DIY Design Tips for Self-Published Authors

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You’re an author, and you want to self-publish.
After all, the juice seems to be flowing toward self-publishers, more authors are rethinking their approach to publishing, and new opportunities seem to be opening up to self-publishers every day. The indie spirit in self-publishing leads lots of authors to want to take ownership of the entire process of book making, not just the writing.  Often times the details of book design and layout get lost in the rush of the book publishing process.
When marketing your book, you must realize that the design and layout are very important if you wish to capture the attention of potential readers. In order to get noticed and make the best impressions when marketing your book, you should put forth the effort in making your book look professional.
Now that self publishing allows you to do the many jobs that were previously done by professionals, creating a professional design on your own is quite possible. Here are two tips for you to take into consideration when developing a book design and layout The first tip is to make sure you have the right tools.
If you have plans of self-publishing multiple books, I've heard that purchasing Adobe InDesign is the way to go.  Adobe InDesign is the standard for layout design and using it will save you a ton of time and effort. While it does tend to be expensive, it is the perfect tool if you are seeking to obtain professional results.
Our primary focus is the second tip which is to know your font types when developing your book design and layout. Fonts such as Times New Roman are commonly used for books that are content rich.
This is because these font types tend to be more easily readable than other fonts such as Arial; the caps on each character enable the eye to easily guide from one letter to the next. The best part - if you're searching for something along the lines of free, then you need not look past your computer to find Times New Roman.
Your book can have a clean and professional look with just one click of the mouse! On the flip side, there has been talk that choosing Times New Roman as your font type may cause you to be identified as an amateur.  It seems that the most popular font choice for self published authors is Minion.  However, in my opinion, Minion's pricey fee of $275+ isn't the most cost efficient investment for new authors.  If you absolutely must have "the look", then ITC Baskersville is another font used by professionals and is a more affordable choice and a great alternative to Minion. Regardless of whether you spend the big bucks or opt to use the free stuff for your font type, choosing the right font size is essential when you are considering how to design the layout of your book.
While you may think it is a good idea to go with a font size that is as small as possible, you should keep in mind that readers are not going to pay for a book that they will need a magnifying glass to read. In order to keep things readable, you should choose to go with a font size that is between 10-11 points, depending on your font type.
Premium fonts, such as Minion, will usually take up less space than the fonts stored on your computer, as the premium fonts were designed specifically for printing. When marketing your book, these simple tips can make a world of difference in how your book is perceived by readers.
Since readers will spend the vast majority of their time in the text of your book, it is vital that you spend the time to produce the best book design and layout possible. Marketing your book should be a success if you take the tips mentioned above into consideration.
Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com Tanisha Williams is the author of two non-profit e-books “501c3 In 12-Steps” and “Simple Internal Controls That Protect Your Assets”.  Her desire for more interaction with readers was the key inspiration behind the development of her latest business venture ChatEbooks. ChatEbooks, launched in October 2014, harnesses the strengths of social media in order to help authors and their readers engage and connect within the context of the selling/reading experience..