Finding and Working with a good book designer

Good Book Designers

by Lisa Lickel

Lately I've picked up indie books that have decent ratings and are well-meant, thoughtful, and have the names of the editors and designers listed. I'm glad indie authors are taking the time to run their manuscripts through an editing process and trying to do the right thing by presumably paying someone to design the interior.

It's not always the case, unfortunately, that paying someone means the final product has an acceptably professional layout. I'm more picky than most readers. I know that. I'm more picky than most editors and publishers I have worked with. I know that. I am not perfect, so I'm not throwing stones, but I learn from my mistakes and make it my mission not to repeat them. So, the last book I opened with the above credentials had several designer errors in the first five pages that made me wonder what country and what style guide these folks were following. Not to mention dread trying to read the rest. Having worked for several publications, I understand that each publications company can have its own style guide. But when it comes to good, industry-standard, acceptable, professional literature, the Chicago Manual of Style is the go-to reference guide.

Typically, authors are focused on creating good story and leave the rest to professionals, so it pays to find experienced people. But, like any job that you can't or won't do for yourself, how do you know the right questions to ask or whether you've received the best service?

1. My number one piece of advice on finding a good, professional designer is to ask what style guide he or she follows.
2. Secondly, look at a "Big" imprint book - like one from Hatchette, Double Day, HarperCollins, or Random House, and simply examine the front and back matter and pay attention to the chapter header pages, where the page numbers are, and what's on the copyright page. You're observing, not performing the complex procedure itself. If your book doesn't look like that, ask the designer to follow traditional standards. It matters, maybe not so much to the casual reader, but to anyone who you want to take you seriously. A few tips follow.

• A good designer will follow a professional style guide. Chicago Manual of Style is traditional; however, within those standards you, the indie author, can ask for particular idiosyncrasies such as stylized chapter headings or artwork in the scene breaks or header/footer specifics. It should be consistent.
• A good designer knows what goes on the copyright page, and how to word the language. While "by" does not go on the cover or front matter, it does go on the copyright page, as in copyright by author name. Good designers know that copyrighted material that is quoted in your manuscript must adhere to specific permission requirements and will follow them. It's not that hard. Good designers and editors know that certain material does not fall under fair use rules and permission must be obtained and will either walk you through it or take care of it.
• A good designer and editor knows what Foreword means and who can write it
• A good designer will either get or walk you through the Library of Congress cataloging data; helping you obtain a processing number and working on the data block that shows librarians and booksellers where to place your book on the shelf or how to enter it for reference or sales.
• A good designer understands and can advise you on ISBNs and whether adding a barcode is necessary in your case, why you don't need to pay for a copyright or if you should; and registering your ISBN and imprint
• A good designer and editor knows that super and subscript is not used as part of a date
• A good designer takes the time to make sure headers and footers are not used on every page of the manuscript, but set up either by template or manually to ensure certain pages such as tables of content or new chapter pages are unique
• Epigraphs are not in quotes
• neither are endorsements
• opening chapter text is left justified
• usually, so are first lines after scene breaks
• no fewer than four lines show flow onto a blank page
• the facing page is the recto page, the right hand, and is odd numbered
• the back side, the verso, is even
• A good gutter and nice margins create a pleasant reading experience, not frustrating the reader who must constantly bend the book to read into the spine or move their hands to keep their thumbs out of the margins
• A good designer recommends fonts and line heights
• A good designer understands back matter
• A good designer understand how to prepare manuscripts for electronic delivery and that they are in a different format. They do not have gutters or different odd/even page setups, and have a clickable Table of Contents if they have one at all. They are in different formats.
• A good designer can also prepare your manuscript as an audio script