What would be a good font for my book?
January 6, 2010 12:21 PM Subscribe
What would be a good font for my book?
I'm planning on self-publishing a short novel soon, and I don't really know anything about fonts, so any advice you have on this would be greatly appreciated.
Last time I tried this I used a font that looked quite nice on my computer screen, but it looked slightly awful on the printed page, and I'm hoping to avoid repeating this mild disaster.
I'm planning on self-publishing a short novel soon, and I don't really know anything about fonts, so any advice you have on this would be greatly appreciated.
Last time I tried this I used a font that looked quite nice on my computer screen, but it looked slightly awful on the printed page, and I'm hoping to avoid repeating this mild disaster.
IANAFN (font nerd), but I've selected my own font for a self-published book before (via Lulu.com). I don't remember what I ended up selecting, but below are a few guidelines.
The general consensus is to use serifs for printed text, as they reduce reader fatigue. You also have to be aware of the space between lines of text and how that changes from viewing it on the computer versus seeing it on a page, where the edges of the paper act to frame the words. The font I used was great, but the spacing between the lines of text turned out terribly and contributed more than any other single source to the amateurish feel to the finished product. Don't rely on the gross definitions available for paragraph setting - tweak it as much as you can.
Also, what are the dimensions of the finished product? How will it be bound? Perfect, coil, stapled? You can eliminate obvious errors by printing out a few pages and binding them together in a way similar to how they will be produced.
And remember, always check a proof before you do the full order, which is where I made my mistake due to a mis-managed deadline.
(On preview, what clorox said)
posted by burnfirewalls at 12:40 PM on January 6, 2010
The general consensus is to use serifs for printed text, as they reduce reader fatigue. You also have to be aware of the space between lines of text and how that changes from viewing it on the computer versus seeing it on a page, where the edges of the paper act to frame the words. The font I used was great, but the spacing between the lines of text turned out terribly and contributed more than any other single source to the amateurish feel to the finished product. Don't rely on the gross definitions available for paragraph setting - tweak it as much as you can.
Also, what are the dimensions of the finished product? How will it be bound? Perfect, coil, stapled? You can eliminate obvious errors by printing out a few pages and binding them together in a way similar to how they will be produced.
And remember, always check a proof before you do the full order, which is where I made my mistake due to a mis-managed deadline.
(On preview, what clorox said)
posted by burnfirewalls at 12:40 PM on January 6, 2010
I realize that you may not be a lawyer, but this is an excellent list of text fonts from a website called "Typography for Lawyers." I think the given descriptions are very helpful when deciding on the feel that you want your text to have.
Also, are you having a cover designed? Maybe the cover designer has some input that you may trust (since you already trust his or her aesthetic judgment).
posted by AtomicBee at 12:48 PM on January 6, 2010 [3 favorites]
Also, are you having a cover designed? Maybe the cover designer has some input that you may trust (since you already trust his or her aesthetic judgment).
posted by AtomicBee at 12:48 PM on January 6, 2010 [3 favorites]
Pick up some hardcover books, open to last page. Sometimes there is a description of the font that was used. What you need to be concerned about: font point size, leading (vertical space between lines) and line length (the longer the line length, the greater the leading needed). Pay attention to the width of all the margins. When you see a layout you like, use the same formula.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:53 PM on January 6, 2010
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:53 PM on January 6, 2010
The most beautiful books I own are the three by Edward Tufte and the first, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, is set in Monotype Bembo. Not sure how well that would work for a novel - the pages are not text-dense, and there seems to be a decent amout of leading, but his books are joy to hold and look at.
There's some discussion of Bembo here.
posted by jquinby at 12:57 PM on January 6, 2010
There's some discussion of Bembo here.
posted by jquinby at 12:57 PM on January 6, 2010
Any one of these book design award-winners would be a good choice. Note that some of them are sans-serif, actually; I don't personally think that serifs are a hard-and-fast necessity, but they would probably work better in general for a novel.
posted by dhartung at 1:26 PM on January 6, 2010
posted by dhartung at 1:26 PM on January 6, 2010
I came to suggest Minion or New Baskerville, but see dhartung's link beats me to it. Minion especially is a glorious body font, incredibly readable. Set it with +2pt leading and a conservative font size.
