Below we’ve added links to excerpts from Book Design Made Simple so that you’ll have access to more material from the book for free. We’ve chosen to include topics that are searched for most frequently on our website.
In Part I of Book Design Made Simple, you’ll learn how to lease and install Adobe InDesign, create a document, and import your manuscript from Word. Download Part I for free by subscribing to our blog—simply use the form below.
Book design how to
Click these links to explore pages from Book Design Made Simple. At the bottom of each page, we’ve included links to other book pages, blog posts, and video tutorials about similar topics.
About book design
- Basic principles of good design: what are they?
- Front matter — what to include in the front of your book
- Back matter — what to include in the back of your book
- Running heads — what to include in your novel or nonfiction book
- Typeface vs font: what’s the difference?
About book production and printing
- Book trim size: how to choose the right trim size
- Ebooks vs print books: why not create both editions?
- Book binding: many options beyond softcover and hardcover
- Digital vs offset printing — which is better? what’s the difference?
- List of book printers for indie authors
About publishing
- Book subject categories: how and where to get them for your book
- Barcodes: what they include and where to get them
About using InDesign
- Word vs InDesign: why learning InDesign is a good idea
- Hyphenation and justification settings: make your text look fabulous
- Baseline grid: aligns the text on all pages throughout your book
- Uneven columns: how to set up a page layout with unequal columns
- Stroke panel: creating lines, arrows, and more
- InDesign layers: how to use them with text and shapes
- Object styles: how and why to use them
- Color gradients: tips for best results
Feel free to also explore our VIDEOS with tutorials on how to use InDesign, and browse our BLOG for posts about book design, InDesign, and publishing.
Book Design Made Simple. You can do it yourself.
