• Writing Book Template Review Frame My For Machine
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When authors decide to format their own books, they don’t always make the best choices. It’s important to stay within formatting conventions because printed books have existed for a long while. Longstanding habits of readers and accepted trade practices have come to dictate that we follow these formatting guides unless we have a pretty good reason not to. I talk to a lot of authors and look at hundreds of self-published books, and the ones that are problematic jump out at me. For instance, last year I was judging the annual book competition for a local publishing group, and I found formatting and book construction mistakes in many of the books produced by amateur publishers. Today, I want to look at one of the most common of these mistakes, and show you easy ways to avoid it.

This has to do with page margins—how to do them right and how not to do them wrong. Small Things Make a Big Difference I’m not going to deny that are detail freaks.

Who else would want the job? There are so many tiny details and decisions that go into formatting a book that you pretty much have to be someone who enjoys working on that scale to appreciate book design. Some of these changes—ones that seem to make a significant difference to me—may involve differences of a hundredth of an inch one way or the other. When you’re dealing with typography, you get used to the effect of these small changes. And that’s true for the decisions you make about margins, too. So in the rest of the article, I’m going to talk about small measurements.

You’ll need to be able to measure the elements of your page accurately in order to implement these suggestions. Do Margins Have Needs, Too? Let’s talk for a moment about what we expect from our page margins. I am formatting a very long book using the LEGEND template. I have just completed the last pages and I need to change the margins and perhaps the font, font size and spacing to get it down to 800 pages or less. I have already adjusted the margins to: Top: 0.83 Bottom: 0.5 Inside: 0.92 Outside: 0.65 But I am still over my page limit–870 pages to be exact!

Writing Book Template Review Frame My For Machine

So, I’ve got to do something to get it down to 800 pages, keeping in mind that the inside margin also needs to be increased What would you suggest the new margins be, as well as the font, font size, and spacing? Thank you in advance for your help.

While your comments on margins (particularly the ones about gutter margins needing to be the largest) may make intuitive sense, they are not correct. Actually, a part of your comment is, but part of it is factually incorrect in relation to traditional typesetting standards. The gutter margins need to be sufficient so that the spine (or the readers eyes) are not strained while reading. However, traditionally, gutter spines have also been the smallest of the margins, since the recto and verso pages laid together, each with a large gutter spine, will create an unpleasingly blank look to the center of the book. In most earlier works published the gutter was the smallest, followed by the top margin. The Thumb margin (outer margin) was traditionally the largest.

Some of the best designed books in modern times follow the same rules, if one wants to get precise (perhaps anally so), there is an actual historical formula for calculating the relative width of each margin. Btw, Robert Bringhurts’s excellent book ‘The Elements of Typographic Style’ discuss many of these in detail. I have nothing against people wanting large gutter margins at the expense of outer margins.

What I do object to is claims that that is the correct way to design books. It is not.and never has been. It is an option one may follow, but if one is looking to design a book that that conforms to traditional standards, it is not the right option. Traditionally the gutter is the smaller margins, but sufficient to comfortably read an open book The outer margin is larger, traditionally with enough space to comfortably place ones thumb on it while keeping the book open.

Shahid, Thanks for your comment, but I guess we’ll just have to disagree. I’ve read quite a few book design books and frankly, many of their suggestions for page layout (especially the ones using the “golden section”) don’t result in what I would consider an attractive, modern book interior. My recommendation is also aimed primarily at indie authors, who tend to publish almost exclusively via print on demand, and I’ve found these books to generally have much tighter spines than a normal offset-printed trade book, requiring more than the normal gutter margin. But I appreciate your input and sure some readers will find it interesting.

Hi, I’m following up on Alex’s comment–excerpted below. I designed a book with 20 different layout pages for one publisher who uses a.167 gutter in 6×9 trim size. Then the author had to switch to another publisher, who wants pages perfectly centered on page, as Alex seems to describe.

I’m using Quark 2016 and I don’t have a lot of experience with design. Does this mean I have to go into every master page and set all text boxes at the minimum gutter—.002? Thanks, sj You say “Because your printed book isn’t going to open completely flat, we always leave more room on the inside margins of our pages.” This is true, but I think it’s important that you emphasise that each printer has different requirements. In the case of Lulu, they require that the left and right margins must be equal (likewise top and bottom) so following that having a larger inner margin would result in the book being rejected–a potentially costly waste of time.

Reply Joel Friedlander says AUGUST 24, 2014 AT 12:59 PM Alex, it’s unfortunate that Lulu puts those kinds of restrictions on the books you print there, and it’s another reason why I don’t use their services. But thanks for pointing it out, that’s very useful. Hi there, Been searching for confirmation for booklet printing query. Customer supplied A5 finished PDFs to produce 60pp saddle stitched portrait booklet. However many pages were landscape with folio centres at the foot of page which is normal. I printed booklet with folios to the outside fore-edge and portrait folios obviously at the bottom.