(And don't worry too much -- or at all, really -- about how it looks on screen. The things that makes type look good on a screen are almost the exact opposite of what make its look good on a printing press. Minion looks a bit gnarly on screen, to be honest)
posted by bonaldi at 2:18 PM on January 6, 2010
(And don't worry too much -- or at all, really -- about how it looks on screen. The things that makes type look good on a screen are almost the exact opposite of what make its look good on a printing press. Minion looks a bit gnarly on screen, to be honest)
posted by bonaldi at 2:18 PM on January 6, 2010
Not to start a nerd-fight war, but I like Palatino as a book font. Nice size, kinda wide, and (at least the version I have) the font file has plenty of ligatures, a nice emdash, and an endash.
As important as the fonts: go look around at how books are actually typeset -- I mention the ligatures and dashes specifically, because the lack of them really betrays a poorly-set book. A ligature is two letters that are 'stuck' together, because they look better when done that way. "fl", fi", "ff" are some of the more common ones -- your font will have them as symbols, somewhere way after all the umlauts and other wierd shapes. Depending on your word processor, there may be a way to do it automatically, or you might just have to do a find-replace to put them where they belong. Also, use the single-character ellipsis (…) instead of three periods, and if you would use a double-dash, replace it with an em-dash (—); an en-dash is mostly used in places where you wouldn't double-dash nor hyphenate.
posted by AzraelBrown at 3:25 PM on January 6, 2010
As important as the fonts: go look around at how books are actually typeset -- I mention the ligatures and dashes specifically, because the lack of them really betrays a poorly-set book. A ligature is two letters that are 'stuck' together, because they look better when done that way. "fl", fi", "ff" are some of the more common ones -- your font will have them as symbols, somewhere way after all the umlauts and other wierd shapes. Depending on your word processor, there may be a way to do it automatically, or you might just have to do a find-replace to put them where they belong. Also, use the single-character ellipsis (…) instead of three periods, and if you would use a double-dash, replace it with an em-dash (—); an en-dash is mostly used in places where you wouldn't double-dash nor hyphenate.
posted by AzraelBrown at 3:25 PM on January 6, 2010
Seconding the "pay attention to how the type is set" recommendation. Your line spacing will make a big difference in how readable your book is. Try printing out blocks of text with different spacing configurations and see how it looks on the page.
Also, go to a bookstore and pick up books. Notice how the books "look". Many books will tell you about the type settings if you look for it in the back.
The Non-Designer's Type Book was an incredibly helpful reference when I was first learning about type. I am not a typesetter by trade, but in the age of desktop publishing, I'm expected to set type in the course of my other job duties. This was an easy-to-digest introduction with immediately useful, practical information.
posted by eleyna at 5:08 PM on January 6, 2010
Also, go to a bookstore and pick up books. Notice how the books "look". Many books will tell you about the type settings if you look for it in the back.
The Non-Designer's Type Book was an incredibly helpful reference when I was first learning about type. I am not a typesetter by trade, but in the age of desktop publishing, I'm expected to set type in the course of my other job duties. This was an easy-to-digest introduction with immediately useful, practical information.
posted by eleyna at 5:08 PM on January 6, 2010
Nah, Bembo kicks Palatino's ass. (On the other hand Palatino is as common as dirt, so you're more likely to have access to it.) Goudy Old Style is another beautiful font, very easy on the eyes. Avoid anything with too much contrast (i.e. Bodoni or similar), as that will tire the reader's eyes. Leading is your friend.
posted by Bron at 5:10 PM on January 6, 2010
posted by Bron at 5:10 PM on January 6, 2010
I really like Newsweek's redesign - their article font is Mercury Text.
posted by wongcorgi at 6:26 PM on January 6, 2010
posted by wongcorgi at 6:26 PM on January 6, 2010
I work for a publisher, and our books are printed in Book Antiqua--it seems to be a not uncommon choice. While it's not an especially striking font, IMO, this is arguably a good thing, as you don't want the font to be distracting.
posted by MeghanC at 7:41 PM on January 6, 2010
posted by MeghanC at 7:41 PM on January 6, 2010
What kind of book is it, and how is it laid out? What is it about?
