

But as a result of this theory, you'll commonly see serif fonts used for large bodies of text while 'sans serif' fonts - literally, without serifs - are usually reserved for shorter bits of text like chapter titles and headings.Īll this said, humans are adaptable and your reader should be able to adjust to pretty much any font after a chapter or so. Supposedly, serifs lead the eye from one letter to the next, making the reading experience easier and less tiring - although there isn’t actually much scientific evidence in favor of this. To serif or not to serif?Īlthough you may not know the serif by name, you’ll definitely have noticed these little lines or strokes coming off the end of letters in certain fonts like Times New Roman (and the modified Times font that we use here on the Reedsy blog!). Though you obviously want your font to look nice on the page, it also needs to do its job and be easily readable so that readers can immerse themselves in your words without getting distracted or having to decipher what things say. It may be the most gorgeous thing to look at, but if it’s uncomfortable to sit on, then what use is it really? The same goes for fonts. Having said that, there are a few things that any discerning book designer will want to keep in mind. With the exception of a few universally reviled typefaces - cough cough, Comic Sans - almost any legible font can be considered. How to choose a book fontĬhoosing the 'right' font to use for a book's body matter often comes down to individual taste. However, for convenience’s sake, we’re going to be using the term ‘font’ to refer to both the overall styles of type and their variations.

‘Fonts’, on the other hand, are size, weight and style variations on typefaces, like 12 pt Times New Roman bold and 14 pt Arial italic. True typography experts will be quick to point out how the term ‘font’ is commonly misused in everyday, non-technical conversation.įor typographers, ‘typefaces’ are different lettering designs, like Times New Roman and Arial. Before we get started, let’s clear up a terminological detail.
