[Richard Meyer]

Perhaps those of you who have had a poetry volume published or have editorial experience could offer an opinion about the text of a book.

What is the best font style and size for a typical poetry book?

Richard

[Michael Juster]

Poetry "books" seem to have a lower limit of 48 pages. At some vague point below that limit it risks being labeled a "chapbook," which isn't necessarily a problem, but most poets prefer to get the credit of "going the distance."

Some people are much more prolific and/or expansive than I am, and occasionally people pass the 100 page barrier. Nothing wrong with that, though it's rare. For most people, as with me, it generally makes sense to hew closer to the lower limit so that you'll only be showcasing your best work. Even with that guideline as your guide, you will probably end up publishing a few that you will later wish that you did not. I know I feel that way, although it is also true that sometimes some of what you consider your lesser poems strike a chord in a way that is surprising. I was stunned by the poem from Secret Language that made it into a collection by the Virginia Poet Laureate of Virginians' favorite poems last year.

If you are using a traditional publisher, they usually have strong opinions on such things and don't want yours. If you are self-publishing, I'd look at books you admire that seem similar in key respects to yours and use one of those fonts.

Good luck!

[Maryann Corbett]

Richard, I have to think about composition concerns for the day job, so I find them interesting. I started to think about these questions when I began submitting manuscripts, figuring that the more like a book the package looked, the more attractive it would be.

I had to do my own page layout for my first book, and I decided to copy the look of the many Wilbur-winning books I own. The books done by Evansville's two presses are set in Baskerville, usually ten on twelve, if I remember correctly. The typical Able Muse font looks very similar. The trim size for both is 6 by 9.

The Waywiser/Hecht prize books are quite different. Their trim size is 5 by 7 3/4 and they use a sans serif font. I'll get out the type book later today and see if I can identify it. *Editing back: It seems to be Optima. The book that lets me figure this out is Rookledge's International Type Finder.

Unless your poems are very uniform in line length and number of lines, you're probably going to need to experiment with a few different fonts, sizes, margins, and amounts of leading. Long lines (like dac-hex) in particular are a challenge.

Another major conundrum is getting the poems in the order you want, while still allowing the two-page poems to begin on the left and occupy two facing pages. (I couldn't always do this!)

Enjoy the process!

[W.F. Lantry]

Richard,

I'm currently judging a book prize that has nothing to do with poetry. You would not believe how many poorly printed books there are out there, from reputable publishing houses. The font, the size, the spacing, the margins, the gutter... and I'm not incredibly picky about such things, having grown up on remainders and those tiny print classics bookstores used to sell for next to nothing.

Some of these books are done so poorly they actually disqualify themselves, even though I'm only supposed to be looking at content. I can't bear to read them. I had friends who used to study book arts and book design, but I guess that's not as common lately.

All this just to say I don't have any specific font or size advice, but I salute you for thinking about these things. You'll live with a book for years: best to make sure it's well made. You'll want to be proud of it.

Thanks,

Bill

[Quincy Lehr]

My own preference--and what we use for The Raintown Review--is Garamond. I can't remember what Seven Towers did for my second book (probably a case of suppressing the memory), but an ugly, overlarge font competed with grainy, dodgy, obtrusive graphics in sabotaging the book. I can barely stand to look at it at this point. The thing is, with desktop publishing these days, you really can experiment a bit without running up huge costs, so no book need ever look like a night orc's sphincter ever again.

[Richard Meyer]

Michael: Thanks for your remarks. Much appreciated. Your comments about book length and what to include are very helpful.

Maryann: You are a treasure of information. Thank you for the valuable insights. I greatly appreciate those several technical items you mentioned. Concerning typeface, for example, I’ve noticed that in various journals and poetry books the font size seems both rather small and somewhat faint. This doesn’t make for good eye appeal or for easy reading. Recently, I was looking through a print copy of the Alabama Literary Review, and I was struck again with its visual appeal. The print is crisp and clear and wonderfully readable—a treat for the eyes.

Bill: Nice to hear your thoughts. It’s quite interesting and disheartening to hear that even “reputable publishing houses” can turn out shoddy work at times.

Quincy: I never heard of Seven Towers, but what a shame that publisher produced a piece of crap for you. Thanks for the input about The Raintown Review preference for font.

Richard

[John Whitworth]

It seems to me that a lot of American poetry books are too big. I don't mean too long but too big, too tall. They won't sit on the average shelf. Or perhaps my shelves are too small.

64 pages is the usual length, isn't it? There's some printers' reason for this. Avoid coloured paper for God's sake. My Girlie Gangs was done by Enitharmon in Albertina. It looks very nice

[Maryann Corbett]

Originally Posted by John Whitworth

It seems to me that a lot of American poetry books are too big. I don't mean too long but too big, too tall. They won't sit on the average shelf. Or perhaps my shelves are too small.

I don't know why, but the paperbacks I own from UK presses, like Waywiser and Cinnamon Press and Enitharmon, are usually in the 5 by 7 3/4 size, while the American books are 6 by 9. Perhaps it's just that paper standard sizes for book production are different, as they are for copy machines; we've got 8 1/2 by 11 and you've got A4, etc. Does anybody know?

64 pages is the usual length, isn't it? There's some printers' reason for this.

It has to do with the number of pages in a gathering. If the number of pages is evenly divisible by sixteen, there won't be a lot of blanks in the last gathering. You can have more than sixty four, but I think Michael's advice about being choosy is valid.

[Charlotte Innes]

Bill: Thank you for raising the flag about badly designed books. I'm often appalled at how badly designed some poetry books are.

For example, the leading (space between lines) is sometimes totally absent!

I feel for you...

Richard: some publishers note which font they've used in the back of the book. For example, I just picked one up at random "Still Life with Waterfall" by Eamon Grennan and found that it is in Jansen. The font's a good one, though it seems a bit small here, but I desperately need new glasses! However, I agree with Quincy that the font size in "Obscure Classics..." is way too big, which is also hard to read.

I do like Garamond--which Quincy mentions--and actually The Raintown Review has very good spacing. So a good model. And Baskerville is good too.

Basically, my preference is for a nice clean-looking font--not too big or small--with good spacing between lines and letters. I also like something of round-ish font, not too sharp--which is easier on the eyes.

At any rate, Richard, tastes vary, and really, looking at books and experimenting with fonts on your own computer is the way to go.

Charlotte

[Charlotte Innes]

Richard,

Here's an interesting link to "Ten Top Typefaces Used by Book Design Winners."

Charlotte