Creating a Style and Design Guide for a Publishing house

A stylesheet is a document detailing rules and standards for fonts, font sizes, page layout, colors, and visual appearance. Editing a book without first creating a stylesheet is like constructing a house without a plan. Prepare your outside work, Make it fit for yourself in the field; And afterward build your house. (Proverbs 24:27) There are many decisions to be taken in the process of publishing a book. In the process of editing and proofreading, a stylesheet will help ensure there is consistency, cohesiveness in style and book layout and good visual appeal for easy reading. A badly formatted book with a bad design layout can significantly impact the reading experience.

Popular style guides: Stylesheets created are based off of established style guides such as The Chicago Manual of Style, MLA Handbook or The Associated Press Stylebook, etc. Christian literature is usually based on the style of The Chicago Manual of Style.

Basic fonts and styles: The main elements of a stylesheet include choosing a font for the overall book, font sizes for body text, headings, Scripture verses, etc. The simpler the styles used, the more attention the reader can give to the content and not get distracted by the jarring styles used.

Bullets and numbering: Standardizing bullets and numbering styles will ensure consistency across the book. Bullets and numbering styles can be chosen for hierarchical lists. This will then be useful for any kind of lists or tabular data the author or editor may wish to apply to a text.

Bible references: In Christian literature, the most important text is the Scripture quotations. The Scripture verses must be set apart in style for easy identification by the reader. In most cases, the stand-alone Scripture verses have a particular style and the run-on Scripture verses given as part of the body text have a different style. A fixed style is also given for Scripture verse references such as short forms for Bible book names or use of full names, use of brackets, hyphens, etc. The key is to determine a style that is simple and adhere to it throughout the book.

Headings and subheadings: Headings are usually used hierarchically. Each level of heading will have its own style to ensure the reader can recognize the heading level on any page.

Punctuations, grammar and spelling: The use of any one of the established style guides will determine the use of punctuations. Based on whether American or British spellings are preferred, the correct spellings for words like color, center, etc. can be decided.

Other styles: Specific information can be included in page headers, footers, table of contents. Images if given will need caption texts which are usually given in a smaller font size from the main text. Other special features like chapter-end questions, pull quotes, key for maps, Preface, Copyright page, References / Bibliography page, promotional content pages, etc. can have fixed styles as well. Remember to always keep the styles simple and easy to implement in different books.

Book size: Books can be of different sizes based on genre. Christian literature books are usually given in A5 or B5 size. Determine a size for books so the printer can fix the layout at the printing press. Bear in mind that the size of the book will affect the cost of bulk printing.

Book layout and order of contents: The book layout will determine the visual look of the book. For example, the opening page of Preface / Introduction / Acknowledgement sections is usually on the right-side page. Blank pages can also be inserted as part of the design such as a blank page after Title page, blank page after Table of Contents, etc. All these are stylistic decisions that help the book layout look professional and match with standard practices in the Publishing field.

Paper: Determining paper thickness will ensure all the books produced by a publishing house are of the same quality. Paper thickness will also affect the cost of printing. Take into consideration the logistics of the book distribution and select a suitable paper thickness so there is no wear and tear while handling the copies by different people in different places such as in the warehouse, book shops, etc.

Cover design: A Graphic Designer (GD) designs the cover of a book using software like Canva or Adobe Photoshop. The author submits a brief to the GD giving an idea for what can be depicted on the front cover. The front cover of a book includes book title, subtitle (sometimes) and author name; the back cover includes the blurb text and the contact information of the organization; title page includes only the book title and subtitle (if available), the spine of the book includes book title and sometimes, author name as well.

Special pages: Consider adding special pages like promotional pages to make the best use of the space readily available in books. With a few pages designated for the different ministries done in the organization, one can help the reader with the content material as well as inform them on other helpful resources provided by the ministry.

A design for a book must be done with good research, and careful thought given to what will be suitable for the target audience as well as match with market standards. The first impression of the book will help the reader to take the next step into picking up a copy to read and be blessed. A well-planned design can enhance good Christian literature and draw even new readers to know about the Gospel. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men (Colossians 3:23).