Print Layout and Design

Professional layout and design using professional tools raises readers’ estimation of your printed self-published book.

But if print-on-demand providers, such as Kindle Direct Publishing and Ingram Spark, give you the option to print paperback and hardcover books from your eBook file, why bother with a separate interior file specific to print?

The answer is three-fold.

Firstly, a professionally designed hard copy interior file looks professionally typeset. It doesn’t look like a repurposed eBook file, full of awkward page turns and hyphenations that distract the reader. It looks like it came off the presses of one of the major publishing houses.

Secondly, you can have much greater control over choice of fonts and inclusion of decorative elements such as custom title pages, chapter headings, and separators. These add to the reader experience, validating their decision to spend more on a print edition.

Finally, print allows authors of non-fiction books such as cookbooks and family histories to have attractive page layouts with breakout panels, varied columns, and gorgeous illustrations.

Why print?

Readers still appreciate the ‘authenticity’ of the printed page. They savour the feel of paper and the heft of a book in their hands. Many readers who are not ‘digital natives’ prefer print books; some refuse completely to read books on electronic devices.

Furthermore, studies have found readers’ comprehension levels are higher when reading a print book compared to digital, an implication that provides food for thought for writers of non-fiction especially.

Mostly, however, for the self-published author, there’s no substitute for a table displaying paperbacks when you launch your book or attend a book signing event. After all, you can’t autograph a Kindle.