Paperback font size and layout

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

Hello everyone,
I plan to get my book ready for paperback release soon, and I realized I know little about the specifics.

What should be the font size, considering the book is adult fantasy? And the line spacing? And what should be the distance between the text and the end of the paper in 6x9 format?

Thanks for any advice offered.
Tomas.

[Phillip]

I pulled the KDP templates from Amazon and use those. They seem to work perfectly (though I only have print available with Amazon) and are easy to properly use.

[Gail]

Hi Tomas, are you talking about paperback (13.3 x 9.3 is what I use in word) or ebook (6 x 9)? I'm not sure what program you're using, but I use a template for paperback to upload to Amazon, for cover/back cover/spine sizes. Let me know if you're using Word and I will send it to you.

[Gail]

As far as font sizes....Arial or other 12 pt. I didn't struggle with line spacing when uploading to KDP Create, but when I branched out to Smashwords/Draft2Digital to expand retailers (B&N, Kobo, etc), a reader complained because my uploads were single spaced. So, I use 1.5 spacing now for those. Hope all that helps?

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

Gail wrote: "Hi Tomas, are you talking about paperback (13.3 x 9.3 is what I use in word) or ebook (6 x 9)?"

I plan to use 6x9 for the actual book, but my drafts are done with standard office paper (A4, 210x297mm) in Word. I used Calibre for e-book conversion, and it can convert into PDF, which is what I'd prefer to do with the e-book as I could keep the CSS formatting from the e-book file and just add ToC and glossary at the end. But that means I'll need to set the spacing, margins, etc in numbers.

As for font, I've seen Garamond recommended a lot.

[Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger)]

Tomas wrote: "As for font, I've seen Garamond recommended a lot...."

I've been using the Georgia font. Is that not allowed? I know some fonts are not allowed and I'm so afraid of selecting one of those.

[B.A.]

Tomas wrote: "Hello everyone,
I plan to get my book ready for paperback release soon, and I realized I know little about the specifics.

What should be the font size, considering the book is adult fantasy? And t..."

I use 1.3 for line spacing which makes it easier to read. 12 pt for fonts with the approved fonts being: Arial, Garmond, Times New Roman, Baskerville Old Face, Lucida Sans, Calibri, Palatino Linotype, and Georgia. These come with most of your office programs. For Ingram, you can use whatever font you want, but you need to look at what is easy to read. The reason those above are used is because of the ease of reading. For Gramond and Palatino, you might want to make then 14 pt as they are smaller than the others. You can go as low as 10 pt, but if it is print, I wouldn't buy it as it's hard to read. For margins, remember you in 0,5 extra on the binding portion of the book. I would recommend getting one of the templates from Friedlander where you have all of that set out for you, making it easy to just drop your manuscript into it.

Personally, I like Garamond, Georgia, Baskerville, Palatino and Calibri fonts for my books. They are easy to read and look nice. I do make the Garamond and Palatino 14 pt for those of us who are older and need a bigger type to read comfortably. I go between the 8x5 and the 9x6 sizes. I'll admit that I like the 9xx6 since that fits on the self better with my hard cover books.

[M.L.]

For fantasy, use a serif, not a san-serif. Garamond 11 or 12. For the spacing, margins, KDP has a template or you can use their instructions and build your own. The instructions are great, just follow them in the exact sequence. If you use cream color paper, Garamond may be a little bit light but it's still good and very standard. By the way, one reason I like Garamond is the way the question mark looks. :)

One more thing: some books will say set in xxx typeface so if you have a favorite book you might check for that.

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

M.L. wrote: "if you have a favorite book you might check for that"

As a reader, I honestly don't give a damn about the font. I have the default that was set on my Kindle when I bought it and that's it. Hence why I am asking, because I don't have any good sense of style.

Thus, thanks to everyone who replied so far, and to everyone who may yet reply. I appreciate your insight.

[M.L.]

Tomas wrote: "M.L. wrote: "if you have a favorite book you might check for that"

As a reader, I honestly don't give a damn about the font. I have the default that was set on my Kindle when I bought it and that'..."

Sure, for Kindle, but you asked about print books. :)
It's part of the learning process: if you want to develop a sense of style for a high fantasy font (if that is what you plan on writing), then look at some printed books and weigh the options. They should not look like block style business documents.

