My tool is Affinity Publisher. Complexity and numerous tools are there to be used with a background knowledge in the principles of design. One can make a very amateur, text-crowded, clunky-looking book with Publisher, or a beautiful and easy-on-the-eyes reading experience.
The design principles I’ve taken to heart include the use of professional fonts as well as customizing the font to the style, content, and size of the book in question. Spacing seems to be the primary philosophical point in book design. Balance between text and white space determines ease of reading. Want to get really “sucked in” to a book? Part of that experience will be dictated by the spacing used in the book’s design.
Placement of illustrations (called “art” in the trade) is often a time-consuming part of design. This art can include text-based tables and figures as well as full-color photographs or other visual art. I’ve definitely noticed when art has been well placed or not well placed based on how the subjects in the text flow around it and how close the art is to the text of the same subject.
Your designer will also help you with getting any photos or other separate artwork up to the standards necessary for print.
If you want to work with me on a simple, mostly text design, I’d be happy to help out. If you have a book with lots of pictures, sidebars, or footnotes and need some serious design experience, I also recommend these folks:
—Julie Karen
—Tamian Wood
—Stephen Tiano
Ebooks
You will likely need to consider an ebook version (either using the epub standard or Kindle’s MOBI standard). Designers can convert an Adobe InDesign designed book to the epub format directly, or you can use other conversion services and software. Be aware that some fiddling will likely need to be done with the text and possibly image sizes to get the look you want. Your designer can help with that.
Cover
Design also includes the cover at a separate cost because it takes extra time and layout effort. Particularly if serious artwork or photo editing/illustrating work is involved, you’ll want to contact a specialized cover designer. For covers, I recommend:
See my portfolio for titles and images from my design projects.
Rates
I charge $7.00 to $11.00 per designed book page for this service. Price will depend largely on the trim size and number and type of illustrations, tables, or figures involved.
If you’d like a quote for your particular project, contact me.