There are a lot of reasons why professional book designers use professional tools to design and typeset books. Adobe InDesign is probably the most popular such design and layout tool, and it can be rather expensive. It also has a fairly steep learning curve.
As with most tools, merely learning how to use InDesign is just scratching the surface of the knowledge required to create professional results.
I own and know how to use a router. I’ve done some pretty cool things with it. But I really have no idea how to do the kinds of things I see pros doing on home improvement and carpentry shows. I am usually awed at the quality of their results (compared to my own) and the speed with which they get it done.
The same is true for designing and typesetting books. An amateur using InDesign can often produce decent results. That same amateur using Microsoft Word, or most any other word processing software, will be lucky to produce minimally acceptable results. The right tool helps…but is not the ultimate solution. It also takes a lot of study — reading books on typography and book design, dissecting the best book designs, a considerable amount of trial and error, and maintaining an ongoing professional study program to keep abreast of the latest in book design and design software.
So, you may wonder, what can’t I just us MS Word to design and typeset my book? After all, I already know how to use it. Here are my top 7 reasons for not trying typeset your book with MS Word (or any other word processing program):
- Word’s default word spacing settings are, at best, mediocre, and typically yield the awful “rivers of white” that shouts out AMATEUR DESIGN and, even worse, can negatively affect the reader’s comprehension and even enjoyment. You can adjust the word spacing in Word, but it is not easily or quickly done. InDesign, however, gives you very fine control for word spacing and puts the controls readily at hand.
- Likewise, Word’s default settings for hyphenation (and even its built-in methodology for deciding whether to hyphenate the last word on a line or adjust word spacing) is pretty dismal compared to a program like InDesign. This can lead to what designers call “ladders” — excessive hyphens marching down your right margins (not always just a matter of too many consecutively).
- Word’s capability to fully justify text (i.e., creating straight margins down both sides of your paragraphs) is limited by its built-in methodology. Word tries to make justification decisions based on a line-at-a-time analysis, whereas InDesign will look at the entire paragraph as a whole — if you make a small change at the end of a paragraph, ID may ripple changes all the way back to the beginning of the paragraph if that will improve the overall look.
- Although Word does offer some control of kerning (the spacing between adjacent letters), it is both awkward and difficult to use…or, at least, to use well. ID, on the other hand, puts full control at your fingertips and allows for almost imperceptible adjustments (adjustments, nonetheless, that can greatly improve the appearance and readability of the text).
- You may have noticed that most book designers strive to make certain that the lines of text on facing pages line up nicely and that there are the same number of lines per page (which means the last lines line up), except at the end of a chapter, section, etc. or due to other inherent design decisions. ID makes this easy. Word makes it hard. Merely telling Word (or even ID, for that matter) to avoid widow and orphan lines is rarely enough to solve the problem; designers spend time making whatever adjustments are necessary to keep a balanced look for the book’s pages. Luckily, our tools make it fairly easy.
- Have you ever wondered about the spiffy letters and letter combination that show up in professionally designed books? Fancy doodads added to letters for decorative purposes are called swashes. Letter combos that just make the internal spacing of words look better and make the reading flow more smoothly are called ligatures. Many fonts (particularly Open Type Fonts) used by professional designers include a variety of these. Professionals use them where they make sense and where they add that little “something extra” that can make a big difference in the reading experience. Word does provide access to some swash characters and ligatures, but they’re a pain in the neck to use.
- Although Word will allow you to insert graphics and provides some control over how they behave as you make changes in the surrounding text, ID provides the kind of control that Word users can only dream about. And ID makes all the necessary controls readily accessible. I can even put the graphics on a separate layer of the document (which I can turn on and off as necessary while working), when that makes it easier to manage a complicated layout. I can also place graphics on a master page so that it always appears at the same location on a page using that particular page style (I use this often for making slick chapter-opening graphics over which the chapter number and/or title appear).
So, can you typeset a book using a word processing program like Microsoft Word? Of course you can.
Can you do it well? Only if you’re willing to invest a lot of time and effort in the attempt.
