Selecting a book font seems simple enough, but important subtleties and fine points of typography are not obvious to the…
Book cover design tells the story of the story. It must convey the spirit and intentions of the author authentically,…
The following publishing advice is based on my own experiences and those of my clients. I hope you find it…
Writers often ask about the difference between "straight" or "dumb" quotation marks and traditional printers' quotes, commonly referred to as…
Tom Morkes published The Perfect Book sales Page on his blog. I'm usually the first person to reject formulaic approaches…
This article explains the tab ruler found on every word processor and typesetting application. Understanding the simple and elegant split…
Digital typography offers capabilities that printers working with hot lead type and wood type could only dream of. Digital type…
Hyphens are an important contributor to elegant, easy-to-read typography, especially when text is fully justified as is the convention in…
Book design has changed since publishing became a gigantic industry. Typesetting was once performed by trained craftsmen who apprenticed to…
In my work with writers, I come across many common technical problems with manuscripts. These usually spring from the best…
You threw a grand party but nobody came. Your novel is so good but you're not selling books. What happened?…
This third installment of Judging a Book by its Cover looks at great book cover designs that won the 2012…
How can speakers, indie writers, and self-publishers use a blog to build a platform? This article explains how to publish…
Part 1 of Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by its Cover critiqued "professional" covers taken from Amazon's Editor's choice…
I recently responded to a question in a writers’ forum from an author who was in the process of designing…
Few subjects arouse more passion among writers and designers than the debate over how many spaces should follow a period.…
What do you think a professional editor's pay scale should be? Assume that a proofreader would be at the bottom…
Nothing screams “amateur” like a poorly crafted book cover. The standards for book design aspired to by trade publishers are…
The word processor has placed new burdens on writers to understand how to use italics, big and small capitals, dashes,…
The very idea of "book marketing" is vague. It's like subsuming advertising and fine art sales into a single realm…
NITIAL CAPITALS have historical roots in the early days of book design; their use predates the printing press and the…
This section on dashes, hyphens and dots goes beyond typographic aesthetics to explore how we can communicate more effectively as…
Use of Small Capitals—uppercase characters designed at lowercase scale—is one aspect of writing and book design that isn’t taught in…
Many readers still love to feel the subtle emboss of letters stamped on paper with metal type. I was rummaging…
Part 3 of Book Design Basics explores better ways to present numbers on your pages. Numbers (called figures) look simple…
Book design is a lost art. Though book design discussions usually focus on covers, consider how much more time a…
Part 2 of Fundamentals of Book Design explores optical margins, paragraph formatting and spaces. Read about margins, layout and leading…
Designers, writers and publishers will benefit from Beatrice Warde’s eloquent perspectives on the craft of typography, the power of type…
Most book designers make the same errors. One sore spot for me and with many of my university design students,…
This website uses cookies.