Remember the old saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover?” Yet people these days do just that. Well there is something else to worry about as a self-publishing author – the interior! The interior? What do you mean?

If a reader picks up a book, and they start to read the book before they buy it, if the font size is too hard or too small to read, or say the text runs into the inner margins, or if there are different font sizes all over the place, or poor editing, the reader will put the book down and move on. Too many self-publishing authors these days neglect to make the interior of their book look professional. And let’s face it, while the book cover is important too, the reader should spend most of their time with your book reading the interior – not staring at your book cover on their nightstand or desk! You want their reading experience to be as comfortable as possible or they’ll put it down and never pick it back up.

Go to your local bookstore, or library. Pick up a few books in your category/genre. Open the book, and look at the interior. How big or small is the type, what kind of font do they have, how big are the margins, how do they show the page numbers, how do they stylize the chapter headings…If you’re really unsure, or uncomfortable, get a free consultation from a book designer. Pick their brains!

If you want a truly professional looking interior, and you are going to do it yourself, please don’t use Word. Use Adobe InDesign. Yes you’ll have to teach yourself how to use InDesign, but you’ve spent your passion and time into writing your book, don’t throw it away with an ugly interior. Contact me if you are interested in a free consultation or a free quote on the cost to design and layout your interior professionally. Save yourself more time, the headache, and the learning curve! The last thing you want is to have your book look self-published.