Formatting Basics for the New Publisher

8/6/2019 Formatting Basics for the New Publisher

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/formatting-basics-for-the-new-publisher 1/13



Written and published in May, 2011© David Bergsland • All Rights Reserved

Mankato, Minnesota • http://radiqx.com • [email protected] let us know if there is anyway we can help you

in you publishing endeavors.



3http://bergsland.org/blog: THE SKILLED WORKMAN

Formatting basicsDesigning your paragraphsWe need to talk a bit about setting up your paragraphs. Againmost of this knowledge is assumed by software manuals andpublishing Websites. Somehow they seem to believe thatyour little psyche will be stifled if any opinion on normalcyis mentioned—or some such idiocy like that.

It’s not magic or luck when you produce reading mate-rials that are enjoyable to read. It is the result of setting yourcopy up (formatting it) in a manner that the reader instantlyrecognizes and comfortably understands.

The goal is to lead the reader through your writingeffortlessly. The reader must be completely unaware of thisguidance. It needs to feel natural, comfortable, and obviousas the content is received.

As I go through this little presentation, I will be simplysharing what I use. My hope is that you can look at my usageand convert it into something that works for you. I willattempt to give you the arguments that have convinced meto do things in this manner. But, there is no right or wrongonce you are inside the relatively wide parameters of normal.

The need for comfortOur basic problem is that we have too much to read.

Subconsciously we are continually looking for ways to elim-inate content in order to keep our reading requirementswithin a tolerable range. We might miss a lot of good contentthis way—but that is the way it is.

In our modern culture, huge numbers of people havedifficulty reading. It goes far beyond that, of course. I knowyoung men and women who avoid reading entirely [as muchas possible]—even though they are considered fully literate.

The result is that we need to go out of our way tomake our books accessible to poor readers. Reading is hardto avoid as a Christian—focused as we are on scripture. Butmany Christians do. We have a large and growing portionof our lower middle class who get all of their informationfrom social media, TV, movies, and videos.



4THE NEW PUBLISHER: http://radiqx.com

We can argue all we want about these media optionsand their limited amount of actual content. But, the factremains: even those who buy our books may well have trou-ble reading. We must help them with our formatting andlayout. We must be kind to our readers—gentle and loving.

If our readers experience any discomfort or readingdifficulty we have probably lost them. They will simply notfinish reading our content.

I am a very good and very fast reader. Yet I also simplyput books aside that are difficult to read. I am not talkingabout difficult content (though that can be a problem). I amtalking about poor layouts, columns that are too wide, fontsthat are too styled, overly busy layouts, and all the rest. Theonly difference with me is that I am tuned into this problemso I often notice when I do this with a book. Most peopleare not conscious of why they put down a book. They simplydo not read it.

The poetry filterI wonder how many of you are like me. I probably

shouldn’t admit this, but anything in a book that is format-ted as poetry I skip. I simply pass over that portion of the

copy and continue on. My experience over the years is thatthe content in poetry is very limited and far too open tointerpretation. I am almost always looking for facts—easilyaccessible facts. Poetry has never provided this for me. So,I have developed reading habits that keep me from wastingtime. I jump to the explanation of the poetry that follows.

I am sure this horrifies many of you. I am not sayingthat this poetry filter of mine is good or desirable. I amsimply saying that it exists. Again, the only thing strange

is that [as a typographer] I am more aware of my readinghabits—so I noticed this behavior.

What reading filters do you have?I suspect you need to pray that the Lord show you.

It’s hard to say what you have been missing all these years.

Body copyThe first formatting decisions we will be talking about

are for the style I call 2-Body. Body copy is the main content

of your book. This is the copy that needs to be comfortableto read. This is the background against which the contrasting




heads and subheads stand out. You really need to focus onmaking this as comfortably readable as possible

I number my styles to help me remember the

shortcuts and to aid in sorting the styles: Allof my body copy styles are numbered 2. All of mylists are numbered 3. All of my sidebar styles are num-bered 1. Headline is 6. Subhead is 7. Subhead 2 is 8. Andso on. These numbers really help me manage my styles.

