Self-Publishing Formatting Guidelines

Publisher: R J Theodore
Genre(s): writing tips, non fiction, self-publishing, related works
Wordcount: 5,797

A guide to creating a uniform look for your indie publishing imprint, along with considerations such as font choice, trim size, and more.

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Format your books for publication

This is not the end-all, be-all of formatting, and there's nothing prescriptive about the advice, no step-by-step guides. The intent is to familiarize you with the considerations that you'll have to make when setting up your book, and to help you think through all the elements of your first imprint book so that following books can follow a template that's right for you and your imprint.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Interior Formatting: Common Trim Sizes; Paper Choice
• Cover Formatting
• Imprint Logos and Usage: Brand Logos; Brand Text Treatment; Using Brand Logos on Your Book Cover; Incorporating the Logo into Decorative Elements
• Distribution: ISBNs; Pricing
• Interior Pages
• Typography Best Practices: Font Selections & Type Faces; Margins & Spacing (Page Margins; Line Height; Paragraph Spacing; Section Breaks; Justification; Kerning and Tracking; Widows, Orphans, and Rivers)