The Best Fonts For Books

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The Best Fonts for
The Best Fonts for Books
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Thursday, December 05, 2019 Tweet
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by Michele DeFilippo (@1106design) with IngramSpark
Believe it or not, there is a science behind choosing the File Requirements

best fonts for books. Think about all the places you see for Print Books
type today. Whether it’s a phone, a computer screen, a
book, an ad, a magazine or a menu, almost every minute of How to Write a
the day is spent reading something. And—other than the Non ction Book: A
menu at your favorite restaurant perhaps—much thought Step-by-Step Guide
has gone into which font to use. for Authors
Generally speaking, there are two main reasons for caring

about the best fonts for books, or for anything that will be
read. They are:
Readability
Being “on message.”
In the following paragraphs, we’ll explore each of these

reasons, plus the best fonts for books, both for body text
and headings. Then we’ll talk about where to buy fonts if
you are formatting the book yourself.
Readability
Readability describes the degree of visual comfort a person
experiences when reading lengthy passages or reading for
a long period of time. Readability is dependent on legibility,
which is how easily one letter can be distinguished from
another.
Factors that determine the readability of a

typeface include the spacing between
letters, the height and thickness of letters,
and the size of the serifs.
Serif fonts help with readability, and are therefore
preferable in the body of a book. The “serif” is the
decorative stroke that nishes each end of a letter (think
Times Roman). Serif fonts are easier on the reader’s eye
than sans-serif fonts; the stroke leads the reader’s eye
from one letter to the next. Serifs help pull the text
together, making it easier for the eye to move and
recognize one letter to another, helping the eye to speed
through long passages of text.
As the name “sans serif” indicates, these are fonts without

the decorative ourish (think Helvetica or Arial). Reading a
line of text printed in sans serif is more tiring. For this
reason, sans-serif fonts should be reserved for headings or
other limited uses. Yet, how many books have you seen
with a sans-serif font in the main body because the author
preferred it that way?
Font choice is just one aspect of typesetting that can

improve readability.
For more on this, read What Is Typesetting and

Why Does It Matter?
Being “On Message”

What message is your book trying to send? What do you
want the reader to feel?
In addition to being readable, the author wants the text to

look inviting and welcoming. Depending on the book’s
genre and topic, there may be other messages, such as
mysterious, romantic, cheerful, transformative, business-
like and more.
For both print and digital books, the typeface is part of the
message. Book designers will study a manuscript to get a
feel for the tone of the writing before choosing a text font.
The right text font for a book can complement the author's
message. If it’s a good t, the reader probably won’t even
notice; the reading will feel easy and just “ ow.” In contrast,
the wrong choice of typeface can feel jarring.
Imagine a book meant to evoke the reader’s emotions, and

the body text is Helvetica! Talk about cold! The reader will
sense that the message is wrong, and probably won’t even
know why. These are the reasons why companies spend so
much money on getting print ads “just right,” ensuring that
they are sending the message that will encourage
consumers to buy.
Best Fonts for Body Text

As you will see, the developers of typefaces produced after
the invention of the printing press knew something about
readability. The fonts we use today tend to have been
created in the 14th-17th centuries, or at least based on that
classical style.
We polled our book designers, and one of

the top choices for the body of a book is the
friendly and warm “Caslon.”
Caslon refers to a family of fonts rst designed in 1722 by
William Caslon I, an English type engraver. It was used
extensively by the British Empire and throughout the
American colonies, and was in fact used to set the
Declaration of Independence! Caslon continues to be one
of the most popular fonts today, with multiple o shoots,
versions and interpretations. When used in body text, this
font conveys an inviting and readable feeling. It gives a
feeling of a human touch, with warmth and familiarity.
Caslon is a good choice not just for historical novels, but
also anytime a solid and dependable feeling is desired.
Other good font choices are:

Garamond— Developed in the 16th Century by Parisian
engraver Claude Garamond, it is a popular font for books.
Jenson—A more recent addition to the world of fonts,

Jenson was developed specially for Adobe Systems, but is
based on a text face cut by Nicolas Jenson in Venice around
1470. Jenson is considered a highly readable typeface.
Minion—Likewise, Minion was created in 1990 for Adobe

Systems, and like other readable fonts, is based on a
classical style of typeface.
Palatino—This font, released in 1949, was intended mainly

for headings and short lines of text, such as ads,
invitations, and the like. However, it became popular for
book text and was tweaked to improve readability.
Best Fonts for Headings,

Chapter Titles and Other
Uses
While sans-serif fonts should be reserved for titles and
headings, that doesn’t mean you can use only sans-serif
fonts. Here you have some latitude.
For headings, you can choose from an array of sans-serif

fonts; sometimes a serif font has a complementary sans-
serif font. Alternatively, you could choose a bolder version
of the serif font used for the body text.
The sky is the limit for chapter titles, as long as the title is
readable and on-message. Script fonts are not always best
for chapter titles, as many are too decorative to be
readable. Stay away also from fonts that could be called
“clichéd,” such as Comic Sans or Papyrus. You’ll also
want a font that is at least semi-bold so that it stands out
on the page.
A crisp, clean sans-serif font is best for gure, table and

illustration numbers and titles.
Sidebars and call-outs should be in a di erent font than

the body—a version of same sans-serif font used for the
gure titles can be a good choice. Set aside call-outs and
sidebars with a line, decorative quote marks or ourishes,
and be sure to leave lots of white space.
How to Choose a Font