Can you do it as well as you could if you used a program like InDesign? Not likely.
Will merely buying InDesign make you a professional designer? Absolutely not, but at least you will have the right tool. After that, it is up to you to learn how to apply good book design principles and techniques using that tool.
Will you be able to produce a book as well designed as those produced by professional book designers? I doubt it, certainly not right away.
If you only plan to produce one, or even a few, books and don’t want to spend your precious time learning how to do it right, you can always hire a professional book designer. Time, after all, is also worth money.
Should you spend your money on new software and your time learning the ins and outs of book design? Maybe. Maybe not.
The decision is yours. Choose wisely.
Elegantly put: short, to the point, way on the money, Walt. I’ll just refer folks here from now on when they ask me why Word isn’t the best choice for designing and laying out books.
Thanks for making the argument like shooting fish in a barrel.
Of course, now wait for people to come out of the woodwork telling you how their Word-created books have won design awards.
Thanks for the kind words, Stephen.
There are always exceptions…but they generally serve more to prove the point rather than disprove it. For every well-designed book in Word there are many thousands of really poor designs in Word.
You might add that MSWord’s handling of styles is at once tyrannical and arbitrary.
Lindsey, you just did!
I could have added a dozen other reasons but decided (probably tyrannically and arbitrarily) to stop at my top seven.
Interesting article – my thanks!
Adam Charles
You’re welcome, Adam.
I guess what gets me is that someone’s crowning achievement, writing a book, would get the penny ante treatment. I understand if it’s meant just for friends and family to see–tho’, frankly, I’d especially want those people to be impressed with all of if it were my book. But if they’re going to sell it, they should realize they need to give something besides their words for the price of admission. I tell anyone who’ll listen, when you self-publish, you’ve made a decision to go into business as a publisher. And who ever heard of going into a business but not investing in it?
Walt, a terrific summation of the deficits of Word for typesetting. Really well said and to the point, thanks for that. I’ve seen some pretty decent books done in Word, but they are rare to be sure.
Thanks, Joel.
I did typeset a long novel once (long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away…). Immeasurable frustration and innumerable wasted hours later, I finished it. It was the first book we published and I was too new to realize what a mistake I was making. We bought InDesign shortly thereafter and devoted many hours to learning to use it well. I vowed never again to use Word for book design and typesetting!
That backlist title has haunted me ever since. We just redid it (in InDesign, of course), and I uploaded the new files to LSI this past weekend. Guess what? Using the same font and font size, the book slimmed down by over 100 pages! And it looks so much better.
So, I guess I should have added reason #8: ID is very likely to reduce to length of your book and save you printing costs!
That’s interesting, Walt, I’m glad you redid the book. Old books with design flaws or poor production never go away, I’ve learned that the hard way. I would be curious how long the original books was, what kind of percentage space savings occurred when you moved the book to ID. What was the original page count?
The original was 468 pages. The new version is 316 pages.
And gone are the “rivers of white” that I didn’t even know enough to look for way back then.
And I was wrong. We did change the font — from Palatino Linotype to Adobe Garamond Pro.
Awesome and very instructive post Walt. Thanks. Shall I send to InDesign as a ringing endorsement! It is certainly a ringing endorsement!
Cliff
There are other software tools that can do as well. Many moons ago, I used Quark Xpress and dabbled in TeX, but we settled on InDesign for our book design work. The other programs have their avid supporters. A good designer can get more out of a poor tool than a novice can out of great tool. Knowing how to use a tool well is far more important than which tool you use, although you are at a significant disadvantage using MS Word for serious book design work.
While working as the F-16 Training Manager at Lockheed Martin “back when,” I set up the style sheets and supervised the production of thousands of pages of instructional handbooks (with hundreds of graphics)…using nothing but MS Word. What an agonizing three years, although delivering all those hours of classroom training to our many overseas customers was very rewarding.
Maybe because so many people who typeset books in Word have more “the book is just a container” mentalities than “the book is an art form,” book’s done in Word tend to have a stock look to them.
I just finished work on an 1,100-page novel in InDy. I shudder to think how large it’d've been in Word.
