The top margin normally contains the texts such as title of the book, chapter title, author’s name etc. The outside margin should be large enough to allow a reader to hold the book open without covering over text with their thumbs. The bottom margin may include page numbers or it may just be a buffer for the content. A gutter margin helps ensure that text isn’t obscured by the binding.
Normally, we see books use fully justified text alignment. Some books are left aligned while some others are right aligned. So, there is no general rule for alignment. However, when the alignment is used wisely, the book looks reader friendly. A picture book differs from text-heavy books.
Images and graphics are added in the book to clarify the complicated topics. However, selecting good images and graphics is vital in designing the book, because it gives visual interest to the book readers. Too many images are not good while adding some images make the reading experience smooth.