Book Layout Errors that Should be Avoided

When it comes to self-publishing there is nothing more important than knowing how to properly lay out the design for your book. This is because if you do a bad job at it, your book will come out amateurish and it will hurt your reputation as a serious writer. One of the things a reader looks for when he or she reads a book, is a proper book layout.  Having a good book design without any errors shows readers that the book is professionally made and adheres to a strict standard. Here are errors that you should avoid at all cost.

• Typos

In the eyes of a reader there is nothing more annoying than typos. This is because typos connote a sense of irresponsibility on the part of the publisher. It would be taken as a signal by the reader that the author did not take the time to double check his or her work, and they would interpret the book as not worth reading anymore.

• Inconsistent spacing between paragraphs

This not only makes the contents unattractive, but also makes it hard for the reader to read. When checking up on your work you should make it your first priority to spot these inconsistencies.

• Double spaced print books

It’s strange to say but these errors do happen. The effect of this error on your book would be quite noticeable because the double spaces will make your pages look spare. In the end your book will only look ungainly and also be difficult for readers to read and look as if a child made the overall design of your book.

• Lack of numbers on the pages

As hard as this is to believe, this does happen. The lack of numbers on your book will surely confuse your readers and make it almost impossible for him to find the page they are looking for when they read the book.

• Quotation marks and capitalization

Quotation marks and capitalizations is also an issue when it comes to self-publishing your work. This usually occurs when there is dialogue, a comma, and then a capitalized word that should not be capitalized or a sentence starting with pronouns. This is to avoid confusion in readers, because the more confused readers are the more likely they are to voice their discontent with the book through the internet.
No Hyphenations
This usually happens to books produced in a word processor. If you look hard at certain books there would be huge spaces between words and is a sure sign of carelessness and lack of professionalism on the part of the publisher.

• Unnecessary running heads

It is strange to say, but it seems some writers have the compulsion to put running heads on every page of their books. It should be understood that display pages don’t need and shouldn’t have, a running head.

• Messed up margins

Any book designer worth their salt knows that when it comes to book design, margins are immensely important. Imagine reading a book and then as you turn the page the entire paragraph veers off to the right. It would really ruin your entire perception on the book. Margins are supposed to help center the contents of the book and make it aesthetically pleasing and improves the readability of the book.

• Cluttered book cover design

One of the main mistakes when it comes to book cover design is that some designers use too much content. Using too much stuff on the book cover will not only make the overall look of the book cluttered and dirty looking. When creating a book cover design it is always a good idea to have a more minimalistic approach and use only a few well-chosen images to get the true essence of the book.