Top 14 Font Size For Books Updated 04 /2024

Publishing a book is a blood-draining process, from writing your first draft to making a few changes and formatting your book. With time, you start to understand a lot of things about formatting.

A big reason is that you start to learn about how different publishers work. You can see if there are common patterns or needs.

Formatting is one of the most difficult parts of the book-writing process if you're just starting out. Because formatting doesn't come naturally to people who write, it can be hard.

This is a skill you must learn before you can do this!

Font size is one of the many aspects of formatting that I'm going to look at. Size, typesetting, cover details (matte vs. glossy), page color, and more all play a role.

Let's start now!

Does Font Size Really Matter?

Font size has a lot to do with how your book looks. First, you need to think about what publishers want. They usually have their own preferences when it comes to the font size, and that's what you need to keep in mind.

Font size is important even if you're self-publishing, because it affects a lot of things, like how many words and pages your book has. As an example, if you use a large font size, you'll have less words on each page (because the larger letters are going to fill up the pages quicker than smaller letters).

Because large font sizes can make a book look a little bad, smaller font sizes can make it look cool.

If you can't see well, bigger fonts might be better for you because they're easier to read.

Serif vs. Sans Serif

If you're self-publishing, there's a good chance that you won't have to follow any font rules. Serif and sans serif fonts are two different types of fonts. You have to know the difference between them. "A serif is a small line at the end of the main strokes of a letter or other object."

Serif fonts have a serif, which is a small extra thing on the edges of the letters. Sans serif fonts don't have a serif, so they have straight edges.

The fonts in each of these two groups will fit a certain genre. Examples: Fonts with no lines are good for nonfiction books like reference books and textbooks, because they make it easier to read. Classic serif fonts, which are easy to read, are good for fiction, memoirs, and autobiographies because they are simple.

How Do I Choose The Right Font For My Book?

You have to choose the right font for your book.

Tips: Here are some:

Follow the Publisher’s Guidelines

The publisher would have given you a font if they had given you one. However, even if you write for Amazon Kindle, there are some font rules that kindle suggests.

If you want your book to be printed, you need to choose fonts that Amazon can use without having to worry about copyright. Most of the time, publishers will give you one or two fonts they like to work with.

Choose a Font That Goes Well with Your Genre.

There was a brief mention of this when I talked about the difference between serif and sans serif fonts. People who are good at writing know which fonts work well with their type of book, and they don't use fonts that aren't right for their book.

There are two types of fonts that look better on nonfiction books: classic serif fonts for fiction, and sans serif fonts for nonfiction reference books and textbooks.

As a rule, if you write for kids, you should use fonts that are more decorative and attention-grabbing because, for them, there is not a lot more than meets the eye. Not that I don't love these little monsters, but decorative texts just work so well for kids.

Avoid Bad Fonts

Choosing a font for your book is one thing you should know. You're not trying to paint graffiti, you're just choosing a font for your book.

Keep to fonts that won't bother you. When you choose a book, you might not think about the font.

There are some bad fonts that might work for the title and other parts of your book, but not for the body text. Script MT, snap ITC, and Comic Sans are some of them.

Forget Times New Roman/Arial

These two fonts may be the best on either side of the screen. Both Times New Roman and Arial are good fonts. Times New Roman has serifs and Arial has san serifs.

Two of these are in every word processor, and they are very easy to read. If you write a book, you're probably going to put it out in print as well. So, if you don't want your book to look like a college paper, don't use one of these two fonts. Instead, try other fonts that are easy to read and look good in a book, not just on the computer screen.

Choosing the Right Font Size

There are a few things you need to think about when you choose the font size for your book.

Some of them:

Consider the trim size

To print your book, you should choose a font and font size that fit the book's trim size.

You need to choose a font that is easy to read, thick enough for readers to follow lines and pages, and small enough for the trim size.

There's no doubt that smaller trim sizes will need bigger fonts, and vice versa. But usually, 15 points is too big, and 9 points is too small for the body of the text (Although some books have used these points and look and read just like any other).

 

This is how it works: Some fonts take up more space than others, even when their font size is the same. Other fonts also take up more space than others. Because of this, you may have to change the font size to fit your trim size.

In order to find a good font size for your books if you want to print them, you can print a few pages with different fonts and different sizes to see what looks good.

Word Count

The more words your book has, the more pages it will need. In order to get around this, you might want to choose a font size that doesn't take up too many pages.

If you write fiction, your book is likely to be 5.25 x 8, 5.5 x 8.5, or 6 x 9 if it's longer. If you have a lot of words and a small book, you'll need a font size that makes it easier to fit everything in.

Readability

Having thought about trim size and word count, readability is the next thing to think about. You have to think about the fact that not all of your readers will be able to see well.

No, I can't read well with that font size. If the answer is yes, you've figured out how to change the size of the font.

Dos and Don’ts (Basic Font Tips When You Haven’t Been Given Specific Formatting Requirements)

You should keep these things in mind if you're self-publishing:

For text, use an 11-point Serif Font

Use a 14-point Serif font for the title of each chapter.

Use a 12-point Serif font for the title of each section.

Make sure you don't use monospaced fonts like Courier.

Use at least three fonts. Too many fonts will make things look bad.

What’s The Best Font To Use For A Novel?

Not me: Garamond, Baskerville, and Sabon are the fonts I'd like you to use.

Three of these might work for you.

Summary

A traditional publishing house is a good choice if you're one of the few people who can get your book out there. You have a team of editors and book designers who can help you choose the right fonts for your book.

But if you're going to be self-publishing, you're probably going to have to choose your own font and size. So pick a book that looks like what you want your book to look like, print out a few pages of your book, and compare the results.

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