Well, it is true that a book is merely a container. So is the packaging that everything in the store comes in. Yet, there is an entire discipline that employs a lot of packaging engineers and designers. The packaging really can make a difference in sales…even for a book.
And then there’s the whole issue of comprehension and readability (which too many neophytes confuse with legibility) that can affect the reading experience, for good or ill, even when the reader has no idea why.
I’ve seen many books set using Word and can honestly say that only one was done well. I can’t even begin to imagine the time it took that author to layout this book, as it was over 300 pages long. Personally, I think InDesign is one easier pieces of professional software to learn to use … especially when you compare it with something like Quark.
But, for most authors, simply hiring a pro book designer will end up saving them time and money, especially if they want to turn-out a quality end product.
As I’ve said, learning to use software like InDesign is only a small part of producing professional quality books. It is at least as important to study the art and science of book design. Books like:
Once you understand the whys behind book design, the options available in InDesign will make more sense and you will be able to make the most appropriate choices.
The above is why, for most self-publishers and many very small publishers, it is more cost-effective to pay a professional to design and typeset a book.
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As a writer, a design educator and also the author of a book about self-publishing book, I’d like to thank you for your post. I’m a great admirer of books printed with hot metal type in the early 20th century. Back then, printing and typesetting were true crafts, and even commonplace books offered design attributes we think of as “high-end” today; cloth binding, embossing, foil stamping, tipped-in letterpress images, wide margins, loose leading (line spacing), etc.
As printing, paper and labor became expensive, book quality diminished. But, in the 90′s when the digital revolution really caught on, design and typesetting work fell to a new crowd of people who had software-skills but generally never developed deep roots into the forgotten world of hot metal type. It was all well and good to be able to flow text into a template, but there were no standards to emulate.
As the book business became a big deal, publishers invested in hoped-for blockbusters like Hollywood movie studios invest in films. But when it takes thousands of pre-printed books to feed an immensely-broad distribution chain, it makes sense to mitigate risk by packing more text on a page. Small margins, small text and tight leading save thousands of dollars over big print runs. The result is yet another distancing from the original high standards of book design.
Today, using powerful typesetting engines like InDesign, affordable, low-risk print-on-demand printing options and a little bit of education, it’s actually we indy publishers who have the upper hand on producing quality books. Anyone using Word to produce a book has failed to take advantage of one of the indy writer’s greatest advantages.
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I completely disagree with this article. We used Aaron Shepherd’s book Perfect Pages for Word, quick, easy to understand instructions and successfully typeset 2 novels. We inserted graphics such as a map, chapter headers and dingbat section breaks. In fact, once the format was complete for the first book, we used the temple for the second book and finished it in less time.
The look is so good, we’ve asked people to tell which book my traditional publisher did and which book we formatted. No one could tell the difference.
We also used the Word formatted document to convert to e-book in a few simple steps. It uploaded to Kindle the first time – including the same graphics used for the book.
No need to be snippy about it. You are entitled to disagree.
I have, in fact, recommended Aaron’s excellent book to folks who insist on using MS Word for typesetting.
As I have said many times on this blog, typesetting with Word can be done. However, even when it is done well, Word is still the wrong tool for the job.
I would bet that your book could be done better if typeset by a professional who knows how to use InDesign well. But if you’re happy with the results, so be it.
I would also bet that your ebook could be made to look a lot better if done properly by somebody who knows what they’re doing. But, again, if you’re happy, that’s fine.
Nothing you’ve said, including your alleged success, changes the fact that Word is not a good tool for great typography.
Some people, I’m sure, have built satisfactory bookcases using a wrench for a hammer, too. That does not mean that doing so is a great idea for everyone.
Interesting piece. Judging by the comments its very much up to personal preference. IMHO Word is pretty inflexible at times.
Thanks for stopping in, Jennifer.
It is less a matter of Word’s inflexibility than the fact that it takes three times as long to produce typesetting that is not as good as could be done with InDesign.
