The Design of Books: An Explainer for Authors, Editors, Agents, and Other Curious Readers (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)

As the subtitle suggests it's an excellent explainer of the elements of good book design. Must reading for anyone who is thinking of self-publishing and wants to avoid the many subtle design traps. Who knew there was so much to it. Good designers are worth their weight in gold, that's for sure.

This book is so good I bought it twice!

comprehensive and filled with visuals about how books are designed, a bit of history, and practical common sense that is great for self-published authors, designers getting into the field of book design, and anyone in publishing.

As someone who is interested in how books are made, I was instantly drawn to this book. Author Debbie Berne has created a book about books- how they are designed and how these design choices impact readers. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book to everyone, as it is more technical than I was expecting. While it was a fascinating read, it took a while to get through. I would recommend this book to graphic designers, indie authors, and people who are interested in working in publishing. Thanks to NetGalley and University of Chicago Press for an eBook ARC.

As a copyeditor and proofreader, this is a welcome addition to my reference shelf. As a bibliophile, I just enjoy picking up this beautiful book and paging through it at random. Well done!

I have always said that we editors need to know production. Debbie's book is the single resource we can rely on. I am thrilled to have this, not on my shelf, but in my hands.

As a longtime book designer I cheer Ms. Berne for including many simple explanations for better typography and legibility. This would be a great gift for a graphic design student or any fledgling designer who wants to learn how to do what they should do best: support the content with appropriate design.

A behind the scenes look at the world of book design by a practicing professional. This is world most people would never care to enter but if you are an aspiring author there is a ton of very useful information not available anywhere else. I recently went through the process of converting a published eBook into a paperback edition on Amazon Kindle as a self publisher. It was a complicated agonizing process of endless do over the whole thing moments and because it was nor professionally edited and proofed I wasted money on printed books that had typos not caught by my own eyes. For example; if you start a sentence with the work Author capitalized spell check will turn it into Arthur. Ouch. Also Amazon displays books on a white background so if you cover is white it will not have a border but will float in the ether of cyberspace. Confusing. This book does not get into the issue of printing costs and whether it is better to do Print On Demand with Amazon or get you book printed elsewhere and supply it to Amazon to sell like any other product. I still haven't figured this out myself. This book will be a very useful reference every step of the way for my future eBook conversions.

Berne writes for the intellectually curious reader who likely has little-to-no background in her craft, but I suspect that authors (would-be and actual) — particularly those considering self-publishing — will benefit most from her book. The information Berne provides could help the new author when dealing with the multitude of choices offered by book publishers. It’s chock full of general information about book structure, layout, formatting, type, and construction without being overly detailled or prescriptive about anything. Overall, Berne’s book is a good, albeit basic introduction to book design, aimed I suggest, at those who are not already involved in printing or typography. She writes well and clearly. But it lacks some of the detail I had hoped to find, as well as needing some practical advice (that people who already have experience in these fields might want tor read).

Well written and easy to understand.

Es un libro recomendable para el gran público o para los lectores que se interesan en conocer cómo se hacen o se diseñan los libros. Inicialmente compré la versión digital, pero las letras se ven pixeladas, como si se hubiera escaneado o exportado a baja resolución. Después compré la edición impresa. Si tienes dudas, de cuál comprar, elige la impresa