Would you say this is correct. Now customer says he wanted every left hand page to have folio in at spine? Never have I seen a folio there. Any comments greatly appreciated. Hi Joel Thank you for replying Unfortunately I didn’t show proof as this was a straightforward d job to be produced over 3 days I usually do in all case but I know now I should have but I did telephone him as he only replies to emails hours later to explain that all folios when turned would be at the fore-edge of each page but whether he understood who knows?

He implied that members know how to turn pages it’s “only a handbook” was his reply So I continued to print What do you think Thank you Ps been doing this for 45 years. Hi Joel and thank you so much for your articles. I recently purchased one of your templates, Sparks, for a novel. It’s very user friendly and thank you for that, but I have a question on the font. I noticed that it uses Times New Roman but I had read a number of articles recommending against that.

In your response on August 14 to a question above, you wrote, “ The other thing that surprised me was that all the (templates) I found were either generic, barely-designed Times Roman-based layouts that looked terrible” I wrote to your customer service asking about the choice of fonts and they wrote back, “Spark utilizes Times New Roman because it’s a 2 way template. This assures that you don’t have to format the manuscript twice. Times New Roman is am eBook safe font.” Could you please comment? Createspace is very non-rigorous when it comes to talking about gutters. Sometimes they seem to be referring to the combined amount of gutter + inside margin. Sometimes, not. And your discussion here seems to also mix the two.

Their own template for book size 8 x 10 gives a gutter of.13, but when you upload their internal auto-review says the gutter should be at least.5, but gives no mention of inside margin. Someone needs to spell out the relationship of gutter to inside margin, not mixing the terms, and giving examples, in a chart, with numbers in it. Thank you for this article. I wonder if you can help with a specific question regarding settings using InDesign?

I have just received a proof copy from CreateSpace for a coloring book and some of the drawings are not as crisp as I would like, I think this has happened because of the way I was creating the interior PDF. I had 300dpi images in the original Pages/Mac document, but the PDF exported at best quality from Pages (Mac’s document software) was not good enough for print. So, I thought I would try InDesign which hopefully should be better. The book is 8.5″ x 8.5″, 120 pages Black & White, the pages are predominantly images for coloring in, but there are also several text pages. When I created the document in Pages, I had 0.5″ margins set for Top/Bottom/Outside and 0.62″ for Inside. Looking at the proof copy, I think an increase of 0.125″ all round would not go amiss – 0.625″ and 0.75″. However, I’m not certain exactly how to set the document to do this.

Is the following correct when I create a New Document? Intent: Print Number of Pages: 120 Start Page No.: 1 Facing Pages: Selected Primary Text Frame: Deselected Page Size: 8.5″ x 8.5″ (Portrait) Columns Number: 1 Gutter: 0 Margins – Top: 0.625″ Bottom:0.625″ Inside: 0.75″ Outside: 0.625″ Bleed: all 0 as there are no bleed images Slug: 0 Appreciate any help you are able to give 🙂. Joel, thanks a ton for all of your info. You make this whole process a little easier. Have you had lots of questions over the years about Word’s mirrored margins?

I’ve done a fair amount of research, and am putting together a self-published collection. I have the book size, and I know about the binding, etc. That goes with margins. On Word 2011, when you choose the margins, there is INSIDE, OUTSIDE, LEFT, RIGHT, and also GUTTER. “Inside” always means the gutter, right? The inside part of the book, correct?

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Why do they add this extra option in there? I’m also confused as to why there are two different margin setups, and both can be different, even after you type everything in. On “Page Setup” there is a margin area, and on the regular Word document page there is a margin area. Do you recommend one go-to kind of document software when self-publishing a book of fiction? Top file compressors: squash for mac free. Sorry, all of this is probably in your self-publishing kit, which I just noticed, and that I’ll probably wind up buying.

Hi Joel, I have a narrative non-fiction at 60k words and would like to use a 6 by 9in layout however the last 50 pages transition into diagrams for a scientific theory based off of the narrative. Because of this, 7 by 10in would hold the sketches and diagrams better. So my dilemma is that I am going to go with 7 by 10in but can’t quite find the right margins for the first 200 pages that contain the narrative non-fiction. Im either with margins that are small but have 400 words per page or margins to big giving the feel of to much negative space.

I am stubborn so I want to figure this out. Thanks for you help, Justin. Still confused. Here, you write here “we know the gutter (or inside) margin on bound books has to be larger than the outer margin I would start off with an outside margin of.75″ and a gutter margin of.875.″ But on 9 Mar 2010 (Book Page Layout for a Long Narrative) you wrote, “You want to keep the inside margin—the one in the gutter or at the binding—smaller than the outside, because when the book is held open this will essentially double in size, combining the inside margins of both pages in a space in the middle of the book.” Please clarify. When should the gutter margin be larger, and when should it be smaller? TLynn, That’s a good catch, and one of the difficulties of writing on the same subject over a period of years.

