Writing a book is a major accomplishment; proper formatting ensures a professional, readable final product. Formatting covers font choice, spacing, alignment, title pages, page numbers, and chapter headings. It enhances both aesthetics and readability.
Even a great story can suffer from poor formatting, making it essential for self-published authors to get it right, especially when considering elements like book cover design. This guide breaks down the basics and offers tips to help you confidently format your best book.
Proper formatting is an integral part of creating a readable and attractive book. It ensures smooth flow and cohesion throughout the book, making it easier for readers to follow the storyline or grasp the arguments.
Formatting enhances the reader's experience by ensuring intuitive navigation. A well-formatted book signals professionalism and commitment to quality, thus attracting more readers, reviewers, and publishers. Moreover, it meets the technical requirements of different publishing platforms and makes your book inclusive for readers of all abilities. Lastly, it allows for unique author identity across all your books.
Formatting is just as important as the story itself when publishing a book. A well-formatted book enhances readability, ensures a professional appearance, and keeps readers engaged from start to finish.
Whether you're self-publishing or preparing a manuscript for traditional publishing, understanding the key components or parts of your book formatting—like margins, font choices, spacing, and chapter structure—can make all the difference.
Let’s break down the essential elements that give a book its polished, reader-friendly look.
Trim size refers to the final dimensions of your book after it has been printed and trimmed to size. , ensuring that content extends to the edge of the page. Page size and margins are the blank spaces that frame your page, crucial for preventing important text or images from being cut off during printing. Trim size and margins influence each other and must be chosen sensitively, considering your target audience, genre, and print specifications.
The trim size you choose influences the margins you set. To give you a sense of typical margin settings for different page counts, refer to the text table below:
Page Count | Inside (gutter, inside margin) Margins | Outside Margins |
|---|---|---|
24-150 pages | 0.375 in (9.6 mm) | 0.25 in (6.4 mm) or more if bleed is needed |
151-300 pages | 0.5 in (12.7 mm) | 0.25 in (6.4 mm) or more if bleed is needed |
The gutter margin is used to accommodate the space taken up by the binding process.
Fonts do more than just look good—they shape readability and style! For body text, serif fonts like Times New Roman or Adobe Garamond Pro keep things classic and easy on the eyes. Chapter headings? Keep them distinct and consistent for smooth navigation.
Thinking of a fancy font? Make sure it fits your book’s tone and genre—whimsical for kids, sleek and professional for serious topics. And don’t forget size matters—too small, and it’s a strain; too big, and you lose space.
Want a deeper dive into typography for self-publishing? Check out our expert guide!
Our comprehensive guide delves into the nuances of typography, offering insights into how font choices can enhance the visual allure of your book and facilitate a seamless reading experience. We explore the impact of font size, spacing, and style on reader perception, emphasizing the importance of aligning your typography with your book's genre and target audience.
The guide also provides curated recommendations for top fonts suitable for various genres, such as Garamond, Caslon, and Janson for classic elegance, and Arial and Calibri for modern readability. Additionally, we address crucial considerations like font licensing and effective font pairing strategies to ensure a cohesive and professional book design. By following the insights shared in this guide, you'll be equipped to make informed typography decisions that enhance your self-published book's appeal and readability.
The way text sits on a page affects readability and flow. Most books, including your own books, use justified alignment, which keeps both left and right edges neat and polished.
Spacing matters just as much! A 1.5 or double line spacing ensures readability, while consistent paragraph spacing keeps everything organized. Typically, the first line of each paragraph is indented, except for the first paragraph of a new chapter or section.
A well-formatted book isn’t just easier to read—it looks professional too!
Clear formatting helps readers navigate and absorb your book effortlessly. Chapters serve as main divisions, while sections break them into digestible parts, keeping the flow smooth.
Need to shift time, place, or perspective within a chapter? Scene breaks are your go-to tool! These subtle pauses prevent confusion and maintain engagement.
