Journal
Notes from inside the press: how a book gets written, edited, designed and published.
119 items, page 6 of 6
Production
Image resolution for print
Whether an image will print sharply depends on its pixels and its printed size, not on a number in its file settings. Here is how to check.
Design
Back matter: notes, acknowledgements and the author’s note
What comes after the last chapter has its own conventions. How to order the back matter, and how to make notes easy to use.
Editing
Reading your manuscript aloud, and what it catches
Your ear notices what your eye forgives. Reading a manuscript aloud is slow and slightly embarrassing, and it finds problems nothing else does.
Editing
Point-of-view slips and how to catch them
A single sentence that knows too much can pull a reader out of a character's head. Here is how to hear it happen.
Publishing
Libraries, lending and ebooks
Libraries buy books, lend them and pay authors for the privilege. How that works for print and digital is worth understanding before you publish.
Design
Laying out the back cover
The back cover has more to do than the front and less room to do it in. Here is how its parts fit together.
Design
Leading: the space between the lines
Leading takes its name from strips of metal, but its job has never changed: to let the eye find the next line without effort.
Writing
Endings that close without tying bows
An ending can answer the book's central question and still leave room for the reader. How to find the line between resolution and neatness.
Editing
Keeping a timeline: days, seasons and ages
A novel can survive a slow middle. It struggles to survive a Tuesday that follows a Thursday. Here is how to keep time straight.
Publishing
How bookshops order books
A bookshop cannot stock a book it cannot find or order on normal terms. Knowing how shops buy explains why some books reach their shelves and others do not.
Production
Always order a proof copy
A screen shows you the file. A proof shows you the book. The difference is where most expensive mistakes hide.
Design
The ellipsis
Three dots look simple. Their spacing, their relationship with other punctuation and their habit of breaking across lines are not.
Writing
Dreams in fiction, and why readers skip them
Dream sequences are one of the most skipped passages in fiction. Why they so often fail, and what the rare successful ones do differently.
Editing
What a copy-editor actually checks
Copy-editing is not a quick tidy of the commas. It is where a book is made consistent, and consistency is harder than it sounds.
Publishing
A newsletter is worth more than a following
Social media followers belong to the platform. A newsletter list belongs to the author, and it reaches readers when it matters.
Production
CMYK, RGB and why the cover changes colour
A cover that glows on screen can arrive from the printer looking dull. The reason is physics, and it can be planned for.
Design
Line length, and the measure readers never notice
Readers rarely notice the length of a line, but they feel it. Why typographers settle on somewhere between 45 and 75 characters.
Editing
A working method for fact-checking non-fiction
Fact-checking a book is less about suspicion and more about bookkeeping. A method that makes every claim traceable before anyone asks.
Editing
Dialogue tags, and why "said" disappears on the page
Readers barely register the word "said", which is exactly why it works. Most alternatives draw attention to themselves.