With all of these choices, how do you choose the best fonts
for your book?
Think like a book designer and consider the message and

tone of your book. Produce a few sample pages, each using
a di erent font.
If you’d like to compare fonts online, I suggest using the

website MyFonts.com. On this website, you can test fonts
before purchasing them. Simply type the name of the font
you are looking for in the search eld at the top of the
page. Then, type in some sample text in the “Enter your
own text” eld.
One more word about choosing fonts: don’t

choose too many!
Stick with one font family (i.e., the main font you are using
for the body plus a bold or semi-bold version and an italics
version) plus a sans-serif font for titles. You could choose a
corresponding font for chapter titles, but that should be it!
Using too many fonts, along with overuse of bolding, italics
and underlines, scream “amateur!” Keep it simple; keep it
professional.
And while we’re on the topic of bold, italics and

underlining, it’s rare that you would ever need to underline
words in a book. Bold should be reserved for headings.
Italics can be used for emphasis (e.g., to add emotion to an
expression), foreign words, publication titles, etc.
How to Purchase Fonts

Fonts can be expensive! One way to avoid this expense is
to work with a book designer who has an array of fonts at
their ngertips.
If you are formatting your book yourself, here are a couple

of tips:
Avoid downloading free fonts. Not only might you

expose your computer to viruses, it’s illegal. Legitimately
free fonts such as those available through Google are
meant for websites and other digital applications. These
are called web fonts and their quality is not optimum for
printing. You won’t nd any of the best fonts for books
on Google!
You will need to purchase the entire family of fonts

to be able to access bold and italics. In Word, you can
bold and underline any line of text at will; in software
used especially for print design, such as Adobe InDesign,
it’s a di erent story. Each version of the font—for
example, light, regular, semi-bold, bold and black—is a
physically di erent font. If you don’t purchase the bold
version of a font, you won’t be able to bold anything!
You might wonder why you can’t just use whatever fonts
come bundled with Word: Times New Roman, Arial,
Helvetica, Calibri and Cambria might all sound familiar.
Well, you can, if you’re planning on formatting your book in
Word and if you follow the basic rules of choosing a serif
font for the body and a sans-serif font for headings and
titles.
However, I don’t personally recommend
using Word to typeset a book, as the
program does not lend itself well to the
rules of typesetting.
It all comes down to readability. The best fonts for books—
along with hyphens, widows, orphans, tight and loose lines,
and all the other “rules” of typesetting—are meant to
guarantee an optimum experience for the reader.
Choosing your fonts wisely and formatting a book with an
eye to the rules of typesetting will improve the readability
of your book and help ensure your message is received
loud and clear.
Michele DeFilippo owns 1106

Design, a Phoenix company
that o ers cover design,
interior layout, manuscript
editing and more, with expert
indie-publishing advice and
hand-holding every step of the
way. 1106 Design also o ers
IngramSpark authors a
discount.
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Create Account Log In Help

 Plan Your Book How It Works Pricing Resources Search

The Best Fonts for

The Best Fonts for Books

Believe it or not, there is a science behind choosing the File Requirements

Generally speaking, there are two main reasons for caring

Being “on message.”

In the following paragraphs, we’ll explore each of these

Factors that determine the readability of a

As the name “sans serif” indicates, these are fonts without

Font choice is just one aspect of typesetting that can

For more on this, read What Is Typesetting and

Being “On Message”

In addition to being readable, the author wants the text to

Imagine a book meant to evoke the reader’s emotions, and

Best Fonts for Body Text

We polled our book designers, and one of

Other good font choices are:

Jenson—A more recent addition to the world of fonts,

Minion—Likewise, Minion was created in 1990 for Adobe

Palatino—This font, released in 1949, was intended mainly

Best Fonts for Headings,

For headings, you can choose from an array of sans-serif

A crisp, clean sans-serif font is best for gure, table and

Sidebars and call-outs should be in a di erent font than

How to Choose a Font

Think like a book designer and consider the message and

If you’d like to compare fonts online, I suggest using the

One more word about choosing fonts: don’t

And while we’re on the topic of bold, italics and

How to Purchase Fonts

If you are formatting your book yourself, here are a couple

Avoid downloading free fonts. Not only might you

You will need to purchase the entire family of fonts

Michele DeFilippo owns 1106

New IngramSpark Products: Jacketed Paperback vs Hardcover

What is Typesetting and Why Does it

Privacy Policy Contact Us

© Copyright 2020 Ingram Content Group. All Rights Reserved.

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