What I want to do here is give you some design tipsto use when setting up your set of standard styles. I will gothrough those that I use, explaining the hows and whys asI go. Again, my solutions will probably be different fromyours. You must come up with your own styles. If you do notwork on this now, you’ll pay with extra unpaid labor later.

Fonts choices influence these decisions: Readability has to do with the number of wordsper line, the legibility of the font used, the size

of the letters, and a lot more. The fonts I am using in theprint versions of this booklet is Contenu. It has a very smallx-height. So, to maintain the optimal 10-12 words per line Iam setting the type in 12-point which is quite large for print.

2 BodyI should be able to assume that you have this undercontrol. There is a very strong expectation of normal forthese paragraphs by your readers.

❦ Serif font: This is the standard. Most peoplestill believe that serif fonts are much easierto read. This is being argued. For the newgenerations, it may be true that a humanistsans font reads very well. But for those born

before 1970 or so, all of our reading experienceis based on the assumption that serif fontsmust be used for body copy. We all learnedto read with serif fonts until very recently.

❦ Size: The standard for body copy is 10/12 (10-pointtype with 12-point leading). This can vary from 9to 12 point in size. The leading will be determinedby the amount of line spacing built into the fontused and the x-height. The larger the x-height,the more leading is needed. Most traditional

publishers demand 10/12 no matter what.




❦ Alignment: Left or Justified left. Typographerstend to like flush left because the word spacingremains constant. However, I have read studiesthat seem to show that justified copy is a little

more readable with adequate column width.

❦ Longer line lengths or heavily stylized fontsrequire increased leading: This includes manyitalics. Formality also needs extra leading—plus a lighter, more elegant typestyle.

❦ First line indent: Historically, you used eithera first line indent or extra paragraphspacing, not both, Now, however, it is

common to see a first line indent with acouple of points of space after paragraph.

There is no right or wrong about the size of firstline indents. The norm would be somewherebetween a quarter to a half inch.

2-Body No First

❦ Based on: 2-Body

❦ No indent, extra space before: This style is used after

headlines. Adjust it to read well with your headers.❦ Next style: It should go to the normal 2-Body.

Obviously, if you do not use a first line indent for yourbody copy, you’ll need to use some other device for theseparagraphs. You can try a drop cap, make the first line smallcaps, or something like this to help the reader know thecontent starts here. It also helps set off the headline.

2-Body Run-in


❦ This is a common way to format the fourth or fifthlevel of subhead: It also works well for moreinformal lists and word definitions.

❦ No first line indent: The style becomes too visuallyconfusing if you are not careful. Eliminatingthe first line indent seems to help.

❦ Extra space before paragraph: Because of the lack

of a first line indent and the existence of a




subhead, a little extra space before paragraphseems to help in the emphasis needed.

❦ Nested style to format the subhead: I usually

set mine up to apply the style until thefirst colon [as you see above]. This wayit happens automatically as I write.

❦ Run-in head uses header font: Depending onthe header font used, you may need to usea bold or even black version of the fontto give enough contrast for legibility.

As you can see above, I also use run-in heads to helpwith my lists. My writing style starts a list paragraph with a

pithy statement. That is followed by explanatory copy.Zero numbered styles

I have found that I commonly have more more stylesbased on 2-body than I have available shortcuts. As a resultI have three styles that (if used) are given a shortcut usingthe Num Zero keystroke.

0-Quotes


❦ Indented left and right the same amount asthe first line indent of 2-Body: But, this iscertainly not written in stone.

❦ Different alignment: Quotes are also usuallyset justified when the body copy is flushleft and often set flush left or centeredwhen the body copy is justified.

The main thing is to make them different enough to

be an obvious solution. If you do it well, quotation markswill not be needed [though you still must use them].

0-Bylines:


❦ Same font as the body copy, flush right, oftenitalic:. This is the most common form.But, the name of the author of the articleis set in many and various ways.

