We started tackling Book Interior Formatting back in 2016 and through these past four years, we’ve come to understand how important it is to have the book interiors look just as good as the book covers.
We at the company have read our own handful of books; more than that actually, and we’ve seen the struggle of reading a novel where the text has that classic compact look together or the modern large and spaced out look. As much as we want to enjoy some novels, we find it a bit of a hassle to read through because the formatting distracts us from the content.
In the indie world, having a good cover is one thing that draws the audience in, but once they’re in, having a good interior design makes another difference. If the interiors are too spaced out or too congested, this does affect the reader's point of view in the book. So we came up with a list to consider in making sure your interiors are fun to look at:
Space it Out!
When Love Ignites by Tara Neideffer
Basically, make sure your sentences and paragraphs have enough space between them so the page doesn’t look too congested and hard to read. You see in When Love Ignites, the margins are spaced out, and even with the “E” drop-capped, there’s still loads of space for the reader to visually breathe.
You want your readers to have the pleasure of reading your novels, and one step in doing so is ensuring that they don’t have to strain their eyes too much while trying to relax.
Justify it!
The Island by Mia Silverton
Justified text is always the way to go. What it means is giving your left and right margins, clean edges. It visually gives the book, alignment on the page and looking at what we did for, The Island, the paragraph looks satisfyingly aligned even if some words may be hanging loose. At the end of the day, it still looks readable!
When it comes to short articles like this, not justifying your text is completely alright. But to avoid making your readers feel scattered, we justify it so they really focus and enjoy the work you put into your novel.
If you forget, don’t fret! On your next novel, consider doing it and see how much cleaner your novel will look.
Customize it!
The Love Song of Numo and Hammerfist by Maddox Hahn
Customizing your book interior makes the book yours. Try experimenting with your chapter titles. Give them new fonts. Heck, go crazy and change their colors while you're at it for your ebooks! Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone a bit and try out something new.
Looking at, The Love Song of Numo and Hammerfest, we kept the chapter titles simple and in the same font but only changed the sizes. It’s simple yet the perfect touch to a great book interior design.
If it’s your first time formatting your novel or first time having someone do it for you, don’t get too stressed. By considering spacing out, justifying, and customizing your text, we have no doubt your interiors would look exquisite and just what your readers ordered.
Thank you so much for reading!
If you’re looking into having us do your formatting, contact us any time and we can book you in!
Happy Formatting!
Guest Post by one of our own: Nada Qamber