Well-structured formatting makes your book easier to read—and harder to put down!Here are some points to guide you when formatting these elements:
Provide clear and consistent chapter headings or titles. This could be numeric ("Chapter 1"), alphanumeric ("Chapter One"), or thematic ("The Lost City").
Consider using distinct symbols, blank space, or lines to denote scene breaks. This visually cues the reader about a change in narrative flow.
Ensure that new chapters always start on a new page.
So, how to format a book to print? Different books require different formatting. While core principles apply to all, genres like novels, non-fiction, and anthologies have unique structures. Specialized books—academic, cookbooks, and children's books—demand even more tailored formatting.
In case of novels, nonfiction books, and fiction, formatting should maximize the flow and immersive reading experience. Body text is typically set in a simple, easy-to-read font size of around 9 to 12 points, depending on the chosen font. It is crucial to consider how many lines of text can fit comfortably on a page. Serif fonts are often preferred due to their legibility and classical aesthetic.
The standard practice is to start a new chapter, especially the first chapter, on a new page, usually odd-numbered or right-side pages for print books. Many fiction books also include scene breaks within chapters, denoted by blank space or symbols.
Proper dialogue formatting keeps conversations clear—start a new paragraph for each speaker to avoid confusion. Consistency in tense and viewpoint strengthens the reader’s connection to your story.
Nonfiction works serve to inform and often present complex information in an easy-to-follow format. Clear headings and subheadings are crucial in breaking up the text into digestible sections. Compared to fiction, nonfiction typically uses more line spacing and larger fonts, easing the reading of dense, informative content.
It is common to include design elements such as tables, diagrams, bulleted lists and text boxes. These should be consistently formatted for ease of reference. Chapters may be further divided into sections, each marked out by subheadings.
A detailed table of contents, index, and bibliography are also essential components. They assist in navigation and provide due credit and further reading resources.
Anthologies are collections of shorter works, like poems, short stories, or essays, by one or multiple authors. Each individual piece usually starts on a new page. The table of contents plays a significant role, providing an easy reference to the diverse inclusions.
Each piece may have its title and author name, often centered on the page. Consider adding distinct dividers, illustrations, or motifs to differentiate each work.
In a multi-author anthology, providing a brief author bio at the start or end of each contribution is standard practice. If the anthology holds an overarching theme, the collection may have an introduction that sets the tone and intention of the assembled works.
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The front matter introduces your book with elements like the title page, copyright, acknowledgments, and point of view. The back matter wraps it up with appendices, endnotes, a bibliography, and an author bio. Clear, standard formatting ensures a professional, organized presentation.
The front matter sets the stage for your book. Here are some elements you might consider including:
The title page is generally the first page of your book, presenting the book's title, subtitle (if any), and author’s name.
The copyright page generally follows the title page, carrying the copyright notice, edition information, publication information, and the ISBN.
The dedication page is an optional inclusion, allowing the author to dedicate the book to a person or cause.
The table of contents provides an outline of the sections or chapters in your book.
The visual presentation and order of these components significantly influence initial impressions of the book for potential readers, librarians, and reviewers.
The back matter concludes your book, with supporting or supplementary material that may be too detailed or tangential to include in the work. Here are some common elements of back matter:
An appendix or appendices offers additional information germane to the text, such as tables, research data, or explanations of jargon.
Notes or endnotes can clarify specific passages or concepts covered in the main content.
The index is particularly central in academic or technical books, where it can help readers find specific topics or keywords within the body of text.
Non-fiction books typically have more elaborate back matter than fiction, owing to their educative purpose.
Authors use various software to streamline book formatting. Microsoft Word offers accessibility, InDesign provides advanced design tools, and Scrivener caters to writers. Choose based on your needs, skills, and budget.
Microsoft Word is a highly accessible and versatile word processor and an excellent tool for basic book formatting for new writers. Its familiarity to many potential authors can make the formatting process significantly less daunting.