❦ Bio style for articles: You may also want to havean entirely different paragraph style at the end




of the article with an indent that allows roomfor a small picture and a short bio to go withthe name and credits. The little bio can add agentle warm fuzzy to help leave the reader with

a good taste in his mind about the article.

0-Captions:


This little item has changed greatly in the years I haveset type. Originally captions were commonly set small anditalic. Current research suggests that the caption is moreimportant than the headline in attracting readers.

❦

A little larger than body copy ❦ Flush left

❦ A synopsis of the points the article is making aboutthe picture: In other words, because the pictureis illustrating the article (why is it thereif it is not) the synopsis helps the readerdecide whether or not to read the articles.

Remember: if it is not truly important content to

the reader, he or she will be angry if you trickthem into reading copy that has no relevance totheir life. None of these formatting tips will help bad, unus-able, or poorly written copy.

Body heads:

❦ Based on: 2-Body, same size’

❦ Bold or Black: They need the contrast tomake them function as subheads.

These lesser subheads are now largely made irrelevantby the run-in styles already talked about.

ListsThese are extremely important areas in your copy. In

terms of reading importance they rank right up there withthe headline and the picture captions. Most lists of para-graphs that capture the reader’s attention put captions first,headlines second, and lists third. Some make Headlines

first. Many readers look for lists and only read the rest ofthe copy if the lists are helpful.




❦ Flush left alignment: List paragraphs are usuallyquite short so justified copy often looks verybad. They will almost always need flush left.

❦ Decorative bullets: As you can see, in thisbook I am using an ornament. In my Biblestudies I use a cross. For marketing work,miniature logos can make wonderful bullets.

Because the reader considers your lists to be so impor-tant, you need to work at making them good-looking andobvious. A little care here will go a long way in helping yourreaders like your book.

3 Bulleted

❦ Left indent: the same as the firstline indent of 2 Body.

This second left indent is a great help in visuallyorganizing your copy. It really helps make your formattedcopy easy to absorb. It is a sure sign of professionalism. Italso shows reader consideration by making the layout easilyunderstood so that the content can be appropriated withoutthe need to figure it what the priorities really are.

❦ Bullet location: The bullet should hang somewherebetween the left column margin and halfwayto the left indent—as you see to the left here.

3 Numbered

❦ Left indent: the same as the firstline indent of 2 Body.

❦ Number location: The number needs hangsomewhere between the left column margin and

halfway to the left indent. You need to leaveroom for the longest number with your indents.

Watch your lists carefully: Often these para-graphs are so short that you have to break forsense to get rid of the large amount of short sen-

tence fragments generated (called widows). Extra careneeds to be taken for readability and reader comfort.

If your bulleted and numbered lists are crucial toreader understanding, you may want to make them larger,

bolder, and/or in a different font than your body copy. Theyare very important.



THE NEW PUBLISHER: http://radiqx.com

Heads and subheadsIdeally, especially for headlines, these need to be writ-

ten giving the reader the number one benefit of reading

the content. They need to give the reader a reason to readthe content—or at least give them the option of making aninformed decision. This is your outline. It is also your Tableof Contents as these styles are collected for the TOC.

❦ Short, pithy paragraphs that give a synopsis of thecopy that follows: Readers depend upon them tokeep track of where they are on the page.

❦ In non-fiction: subheads are used to demarcate

sections of copy within a chapter. ❦ Recapture wandering readers: If you have a section

that the reader believes is already known, youoften lose the attention of the reader. Torecapture them, a well written subhead willpull them back into reading your copy.

6 HeadlineThis needs a lot of contrast with the body copy — in

size, color, and/or type style. Typically the heads are sansserif and the body is serif, as you well know. However, headsshould be a black sans serif and copy needs to be a bookserif (lighter than medium, darker than light).

❦ Used once: A headline is used once per articleor once per chapter. This is the indicator tothe reader that the content starts here.

❦ Size: The normal size for headlinesis 24 to 36 point.

❦ Length: In general, they should be reasonablyshort and pithy. In other words, they needto give the reader a clear idea of what iscoming in the copy following. Though theyare different than billboards, the eightword maximum is not a bad guideline.

