In the throes of writing, we don’t usually think about the details of printing our books. But, once our storytelling is done, decisions need to be made, not the least of which is what font or fonts to use for our story content and chapter headings, back cover text, title, and so on. (Technically, a font is a variation of a typeface, but today I’ll use font with apologies to typographers.)
It’s no surprise that fonts come in different sizes, shapes, and styles. Does it matter which ones we choose? Well, yes. Those decisions can make a difference in the look and feel of our books. It’s tempting to choose a fun font so that our book stands out, but a font that is too unusual can distract from the story. One of the biggest mistakes self-published authors make is choosing fonts that look less professional and more, well, self-published.
In simplest terms, fonts are of two distinct categories: serif, which have letters with decorative flourishes, and sans serif, which have straight-edged letters without strokes or “tails.” Serif fonts are considered easier on the eyes—the little strokes at the ends of letters help the eyes move across the page—and therefore best for the main content. Here’s some information about the serif fonts most recommended for print books.
Garamond is one of the most popular families of fonts for use in books. A classic font, Garamond is named for Claude Garamond, a publisher in 16th-century France.
The Caslon font originated with William Caslon, one of England’s first printers, and has been popular ever since. Caslon is one of the most widely used typefaces for text and works well in books.
Minion is a more modern creation, designed by Robert Slimbach for Adobe Systems, which has become one of the favorite fonts for book designers because of its regular color, interesting letterforms, and the variety of weights and styles available.
Janson Text is another Adobe font, based on a typeface created in the Netherlands in the 17th century. A recent version was created by the famed type designer Hermann Zapf in the 1950s.
For a long time, Palatino was the most popular font for print because it was included in the base set of fonts shipped with every new Macintosh, the original desktop publishing platform. Though it has been overexposed, I still like it and use it frequently.
Here are my recommendations for fonts that work best for particular genres:
Literary fiction: Baskerville
Romantic fiction: Sabon
Thrillers: Garamond
Nonfiction: Caslon
General interest: Palatino
If you hadn’t noticed, Times New Roman is not on this list. Originally designed for use in the Times of London newspaper, the font was intended to be readable in the narrow columns of a newspaper, not for the wider pages of a book.
Now, you might ask, what about chapter headings? This is where sans serif fonts can be used; they are clean and capture the reader’s attention. The sharp, straight lines are not suggested for long sections but are perfect for a few words. The most common usable sans serif fonts are Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, and Calibri, which was the default headings font in Microsoft Word for the past 15 years—until the unveiling of Aptos about six months ago.
Fonts for e-books are a different story. Though electronic devices can be adjusted to readers’ preferences, certain fonts are still recommended for initial publication. These fonts are a bit “rounder”—Baskerville, Georgia, Bookerly—with Helvetica for chapter headings (which, by the way, had a feature-length documentary made about it in 2007).
You also need to set the font size. For print books, 11-point font size is typical for the body content, depending on the font chosen. Some publishers use 10-point, though never 12-point. According to a library association, large print editions can set font size at 16- or 18-point. Chapter headings, of course, can be larger, though never so large that they are out of proportion to the body content.
I am often asked about the use of words in bold, all caps, underlining, and italics. Let me be clear: never, never, never, and sometimes. Unless you are writing a science textbook or cookbook and need to emphasize a formula or a measurement, words in print books should not be in bold, all caps, or underlined. Though we rely on these styles for emphasis, they really demonstrate lazy writing.
Italics, however, do have a place. They are useful with foreign words, though should be used only when the word is first introduced. Italics can also be used when a character is thinking to him or herself. This distinguishes internal thoughts from dialogue for the reader.
Italics are also used with a change in narrator or time period. I caution you, however; too long a section in italics is tiring for readers. I have read several books that, while engaging and delightfully written, have considerable sections in italics that frankly exasperate me.
So how do you decide which fonts to use? I suggest creating a sample page in each font and font size. While you might have trouble deciding between Garamond and Palatino in a word or two, you can see a difference and get a better feel for the typeface on a whole page. Most important, keep in mind that the goal is to have the font and font size disappear—and let the words speak for themselves.
Jami Carpenter is a professional editor and co-author of three nonfiction works about Las Vegas.