Word offers many essential features, including styling and formatting text and paragraphs, inserting images and tables, and setting up page layouts. While it’s a generic office tool and not specifically designed for book formatting, Word is capable of admirably completing the job for most self-published authors.
However, Word doesn't support more sophisticated book designs or formats without substantial manual work or add-ins. Its auto-formatting sometimes contributes to incorrect formatting styles, calling for careful manual checks.
Adobe InDesign is a professional-level graphic design and layout software and considered a standard in the publishing industry. It delivers exceptional control over every aspect of the layout and formatting, catering proficiently to books, magazines, posters, and interactive PDFs.
InDesign supports rich typography, versatile page layouts, and various multicolumn, sidebars, and pull-quote designs. It allows easy management of master pages, nested styles, and object styles, which can greatly accelerate the formatting process of long and complex books.
While InDesign has an extensive set of features, it has a steep learning curve as compared to Word or Scrivener. It may be an overkill for simple text-based novels but is a potent tool for authors seeking highly customized formatting or dealing with heavy graphical content.
Scrivener is a comprehensive writing tool designed specifically for authors. Apart from offering powerful formatting capabilities, Scrivener provides an improved writing experience with its innovative writing workspace. This includes a corkboard view to visualize and restructure your work, a research area to keep reference materials at hand, and advanced composition tools to focus on writing.
Scrivener's Compile feature lets you export your work into multiple formats, including Microsoft Word, PDF, EPUB, and MOBI. The tool’s powerful style system and custom templates allow great flexibility and control during formatting.
However, like InDesign, Scrivener also has a learning curve. New users might find the extensive features somewhat overwhelming. Despite this, many authors swear by Scrivener for managing complex writing projects and producing professionally formatted books.
Digital publishing has made e-books a popular alternative to print. While both follow core formatting principles, print books require trim size and margins, while e-books need reflowable text and linkable navigation. Adapting to each ensures a polished, readable book.
While at their core, e-books and print books deliver the same content, the way readers interact with them differs significantly. This necessitates different approaches to formatting for each medium:
Aspect | E-book | Print Book |
|---|---|---|
Pagination | Flexible, depends on device settings | Fixed, consistent across all copies |
Images & Graphics | Must be compatible with various screens, less emphasis on high-resolution | High-resolution is essential for clear printing, precise positioning and alignment is important |
Text | Reflowable, adjusts to various screen sizes | Fixed, does not adjust to book dimensions |
Navigation | Interactive Table of Contents, hyperlinks utilized | Non-interactive, physical navigation |
Fonts | Limited ability to embed fonts, depends on reader’s device | Full control over font selection |
Understanding these nuances will ensure that your work looks and functions well in the chosen format.
When transitioning from print to e-book or vice versa, it's crucial to adapt your book to meet the unique formatting requirements of each file format. Reflowable e-book formats such as EPUB and MOBI enable the text to adjust to varying screen sizes, making it reader-friendly. When converting to an e-book, one also needs to replace the static table of contents with a dynamic, linkable one.
Conversely, converting from an e-book to print requires adding elements like page numbers, headers and footers and adhering to strict alignment and positioning for graphics and illustrations. Attention must be paid to trim size and margins, and ensuring high-resolution images for optimal printing while considering printing costs.
While several tools help automate conversion between formats, manual checks and adjustments are usually necessary to maintain high quality.
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Partner with ExWhyZed to make your book stand out. Get in touch today for a quote!
Transforming your manuscript into a finished book can feel overwhelming, but understanding the basics of formatting, including the chapter title, makes it easier. Focus on trim size, margins, fonts, alignment, spacing, and chapter structure. Adapt your approach based on the book type—novel, non-fiction, or anthology. Well-formatted front and back matter enhance readability and provide key information.