❦ Alignment: This needs to be closely watched. Ifthe body copy is flush left, the heads need tobe flush left. If they are centered over flush

left copy they will typically look off center.If the body copy is justified, the heads can



http://bergsland.org/blog: THE SKILLED WORKMAN

be either left or centered. The main thingis ease of reading and logical consistency.

7 Subhead 1

This needs to be the same basic setup as the headlinebut about 25 to 33 percent smaller. So for this book, wherethe headline is 36 point, subhead one is 21 point. Mainly,you need to clearly differentiate & prioritize the headers.

8 Subhead 2This is smaller yet and almost always flush left (even

if the heads and first level subheads are centered). In thisbook they are small—only 14 point. This is why I added the

little colored square to the right of the last line. ❦ Slightly less contrast: If the 6 and 7 styles

are black, 8 subhead 2 is often bold in thesame sans serif. These second level headsdo not need nearly as much contrast as thelarger, more important heads. As you can see,for this book I have added a little gradientsquare to the right (with a paragraph rule).

9 Callout

Pull quotes or callouts are one of the more importanttypographic features in long non-fiction articles and books.They are type used as a graphic to recapture the reader’sattention (in case it is wandering). Occasionally they getextremely graphic, but the norm would probably be 50 to100% larger in italicized body copy. They often use paragraphrules above and below to set them off.

“(Pull quotes) are type used as a graphic

to recapture the reader’s attention

”❦ If they are actual quotes: it is a common deviceto make the quote marks extremely large (400to 1,000% of the point size of the pull quote).The ones used above are 300% larger. By theway, the only difference between the two names(pull quotes and callouts) is that pull quotesactually quote part of the surrounding copy.

❦ Not used in busy layouts: Actually you will seethat I use them less and less because most



of my non-fiction writing is too complex.Pull quotes just become more noise. Ifyou are going to use them, you must usealmost violent contrast in these cases.

None of these paragraph styles are to be used unlessthey are necessary (in your judgement). The guiding principleis still the same simple concept. Do they help the readercomfortably and easily access your content?

Sidebar stylesThere are no real rules here, but let’s give it a shot.

First of all, sidebars, by definition, contain peripheral infor-

mation. In other words, they contain data that is interestingand nice to know; but they are often tangential to the mainthoughts and concepts of the body copy.

❦ De-emphasized a little: We still wantthe body copy to be primary.

❦ Tinted background: The best way to do this isto put the sidebar in a tinted box. Contrary tocommon, nonprofessional thought, a tint boxtends to make items less important. The tint back

ground lowers contrast so the type is harder toread. To make a tint box primary, you will needto place a background image over the entire page— then the light, bright tint boxes will stand out.

❦ Contrasting type: As far as type is concerned, youwant a font that contrasts with the body copy atleast. Depending upon how you intend to use thesidebars, you may wish to pick typestyles thatcontrast with both the main body and its heads.

❦ Multipurpose use: In my books I commonly set upmy sidebar styles so I can use them for emphasiswithin the main copy also. I use the same font asused in my heads, with a plain, light, or mediumversion of the font for my sidebar body copy.

The key to remember is that the tint in thetint box will mess up your type: Even at 150linescreen with 300 dpi tints, the tiny little dots

will blur the edges of your characters. So you need to

pick typestyles that will not be damaged by those dots.This is why I usually use sans serif for my sidebars. When



coupled with the fact that my sidebars are usually verybrief, this works well. If your sidebars are going to be long,even a parallel story with your main body copy, maybeyou should try something like Century Schoolbook

or even a strong contrast like Rockwell or LucidaBright. Because of the lessened contrast you can usemuch blacker type than normal. In some cases, an actualBlack or Display weight printed at a 70% tint works well.

❦ Tables: I commonly use my sidebar stylesin my tables also. The increased legibilityhelps within the gridwork of a table.

Good formatting is a ministry (a

service) to your reader

Formatting Basics for the New Publisher

Documents

Transcript of Formatting Basics for the New Publisher