Typesetting for Print-on-Demand: What Authors Get Wrong

Print-on-demand has democratised book publishing. But the ease of uploading a manuscript has led to a flood of books that look self-published in the worst possible way — cramped margins, inconsistent spacing, and typography that exhausts the eye before the reader reaches the end of page one.

Here is what authors most commonly get wrong, and how to fix it.

Ignoring Trim Size Early On

Your trim size should be the first decision you make, not the last. Everything — margins, font size, line spacing, chapter breaks — flows from your trim size. The most common mistake is writing in a standard A4 Word document and then trying to force it into a 6×9 book. The result is always awkward.

Choose your trim size before you begin formatting:

Margins That Are Too Tight

Print-on-demand books are perfect-bound, meaning pages are glued into the spine. A book that opens flat loses approximately 0.25–0.375 inches of gutter (inner margin) to the binding. If your inner margins are set to 0.5 inches, the text will visually disappear into the spine.

A safer minimum for gutter margins is 0.75 inches. For books over 300 pages, use 0.875 inches or more.

Using Screen Fonts for Print

Fonts designed for screens (Calibri, Arial, Georgia) do not behave the same way in print. They tend to feel heavy and awkward in long-form text. Classic book typefaces — Garamond, Caslon, Minion, Palatino — are designed for sustained reading. The difference on the printed page is immediately noticeable.

Inconsistent Leading and Spacing

Leading (line spacing) should be set consistently throughout the book. A font size of 11-12pt with 14-16pt leading is a reliable baseline for most trade books. Resist the urge to manually space paragraphs with empty lines — use paragraph spacing instead, or the traditional indent-only approach where paragraphs are indented with no extra spacing between them.

Widows and Orphans

A widow is the last line of a paragraph sitting alone at the top of a page. An orphan is the first line of a paragraph sitting alone at the bottom. Both signal amateurish typesetting to a discerning reader. Professional typesetting software (InDesign, Affinity Publisher) handles these automatically. If you're using Word or Google Docs, enable the widow/orphan control in paragraph settings.

The Value of a Professional

Typesetting a book properly takes time, expertise, and the right tools. If your book is the result of years of work, it deserves a layout that does justice to that work. A professional typesetter does more than make the book look pretty — they make it readable, credible, and worthy of the reader's time and money.