Category Archives: Recent Posts

Self-publishing Front & Back matter: It’s all about the reader

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Today, in this third post on formatting, I want to talk about many things which have been lost in the rush toward ebooks: self-publishing front back matter. This is an excerpt from my book: Book Publishing With InDesign CC Many reader services are no longer written or included. Most of this is simply because of the inexperience and lack of training by the normal self-publishing novelist and writer of devotions. You should take a look and seriously … Continue reading →

Basic Page Layout: Part 2, Margins & Columns

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This is part two of the new series on page layout from my new book, Self-Publishing With InDesign CC. We continue with two of the most important controls for readability. To the left is an example of bad design. The body text is Berthold Baskerville Book 8/12, while the caption is Adobe Garamond Pro 6/7. So, no one can read it—too small. The columns are so narrow that there are only 7-9 words per line with the average closer … Continue reading →

Cover design: A wonderful crosshatching video for ink drawing…

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I found this today, going through my emails. It is beautiful and wonderful. About five minutes… Dan Nelson’s delightful Cross Hatching library teaching ink illustration Does this take a lot of time? Duh! Is it satisfying? Yes. How does it compare to knitting, embroidery, painting, and all the rest? It’s just another opportunity to learn to get in touch with the things which matter in your life. It can be cathartic therapy, all the way to gentle … Continue reading →

Basic page layout: Part One, Book size

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As I get ready to release my new book, Self-Publishing With InDesign CC, I want to share some of the basic ideas in the book. Self-publishers rarely know page layout standards So, this little series will help with some of those basic decisions you need to make. Setting up your book to be read: One of the more daunting aspects of book design for the inexperienced is page layout. Most people have Word experience and as I have said … Continue reading →

Studying poster design to help your covers

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CREATIVE PRO HAS AN EXCELLENT ARTICLE TODAY on poster design. I mention this because authors without the trained eye of the designer make embarrassing design mistakes because this knowledge is not part of their understanding. Self-publishers must train their eyes Books like Ellen’s shown above are a real help as you expand your knowledge beyond the narrow confines of writing and editing. What writers are normally not aware of is the constant visual input which is the … Continue reading →

Butterick’s Practical Typography, a new online book

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A new typography resource, beautifully done Graphics.com gave a link today to an online book, Butterick’s Practical Typography [shareware, to use an old term] which looks to have some excellent pieces. I just read the first article: Drowning the Crystal Goblet. It is quite good. In it, the concept of invisible typography is taken apart. As I have taught that for years, it was good for me to hear the counter arguments. The second article: Typography in … Continue reading →

New release! Librum Book Design Group font package

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This is the release of the fifteen-font package for book design which I developed in the writing of Practical Font Design With FontLab 5. It is a further development of the Contenu/Buddy group. Click here to purchase the Librum Book Design Group The x-heights are larger, it’s slightly narrower, and the general design is a bit more conservative. There is a serif text family, named Librum, for body copy, and a companion serif ebook family, named Librum … Continue reading →

New release! Practical Font Design With FontLab 5

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I’m looking for reviewers Click the headline above and let me know what format you want. I recommend the PDF in spreads or the ePUB FXL [also in spreads]. This way you can get the formatting advantages of the print version in digital form. This is especially true if you have one of the earlier editions. I need feedback on the superiority of the new workflow. I know it works much better for me. I need to … Continue reading →

The Training Place of Mankind is out in audio!

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One of the favorite books I’ve written in the past few years is The Training Place of Mankind: God’s Creation Explained For Normal Folk. It’s a retail read geared toward the bible teacher looking for something more understandable. It’s not rigidly scientific. As far as I am concerned, that battle has been fought and won. If you want more explanations of the content with a couple of reviews, check out the page. The scriptural arguments are compelling It’s a fun … Continue reading →