BOOK DESIGN


Anyone can design a book, right? In this age of keyboard warriors and desktop publishing, why would you need a professional typesetter?

One word: Quality

If you try to DIY or find a cheap freelancer to typeset your book, you may not get a professional-looking book. If there’s one thing that screams self-published it’s terrible layout and poor graphic design. We are flexible at PMBO, but we will usually encourage everyone sending a book to print to get it professionally designed (cover and interior).

Writers who are planning to go straight from a Word document to ebook formats are encouraged to consider our manuscript formatting service. Without it, your ebook runs the risk of looking drab and unprofessional. This is especially important for non-fiction.

Most Word documents lack professional editing, formatting or both. Even if they have been formatted properly, it is only at the book design stage that the following can be properly considered:

  • Page size and the relation of content on left and right pages on the spread
  • Spacing, consistent and attractive (eg. around headings and changes from one type of paragraph to another)
  • Margins, including increased gutter margins for the fold down the centre of the book
  • Widows and orphans
  • Fonts: choosing the best typeface and text size for readability and aesthetics, in print and on-screen
  • Master pages, chapter lead page design, page numbering, etc.
  • Tracking, leading and kerning
  • Images—sourcing the right image at the right quality, photoshopping it and placing it with the right amount of spacing around it, deep-etching those (remove from background) that need to overlap other objects, clever use of imagery in subtle places that suit the design concept and art direction of your book.


Why choose PMBO for book design?

We have designed more than a hundred books for print, and we have the experience to communicate with you and typeset your book properly for print-on-demand or offset book printing. We can create or modify graphics for your book, including technical vector images, sketches, diagrams, cartoons and other kinds of illustrations.

Please view some examples from our portfolio of books designed for print.

How to choose a good book designer
Look for a book designer who has done similar books to your, or who is confident they understand your brief. For a free comment and quote on taking your manuscript into InDesign and making it ready for print, please upload your document to Dropbox and send us the link via the Contact Us page.


Self-publishing articles you may be interested in

Feedback about our book design

Yes, Please Publish My Book Online!