And keep in mind that some of these guidelines change depending on the kind of printing you’re doing. What I’ve found recently is that the books from print on demand suppliers have “tighter” spines than books from offset printers. Consequently, I always make the gutter margins on books intended for print on demand larger to make sure the type doesn’t disappear into the gutter, making it difficult to read. On books intended for offset it depends on the number of pages (longer books need more gutter margins) and kind of binding (perfect binding creates tighter spines than notch or Smythe-sewn bindings). I hope that gives you some guidance. I will go back and edit the article you pointed out, and my thanks for that. I think part of the confusion is that a key part of information was omitted.

That part being, that a margin design should account for recto and verso pages being viewed together when a book is opened. Only in this context inner and outer margins should be discussed and designed. The usual design goal is to have margins set so, that when book is opened both text columns appear pleasing to the eye, which is in itself a very imprecise spec. A good initial approach is to have left and right outer margins equal and have a sum of inner margins (when viewed in an opened book, so account for gutter) equal in width to an outer margin. Try that as a starting point and modify from there. Hi Joel, Thanks so much for the article!

Very informative 🙂 Just wanted to ask a question regarding LS printing. This is my first time self-publishing and I’ve chosen to go with LS, your article on CreateSpace vs LS was an excellent read (so thank you for that as well!:D) I’ve read articles and heard from people that LS can be very strict when it comes to accepting book files. I have not yet submitted mine in as I’m very meticulously trying to ensure I do everything correctly the first time. I also read your article on cleaning up book files for help on that 🙂 Your blog has become my #1 place for info now!! I would just like to know exactly what I’m supposed to do once the book is ready to send for printing. I know I have to convert it to pdf, but am not entirely sure how to do so and what steps to take.

Writing Book Template Review Frame My For Mac Pdf

I’m also not sure whether I’m supposed to adjust the margins according to the page size in mind before sending to them or whether they will take care of this. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

One of my basic rules of thumb is that the a book’s outside margins must be large enough to comfortably fit human thumbs without covering up any text. It’s really annoying to have to constantly re-position pages while reading through a book. Paper is one of the least expensive parts of publishing, and if a book requires 10 or 20 more pages to be more attractive and more comfortable to read, it’s a worthwhile investment. While paper is not expensive, it’s not free, so keep printing costs in mind while evaluating suppliers. Each page from Lightning Source or CreateSpace costs the same, but other companies have wacky price schedules. With Infinity Publishing, a reader pays a buck more for a book with 129 pages than one with 128 pages and the author pays 54 cents more. Page number 129 is printed on a very expensive piece of paper.

Xlibris also has an inflated and weird “delta” between page ranges. A 107-page paperback book will sell for $15.99 and the hardcover will sell for $24.99. If you add just one page more, the price goes up $4 or $5. The difference in the manufacturing cost is tiny, and can’t possibly justify the difference in cover price. The price for a paperback with 398 pages is $19.99 (just like the 108-page book), but, at 400 pages the retail price jumps four bucks to $23.99, and that price holds all the way to 800 pages. Xlibris gives away 400 pages for “free,” but charges four or five bucks for one page!

Xlibris books are printed by Lightning Source, so the price per additional page is $.013 (or maybe even less if they get a discount). Sadly, both amateur and professional publishers seem to strive to save pages, dollars (and maybe also trees) and the result is often awful.

The sample books that Infinity Publishing and DiggyPOD distribute to impress potential author/customers have barely enough margin room for a child’s pinky — let alone an adult’s thumb. Some magazines, including Bloomberg Business Week, are guilty of the same sin. Amateur book formatters should spend some time walking around an art gallery or even viewing the websites of companies that sell art prints. For example, Pablo Picasso created “Petite Fleurs” with ample white space or air around the image, and even the hands and forearms are mere outlines around white space to further emphasize the color of the flowers held in the hands. The folks at Art.com provide additional white space in the matte that surrounds the print in a frame. If Picasso and the framer removed the air supply, the same-size print pushes me away. The print with ample air draws me in.

Eyes—like noses—need air. It’s interesting how print on demand has changed the way we think about book production. Historically, when books were all printed offset, paper was the most costly part of any printing project. More than the labor or the binding. Using the minimum amount of paper for any specific project was so important that we would always try to get as large a first run as possible so we could order our paper by the “carload.” This would allow our production staff to create a sheet size that was exactly right for the book and the equipment it would print on, and we would have the paper custom made to that exact size, simply to eliminate any waste whatsoever.

Of course, this had nothing to do with the design of the book, which is what’s under discussion in this article, and Michael’s points about margin size are good ones. Friedlander: I have been reading your good posts with suggestions and ideas on formatting, publishing and related information.

I have written some poetry and I am in the process of writing my first novel. I love to write! I am a paralegal of 12 years by profession with hopes of passing my TExES exam in the very near future to teach special education inasmuch as I have already earned my Bachelor of Arts in Child and Family Studies with a minor in special populations. I am not yet attempting to make writing my full-time career.

I simply love to write. While I am writing, my brain takes a vacation from the every day stressors of life and I can think creatively without distraction. Do you have a publisher of preference? Thank you for all of your postings which are useful to individuals such as myself.