Tag Archives: column width

Picking an appropriate size for your book

Skilled Workman Posted on by

Document size [page size] In traditional publishing, there were many more options. This is one reason why traditional publishing costs so much more. Virtually all traditional printing is custom work—to meet the needs of the individual designer & various paper and press sizes. We give up some of that freedom to control costs as we move into on-demand printing. For my purposes here, I am talking about Createspace and Lulu. For the on-demand print publisher, many costs … Continue reading →

Column width: the key to comfortable reading

Skilled Workman Posted on by

Be very careful with your column choices—especially in books. (It’s the main reason blogs and ebooks are so hard to read.) Your focus must be easy, comfortable readability. Generally, the asymmetrical (off-center) layouts with wide margins are good. Of course, you can go crazy and make things totally illegible. Modern style tends to be chaotic, splashy, and overly complex. But your innate taste and discretion should keep these tendencies in check. The problem, of course, is that taste … Continue reading →