Font can be a personal thing, but depending on book, different fonts might be able to accentuate it better.
Personally, I printed my Lab Med/Immuno M.Sc thesis in Goudy Old Style because I (like the font and) hated what I was doing and thought (due to bitterness - years out, now, I think there are interesting questions I'd like to look at) that the field was pretty much stuck in the (relative) stone age ('50's).
posted by porpoise at 9:15 PM on January 6, 2010
Font can be a personal thing, but depending on book, different fonts might be able to accentuate it better.
Personally, I printed my Lab Med/Immuno M.Sc thesis in Goudy Old Style because I (like the font and) hated what I was doing and thought (due to bitterness - years out, now, I think there are interesting questions I'd like to look at) that the field was pretty much stuck in the (relative) stone age ('50's).
posted by porpoise at 9:15 PM on January 6, 2010
There are hundreds of great book typefaces. To narrow it down, tell us more about what your novel is about. When and where is it set? Who is the audience? What is the style? Is it a comedy or serious? Is it traditional or contemporary?
posted by Typographica at 10:32 PM on January 6, 2010
posted by Typographica at 10:32 PM on January 6, 2010
To quote a great many typographers and designers, "When in doubt, use Caslon." (The phrase has 6750 hits on Google.)
posted by Hogshead at 7:26 AM on January 7, 2010
posted by Hogshead at 7:26 AM on January 7, 2010
Response by poster: Excellent, thank you all very much for the replies so far. It's given me lots to think about. Luckily I don't expect to finish writing it for a couple of months, so I've got lots of time to read up on all your replies. Cheers
To narrow it down, tell us more about what your novel is about. When and where is it set? Who is the audience? What is the style? Is it a comedy or serious? Is it traditional or contemporary?
Its a comedy, in three parts - the first is a present day Bluebeard pastiche, the second is a science fiction tale set in the far future at the end of civilisation, and the third is a horror set in a present day but fantastical London.
It's funnier than it sounds.
posted by dng at 8:16 AM on January 7, 2010
To narrow it down, tell us more about what your novel is about. When and where is it set? Who is the audience? What is the style? Is it a comedy or serious? Is it traditional or contemporary?
Its a comedy, in three parts - the first is a present day Bluebeard pastiche, the second is a science fiction tale set in the far future at the end of civilisation, and the third is a horror set in a present day but fantastical London.
It's funnier than it sounds.
posted by dng at 8:16 AM on January 7, 2010
Wow, that does run the gamut then. I think anything from this list will perform well. I'd advise against Palatino (AKA Book Antiqua) because it's so overused and available on desktop computers. It makes a self-published novel feel like an amateur job.
If you do Bembo, use the newer Bembo Book version. It's a much more careful digitization of the original metal type. The common Bembo is far too anemic for modern presses and paper. Here it is in a professional version for Adobe CS or more basic for MS Word. But I would steer clear of this one too, it seems a little old-school traditional for your topic and style.
posted by Typographica at 10:45 AM on January 7, 2010
If you do Bembo, use the newer Bembo Book version. It's a much more careful digitization of the original metal type. The common Bembo is far too anemic for modern presses and paper. Here it is in a professional version for Adobe CS or more basic for MS Word. But I would steer clear of this one too, it seems a little old-school traditional for your topic and style.
posted by Typographica at 10:45 AM on January 7, 2010
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2. Make sure it was designed for paper, not the computer. Not a problem if the font was drawn before 1980 or so.
3. Text figures look nicer.
4. Print sample pages.
posted by clorox at 12:33 PM on January 6, 2010 [1 favorite]