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

M.L. wrote: "Sure, for Kindle, but you asked about print books."

Yes, but the fact I read on Kindle means that have no idea about print specifics. I've last read a physical book maybe 5 years ago, and I didn't care about the font back then either. As long as it's not something really out of place... I've seen documents written by lawyers in Comic Sans, of all things, at work *facepalm*.

So, once again, I face an issue I couldn't imagine before.

[Wanjiru]

I use 12-font Garamond and 15 pt line spacing unless I want to increase pages and go to 1.5 line spacing

[M.L.]

Another issue that doesn't come up if you read all ebooks is paper. The default in KDP is cream. There is a white option but that should only be used for color illustrations. It does come out nice though but it's not for text-only. Glossy or matte for the cover is another option and glossy for fantasy. I've heard people mention fingerprints with glossy, but it's never been an issue. In fact, they up more with dark colors using a matte finish, my experience. :)

[Gail]

I've done both glossy and matte....I prefer glossy by far...even for my historicals. Matte gives it a dull, unappealing finish in my opinion.

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

M.L. wrote: "Another issue that doesn't come up if you read all ebooks is paper..."

Thanks for all the info, ML. Appreciated.

By the way, I've heard an author (won't name) say that Amazon cream is "not cream enough".

[M.L.]

Tomas wrote: "M.L. wrote: "Another issue that doesn't come up if you read all ebooks is paper..."

Thanks for all the info, ML. Appreciated.

By the way, I've heard an author (won't name) say that Amazon cream i..."

Happy to help!

Rather than a heavy cream, just a tad off white. If it's too cream it moves into yellowish and is also harder to read with, say, Garamond which tends to be a lighter font. Anyway, the choices are white or cream and white just looks wrong with a text-only book. :)

By they way, I agree with Gail about glossy. I prefer it for all paperbacks, fiction or nonfiction--that's as a writer and reader. Matte is dull, especially with dark colors and I personally don't like how it feels, the texture.

Adding - I compared an indie POD book I bought late summer with a hard cover best seller, and the paper is identical. So no worries about 'cream." :) That said, however, it's totally up to the author. Good luck!

[James]

I've changed everything to 6x9, 16 pt NTR , single sp, on white paper with a gloss cover for Amazon and Ingram Spark.
It was in response to fans wanting an easier read, and in some cases, eliminated the need for reading glasses.
Also, gloss covers work best for my genre of Sci-fi mysteries.

[Eldon, Lost on the road to Mordor]

Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger) wrote: "Tomas wrote: "As for font, I've seen Garamond recommended a lot...."

I've been using the Georgia font. Is that not allowed? I know some fonts are not allowed and I'm so afraid of selecting one of ..."

Hi Sam! Any True Type Font is perfectly fine to use. You sometimes run into trouble with the Open Type Fonts, but even some of those are good. What you really want to use is a easy reading font for your text to enhance the reader's experience. I would personally suggest a serif font, but not Times New Roman, as that particular font is way overused. :)

[Sam (Rescue Dog Mom, Writer, Hugger)]

Thank you very much, Elcon! Hugs!

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

Okay, I'm back.
The book is 679 pages long.
So, naturally, as books tend to be printed on both sides of a page, I divided that by two (so 340 sheets) and told that to my cover designer.
But the Amazon UI is now giving me an error regarding the dimensions, as if it actually wanted 680-page thickness.
The preview appears okay with print on both sides of a page, so...
what the hell?

[Phillip]

I think dimensions already factor two pages per sheet. By halving the number, you actually doubled the effort and understated how thick your book would be. I could be wrong, but I've always told my cover artists the actual page count.

[Tomas, Wandering dreamer]

Well, what I said to the cover designer was a "680-page PDF, so that *should* be 340 pages".
Anyway, I've sent her a screenshot with the dimension Amazon wants, and will wait a day or two for a fix. I'm just surprised and looking into the reasons to make sure I don't repeat the mistake with the eventual sequels.

[M.L.]

I set my book up in paperback format first and from there sent the designer the book size and page number. It worked perfectly. Then I set up the ebook. They want the book size and page count, ISBN and info for the back of the book.