Use the right tools and software to streamline the process and ensure a polished result. Differentiate between e-book and print formatting to meet their unique requirements, including the necessary ebook format specifications. Book formatting blends aesthetics with technical precision—mastering both ensures a professional, reader-friendly book.
Common book formatting mistakes include using too many different fonts or font sizes, inconsistent line spacing and indentation, not using scene breaks, having text that is too close to the edges of the page (outside the margins), and not starting new chapters on a new page, which can go a long way in greatly affecting readability.
The time it takes to format a book largely depends on its length and complexity, and your familiarity with the process and the software used. Formatting a simple novel using a tool like Microsoft Word might take a beginner a lot of time and a few days.
Yes, e-books require different formatting than print books. Unlike print books, e-books are reflowable and allow for resizable text, so page numbers, headers and footers, and multi-column layouts don't apply. They also need a clickable table of contents that helps navigate to different sections.
Most self-publishing platforms offer a preview tool to examine your e-book before publishing. This allows you to review the formatting on various virtual devices, including alignment, spacing, and navigation. Ensure that your e-book is compatible with standard e-readers to guarantee a seamless reader experience.
An informative 5 minute read.
At Ex Why Zed, children’s book printing is more than just a technical service—it’s a deeply creative endeavour that merges imaginative storytelling with expert craftsmanship. Whether you’re an author, illustrator, or an independent creator looking to self publish a book, each children’s title that comes through our doors is treated with care and precision. We understand that printing a children’s book isn’t merely about getting ink on paper; it’s about building stories that captivate, educate, and endure.
To help you make informed print choices when you self publish a book, we’ve analysed and dissected a series of recent children’s book printing projects. Across hardbacks, paperbacks, and stapled booklets, our goal is to showcase the breadth of printing possibilities and the winning design decisions that can transform a manuscript and illustrations into a truly impactful reader experience. Below, you’ll find detailed insights into each project, complete with the nuances that made them shine.
Read our Children's Book printing series case study here
The “Where Are You Going Today?” series—featuring Summer Tractor, Christmas Tractor, and Excavator—exemplifies clever print design anchored in a perfect bound children’s book format. Each title taps into distinct seasonal themes, which keeps audiences returning year after year. Beyond the appealing illustrations, the standout choice was a landscape orientation and a gloss-laminated cover—both decisions that instantly evoke a sense of quality while protecting against spills and sticky fingers. Inside, uncoated text pages make the colours appear soft and inviting, perfectly suited to a younger readership.
Crucially, the binding depth and page layout were designed to accommodate large, playful illustrations without overwhelming the text. Bright imagery paired with clean, readable typography keeps the storyline engaging for children. This series is also a testament to how seasonal hooks can foster ongoing reader curiosity. As summer blends into winter festivities and back to everyday adventure, the print choices—like gloss-laminated covers—ensure each book remains sturdy through repeated reads, while the uncoated stock inside gives parents and children a tactile reading experience.
Read the full Hurricane Brain case study here
Hurricane Brain tackles a sensitive subject—loss and bereavement—through a thoughtful blend of emotive artwork and carefully chosen finishes. Opting for a perfect bound children’s book gave the project a polished feel, enhanced by a softly textured matt lamination on the cover that gently sets the book’s gentle, contemplative tone. Inside, uncoated paper stock was used to bring depth and warmth to the subdued colour palette, mirroring the emotional weight of the storyline. This design choice allowed the illustrations and text to breathe, showing sensitivity to the book’s difficult theme.
The print specification intentionally centred on user experience. Wider margins around the text and ample white space were incorporated to ensure the layout felt calming and not visually overwhelming for a child dealing with grief. The interior spreads underscore how a carefully balanced approach—e.g., combining child-friendly typography with earnest, hand-drawn images—can help children process heavy topics. The production approach demonstrates how an empathetic design and finishing method can be instrumental in creating books that guide readers through challenging emotional journeys.
