Formatting Your Novel: What Font Size Are Books Written In?

YOU ARE READING: Formatting Your Novel: What Font Size Are Books Written In? AT PhebinhvanhocEN

publishing a book is a bloody process; from writing your first draft to doing a couple of different edits to formatting your entire book. With experience, you begin to become familiar with many aspects of formatting.

One of the reasons is that you start to understand the requirements of different publishers and can discern patterns or common needs.

You are reading: What font size is used in books

But, if you’re a novice writer, formatting is one of the most challenging stages in the book writing process because, unlike writing, formatting doesn’t come naturally.

you have to learn to format!

Of the many formatting elements, including size, typesetting, cover details (matte or glossy), page color, etc., I’ve decided to take a look at font size.

Let’s get started!

Does font size really matter?

Font size has a lot of weight in the formatting of your book. First, you need to think about the publishers and their fixed requirements; they usually have their own preferences when it comes to font size.

But even if you publish on your own, font size affects a lot of things, from aesthetics, to the number of words, to the number of pages. for example, if you use a large font size, you’ll have fewer words per page (because larger letters will fill pages faster than smaller letters).

When it comes to the aesthetic function of fonts, large font sizes tend to make a book a little ugly (for lack of a better word), and smaller ones look good.

however, larger fonts are easier to read than smaller ones, so they may be good for people who have vision problems.

serif vs. sans serif

If you self-publish, there’s a good chance you won’t have any font requirements. this means that you have to choose the book font yourself, you have to know the difference between serif and sans serif fonts. the dictionary definition of a serif is “a short line at the end of the main strokes of a character”.

So, serif fonts have a serif, a small extension on the edges of the letters, while sans serif fonts don’t have a serif, so they have straight edges.

Based on these two categories, you will find that the fonts in each category fit a certain genre. for example, sans serif fonts placed in block paragraphs work well for nonfiction textbooks and reference books. classic serif fonts, which are easy to read, are suitable for fiction, memoirs, and autobiographies.

How do I choose the right font for my book?

so how do you choose the right font for your book?

here are some tips:

1. follow the editor’s guidelines

I assume you’re posting on your own; otherwise the publisher would have given him a source. however, even for writers who publish on sites like amazon kindle, kindle suggests some font requirements.

If you want your book to be in print, you should choose free, readily available fonts that Amazon can use without copyright hassles. Publishers will usually give you one or two fonts they work with.

2. choose a font that goes well with your gender

I already mentioned this briefly when I mentioned serif vs. sans serif successful authors know what font works well with their genre and avoid using fonts that are distracting, wild, and not in line with their genre norms.

Like I said, classic serif fonts are perfect for your fiction and memoirs, and non-fiction textbooks and reference books look better with sans serif fonts.

If you’re publishing children’s books, I recommend using fonts that are more decorative and catchy because, for children, there’s more to it than meets the eye. It’s not that I’m underestimating these little monsters, decorative text works great for kids.

3. avoid bad fonts

One thing to know is that you’re not trying to paint graffiti, you’re just choosing a font for your book.

stick to fonts that don’t distract you. fonts that you would easily forget seconds after choosing a book.

some bad fonts, like mt script, snap itc, or comic sans, might work well for titles and other parts of your book, but definitely not for body copy.

4. forget times new roman/arial

These two are arguably the best fonts on both sides, on the screen. times new roman is a serif font and arial is a san serif font, both are good.

all word processing programs have these two and they are very easy to read. however, your book won’t just be a digital copy, you’ll probably be publishing it in print as well. so to avoid having a book that looks like a college dissertation (which is most likely if you use one of these two fonts), try other fonts that are easy to read and look good in a book, not just on the page. computer screen. .

choose the right font size

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when choosing the font size for your book.

some of these are:

1. consider trim size

since you are going to print your book, you should choose a font and font size taking into account the printing size of the book.

You need to choose a font that is pleasing to the eye, thick enough for readers to follow from line to line and page to page, and a font size appropriate for the crop size.

obviously smaller crop sizes will require font sizes and vice versa. but generally 15 points is too big and 9 points is too small for body text (although some books have used these points and they look and read like any other).

some fonts take up more space than others, even when the font size is the same, and some fonts are also thicker than others. therefore, you may be forced to increase or decrease the font size just to fit the crop size.

If you want to print your books, the way to find a good font size is to print a page or two using different fonts and different sizes to see what looks good.

2. word count

The higher the number of words, the more pages your book will need. To avoid this, you may want to choose a font size that won’t eat up your pages.

If you’re writing fiction, there’s a good chance your book will be 5.25 x 8, 5.5 x 8.5, or 6 x 9 if it’s longer. but with such small sizes and a large number of words (about 130-200k), you’ll need a font size that helps you pack all that history into that little book.

3. readability

After you have sorted out the trim size and word count, readability should be considered next. you should consider the fact that not all of your readers will have keen eyesight.

can you read easily with that font size? if the answer is yes, you have fixed the font size issue.

do’s and don’ts (basic font tips when you haven’t been given specific formatting requirements)

If you’re self-publishing, here are some of my rules of thumb:

use an 11 point serif font for text.
use a 14 point serif font for chapter headings.
use a 14 point serif font for 12 points for the headings section.
Avoid monospaced fonts (also known as “typewriter”) such as courier.
Use no more than three fonts. too many fonts will just mess things up.

what is the best font to use in a novel?

I’m not going to make a decision for you, but I’m going to suggest these fonts: garamond, baskerville, and sabon.

try these three and see if one might work for you.

summary

If you’re among the select few, those lucky enough to publish with a traditional publisher, you’re in luck because you have a team of book editors and designers at your disposal who can help you choose the right fonts. for your book.

but if you’re going to publish yourself, you’ll probably have to choose a font and size yourself, so pick a book you’d like your book to look like, print out a few pages of your book, and compare the results .

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