Page Layout

The layout of your book is very important. The average paperback book size is six inches wide and nine inches tall, which is much smaller than the average size of a sheet of an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper. This means that if you are submitting a book for printing, you will need to select the proper page setup.

Your page layout can be designed with any word processing software if your book is for a small audience of friends or family. Any serious work, however, should be prepared using a page layout program, namely a desktop publishing, DTP program. Book buyers will not buy a book if it does not have professional typeset. Often there are subtle differences in the typography, point type and line spacing; even line breaks can affect the appearance of a smooth and consistent paragraph. A page layout program is designed to give the user maximum control over the appearance of the page, including graphic placement and rotation, drawing capabilities, text shaping, and the position of type on the page. DTP software programs will also include tools for easy rotation, scaling and cropping of photographs and graphics.

In the absence of DTP software, your next best option would be to use any word processing program. After creating your page layout and formatting your document, the final version must then be converted to PDF format before submission.

DLite Press offers free Page Layout guidelines. visit us at DLite Press for details