Read the full Rose Loses Her Nose case study here
“Rose Loses Her Nose” captures the quintessential heart of a self-published children’s book by balancing budget considerations with a polished outcome. The client chose a heavier cover stock to give the book a sturdy, “grown-up” feel while retaining lighter silk pages inside, ensuring the overall weight remained manageable. This thoughtful binding decision gave the story a real sense of identity—it feels more like a treasured keepsake than a flimsy booklet.
The print design pivots around child-friendly illustrations and typefaces that exude warmth. The covers were colour-matched meticulously to maintain vibrancy, a vital detail that ensures the titular “nose” stands out among the pastel backgrounds. Meanwhile, perfect binding accommodates enough pages to showcase large illustrations alongside the text without compromising structural integrity. The result is a cherished children’s book that looks and feels professional, effectively dispelling any preconceived notions about self-publish quality.
Read our Kittiwake Kingdom case study here
“Kittiwake Kingdom: Fliff-Miffle’s Escape” is a prime example of how going the extra mile with a casebound solution can generate a strong “wow” factor. By wrapping a vibrant cover illustration around greyboard and finishing it with matt lamination, this project immediately stands out on the shelf. The decision to include 4pp printed endpapers further enhances the sense of immersion. Upon opening, readers are greeted with thematic designs that hint at the story’s whimsical realm—a triumph of cohesive, thorough design.
Inside, the choice of uncoated paper adds textural depth, which, in turn, intensifies the colours of the lively illustrations. This format gives readers a tangible connection to the magical world, while the robust binding ensures the book can handle repeated reading without wear. By merging attractive casebound engineering with meticulous artistic vision, the creators of “Kittiwake Kingdom” have turned a children’s story into something bordering on collector’s-item quality—demonstrating how premium materials can elevate a project to new heights.
Read the inspiring Duffy The Sea Turtle case study here
“Duffy’s Lucky Escape” stands out for its stapled children’s book printing approach (wire-stitched binding), reinforcing that litho printed booklets look polished and impactful. The author made the clever decision to apply gloss lamination just to the cover’s exterior, creating an appealing shine that reflects underwater light for their sea turtle tale. Internally, a silk paper finish provides clarity to the oceanic colour scheme, allowing each page to pop with aquatic life and environmental messaging.
This booklet has secured national publicity, not just for its engaging narrative but also for its durable, kid-friendly format. Wire-stitched spines are a great fit for stories under 40 pages, particularly when you want to keep costs manageable without sacrificing quality. The vivid artwork connects with children on an emotional level, and the straightforward, staple-bound structure ensures easy page turns—crucial for school readings and environmental awareness campaigns. Overall, the design underscores how short, focused children’s books can remain visually compelling.
Read our Nippy The Baby Crocodile case study here
“Nippy the Baby Crocodile” takes the durability of a hardback design to heart, combining 170gsm silk pages with a matt-laminated cover for a sturdy yet inviting tactile experience. This choice was essential for a children’s story about an adventurous crocodile, as it ensures the book remains in prime condition despite rough-and-tumble usage by little hands. The thick greyboard spine supports the integrity of the binding, reinforcing the book’s premium feel.
Inside, the cohesive visual identity is carried by animated watercolour illustrations, each emphasised by a slightly glossy sheen on the silk pages. The carefully balanced text-to-illustration ratio keeps readers engaged, while easy-to-read fonts cater to younger audiences. The author’s decision to go casebound underscores the book’s lasting value—an ideal approach for authors who want to communicate that their titles are meant to be treasured for years to come.
Read more about the Little Bee series of reading books here
“The Fascinating Adventures of Little Bee” is a vibrant mix of music, rhyme, and story spread across ten titles, each with its own cover design. This project shows how a self-published series can remain cohesive while giving each instalment a distinct look. By choosing a smaller, square format (148×153mm), the creator gave each book a unique footprint, lending a collectable charm. The silk covers pop with colour, while the uncoated text pages maintain a pleasant grip that kids love.
