Welcome to Discovered authors

Typesetting is an important step in book design is to think about your book size. Different books suit and demand different book sizes and it is vital to find a good medium between design and the retail value of the book. Our printing page gives you an idea of how the book size dictates the retail price, and you can learn more about the trim sizes on our text and cover design pages.

Based on your Word manuscript, our typesetters create a template or bespoke interior layout for your book. Choose a design template and font, or have one of our professional text designers create a unique interior layout, which may incorporate colour and black and white images, running headers, tables, etc.

First, you'll be asked to choose the book size and your level of design – template or bespoke. Then you will consult with our typesetters to find the right font and size to match, and we will create a layout sample for you to approve before we go ahead and set the full text.

Fonts can most easily be divided into three types:

Serif
Sans-serif
Other

So what's the difference?

Serif fonts have a small decorative line on the edges of the character. Sans serif do not.

Other fonts are not recommended for body text and should only really be used for titles and chapter heading in interior text and for titles and author names on covers

In traditional printing serifed fonts are used for body text because they are widely believed to be easier to read than sans-serif fonts - the idea being that they help guide the eye along the length of the text.

Traditionally sans-serif fonts are mainly used for shorter pieces of text and subject matter requiring a more casual feel and also look great as chapter headings, headlines and titles.

However in Europe now both serifed and sans-serifed fonts are used for body-text and much is down to personal preference - so it's really up to you

These can be divided into four styles - each with a slightly different look and effect.

Garamond	Old Style Old style typefaces date back to 1465, and are characterized by a diagonal stress. Garamond is a well known Old Style serif
Times New Roman	Transitional Transitional fonts have more pronounced thick and thin lines than old style, but are still less dramatic than they are in modern serif fonts. Times New Roman is a well known Transitional serif
Rockwell	Slab Slab serif typefaces usually have little if any contrast between thick and thin lines and have a bold, rectangular appearance Rockwell is a well known Slab serif Click font name to view large image
Bodoni	Modern Modern serifs are characterized by extreme contrast between thick and thin lines, tend to be thin with heavy vertical lines. Bodoni is a well known Modern serif Click font name to view large image

Sans-serif fonts

These can also be divided into four styles - each with a slightly different look and effect.

News Gothic	Grotesque Earliest sans-serif designs - have capitals that only have a slight height to width proportional variation News Gothic is a well known Grotesque sans-serif Click font name to view large image
Helvetica	Transitional Modern and common sans-serif fonts. They are relatively straight in appearance Helvetica is a well known Transitional serif
Lucida	Humanist These are the most calligraphic of the sans-serif typefaces and have more readability than other sans-serif fonts. Lucida is a well known Humanist serif
Futura	Geometric based on geometric shapes (doh) Futura is a well known Modern serif

Other fonts

These can be divided into four styles - each with a very different look and effect

Scriptina	Script Script fonts simulate handwriting and are harder to read than most serif and sans-serif fonts Scriptina is a well known Script font
Blackletter	Blackletter Based on a type of calligraphy German Blackletter is an example of this typeface
Courier	Monospace Originally developed for typewriters - excellent for columned text Courier is a well known Monospace
Copal	Display Not suitable for body text but good for decorative purposes - can be made specific to occasion and genre Copal is an example of such a typeface