No matter how stunning your book cover is, or how amazing the story, choosing the right font for your book can make a big difference when you publish your book.
The objective is to create a coherent and visually correct reading flow, so that it does not distract the reader, but it helps him to concentrate on the content.
In order to select the right typography, you should identify your target readers and their features, just as you did when you designed the book cover or the plot. The topic is also key: fiction, non-fiction, religious books… they all require different fonts.
There are two main typography families: serif and san-serif fonts. ‘Serif’ refers to the small decorative flourishes at the ends of the letter strokes. San serif fonts do not have those flourishes. Inside each group there are thousands of variations.
Usually, serif fonts are considered more appropriated for print works, such as books and newspapers, as they ease reading in long texts.
Time New Roman could be a tempting option, since it’s been used for a long time in most newspapers. However, this font creates a solid and dark text block, not very suitable for books or novels.
‘Family Font’ describes the font variations inside a font family. You should not use more than 3 different fonts in a book and, if you did, at least they should belong to the same font family. Choose different fonts for titles and main texts.
Font Family: Book Antiqua
Normal: Book title
Bold: Book title
Italics: Book title
Here are some fonts you can use for your book:
:: Palatino Linotype
:: Book Antiqua
:: Georgia
:: Goudy Old Style
:: Bookman
:: Adobe Garamond Pro
:: Century Schoolbook
Font size: most books use size 10 or 11, but the final size might depend on the chosen font. Remember that it is recommended to use font sizes from 12pt to 14pt for children books.
if you want to learn more on typography, visit I Love Typography, a great site for typography lovers!
Is it possible to include a sample of each mentioned font?
I am 60 years old and only now starting to write and thoroughly enjoy the writing and also when I research.
I use Google and Books.
is this cheating or is there any such thing as cheating in writing your own story?
As a self publisher, I have completed my manuscript in a word document and must determine the font and size.
To save space, I did not put a space between paragraphs, only indented the first line of each paragraph. Good or Bad?
Please offer advice.