Perfect binding these slender volumes underscores their standalone appeal while still presenting them as a set. The synergy of music, rhyme, and energetic visuals demands high-quality print reproduction—something that was achieved by meticulously calibrating vibrant inks. Each cover’s individually themed artwork helps distinguish the separate adventures while supporting brand identity across all ten titles. This clever combo of multiple covers, accessible design, and robust binding showcases the boundless creativity possible within children’s book printing.
This folklore-inspired title merges modern aesthetics with traditional Slavic motifs, demonstrating how cultural narratives can receive fresh visual life. The matt-laminated casebound design offers a satisfying heft, highlighting the depth and intricacy of the illustrations. Uncoated endpapers introduce the reader to silhouettes of the Fire Bird and Wolf right from the start—an impactful nod to the story’s mythical elements.
Inside, rich, textured visuals leap off the pages thanks to thoughtful colour control during production. Striking reds and golds dominate, balanced by a cream background, so the text remains legible without undermining the artwork. By harmonising folklore motifs with contemporary layout structures, this project proves that timeless tales can connect with modern audiences—especially when anchored by purposeful print choices like premium binding and quality paper stocks.
“Wily Beasts” expertly leverages a 210×210mm casebound format to house vividly drawn animals and whimsical storylines. One of its key design triumphs is the fully utilised hardcover, allowing high-impact illustrations on the front, back, and spine, with printed endpapers adding a theatrical opening sequence for the reader. This sense of continuity from cover to endpapers fosters an instant engagement, as though stepping into a richly imagined world.
Opting for sturdy greyboard covered in silk-finish paper and topped with a matte laminate ensures each page turn is an immersive, uninterrupted experience. The 9mm spine also supports a heftier page count, ideal for in-depth storytelling. By integrating colour bursts and imaginative typography, the design encourages young readers to linger on each spread. Taken together, these decisions yield a polished, stand-out children’s book perfect for authors or illustrators who see their creations as enduring art pieces.
Read the heart warming case study of My Wonder Line here
“My Wonder Line” offers an uplifting message of self-acceptance for children who have scars, achieved through a visually gentle yet striking design. The 265×210mm format—a comfortable middle ground between A5 and A4—ensures broad, bright illustrations can shine without making the book cumbersome for small hands. A silk cover packs in vibrant colours, while the uncoated interior pages add a comforting texture that feels just right for delicate subject matter.
Central to the book’s visual impact is how seamlessly the text floats alongside the beautiful illustrations by Angela Mayers. The choice of a perfect-bound spine maintains a clean profile, and the short-run printing format accommodates a heartfelt story of roughly 32 pages. It’s proof that meaningful narratives can be underscored by equally thoughtful print production, reinforcing a message of hope and representation for children everywhere.
“Mars and Mara Explore The Stars” embraces an impressive square 230×230mm children’s book printing style, emphasising large, full-bleed space illustrations. The binding choice—a sturdy, casebound finish—supports the book’s adventurous theme, allowing cosmic backdrops to flow across double-page spreads without disruption. The heavy greyboard interior, wrapped in a matt-laminated cover, feels premium and appealingly robust in young hands.
Inside, deep blues and bright oranges form a visually powerful contrast that underscores the journey through distant planets. Generous margins on text sections guarantee readability, while the vibrant images command centre stage. The creative team’s choice to include printing on the endpapers further immerses readers, hinting at star-filled exploration from the moment the cover is lifted. Overall, it’s a model example of how thoughtful design choices—from page size to paper weight—can support and elevate a thematic narrative.
If you’re keen to self publish a children’s book or explore different binding and finishing options—like perfect bound children’s books or stapled children’s book printing—we’re here to help. Our passion is transforming imaginative stories into tangible, page-turning adventures.
Contact us today to embark on your own children’s book printing journey with Ex Why Zed. Let’s turn your ideas into enchanting books that readers will treasure for years to come.
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