How to Avoid the Self-Published Look!

How to Avoid the Self-Published Look by Guy Kawasaki

A sign of self-publishing is a crude and simplistic interior design. This primarily applies to the print version of your book because readers can override the interior design of ebooks. Here's how to avoid interior-design signs of self-publishing:

* Fonts. Use a font besides Times New Roman, Arial, or Helvetica. Don't go crazy with a fancy font, but show a little style.

* Blank pages. Remove headings and page numbers on blank pages.

* Line breaks. Ensure that line breaks do not cause hyphenated words in headings and chapter titles.

* Chapter-title pages. Provide ample space on chapter-title pages. Reserve the top half of a page for the title and start the first paragraph about halfway down the first page. Page numbers are either omitted or in a different location on these special pages.

* Page numbers. List page numbers in the top 0.25 inch of your pages, aligned away from the spine, plus the correct running head (see below).

* Running heads. Show the book title in the left-hand page header and the current chapter title in the right-hand page header. For fiction writers, it's customary to show your name in the left-hand page header and the book title in the right-hand page header.

Summary

If you've come this far, you've invested many hours in your book. Don't blow it now. The whole point of self-publishing is to produce a book faster, better, and cheaper than a traditional publisher. These ways of avoiding the "self-published" look are simple and easy, and they increase the attractiveness, professionalism, and marketability of your book.