Hi Walt,
I’m learning a lot here reading the blogs and your replies to inquiries, becoming more and more convinced of going the LS route. However, I would like to farm out the hassle of setting up the LS-compliant book block. LSUK (I’m based in Belgium) recommended a company called Commercial Campaigns. They’ll do the cover (which I’ve already had designed) and the book block but at the steep cost of about 500 USD. Can you recommend a design company that can do it cheaper?
Looking forward to reading your thoughts on that.
Best,
Tom
I am not familiar with Commercial Campaigns, but placing your cover design into an LSI template and then doing the design and typesetting of the interior for $500 is already suspiciously cheap (although you did not indicate what type of book it is or how long). Our own Five Rainbows Services would likely charge more. I’m sure you can find somebody to do it cheaper, but this kind of work very often falls into the “you get what you pay for” category.
We usually create three distinct interior designs of a chapter or so for the client to review. From that, we and the client develop a final design. Only then do we typeset the entire book.
Walt, as usual, makes the good point that you generally get what you pay for in book design and production. To call $500 US “steep” betrays, I think, a certain lack of research of what makes a professional designer/production artist. Indeed, just the fact that one is a professional–and why would you employ less for a book you hope to turn into a money-making proposition (or just otherwise get into the hands of a large number of readers)? Look at it this way. The simplest 200-page book (for want of another example, since, as Walt notes, yo really give no detail about your book) I’ll get in and out in about 3 weeks. If I have 3 of these going at a time, that’s roughly $500 weekly at take in, working full-time. After paying just my own taxes and medical, I’d almost be better off collecting bottles on the street. I’d jut worry about the quality you’re buying for $500.
Thanks, Stephen. You provided a more detailed response that perfectly defines the issue. It seems many people expect that all we have to do is pour the document into InDesign and it just magically makes a perfect book. Of course, some of the really cheap outfits are outsourcing to India, which is a whole ‘nother problem IMO.
Interestingly, Walt, I just got an email from an Indian outfit this morning, asking me to send them my overflow. Guess I have to give ‘em credit for initiative. But, really–and I don’t mean to sound xenophobic–do I really want to send any moneymaking work to a competitor AND out of my country at a time when things are going bad here economically?
We get those frequently — asking for overflow work, editing jobs, eBook design work, etc.
Our general policy is not to outsource, and particularly not to outsource overseas. In fact, about the only way I would OK outsourcing a job is if it were to somebody I know and whose work I trust. Since we no longer do standalone eBook conversions (only eBooks for clients whose print books we’ve designed), we do offer referrals to eBook designers. But, again, only to a few I know and trust.
In my opinion, a referral (or outsourcing) puts our reputation on the line just as much as if we do the work ourselves.
One of the worst parts of Word is the requirement of RGB color space for its graphics (a slight extension of #7). Excellent article! I have worked in InDesign for so long I need to remember the problems with Word. You summed them up well.
Thanks, David. It is possible to do a passable job of typesetting with MS Word for a relatively simple manuscript, but it is an exercise in frustration and a headache-producer, too! Been there, done that, burned the t-shirt, vowed never to do it again.
Does the same hold true for formatting ebooks, especially Kindle?
Formatting eBooks is a very different problem, with very different solutions. If you’re asking if I would format an eBook using MS Word, the answer is no, I wouldn’t. Could you? Yes, but you’ll never get a great result (in either ePub or Kindle), although you might get an acceptable result if the book is an all-text novel.
I use one of several programs to create an ePub file (which one depends on what the source file is and what kind of a book it is), and then edit and refine the XHTML (as well as the CSS) within the ePub to get the best result. I then start with those XHTML files and revise as needed for the Kindle (many things that work well in ePub don’t in Kindle) using Amazon’s Kindlegen software to produce a MOBI file upload to Kindle.
Thank you, Walt, this was very helpful.
I am currently debating whether or not to enter the minefield of typesetting my own novel. can you tell me if istudio publisher is a good tool for this. A friend told me it was. Would you recommend indesign over it?
The tools used are actually less important than the knowledge and skill of the person using them. As far as I know, only InDesign and the free, open source TeX are able to justify text based on an entire paragraph rather than just line by line.
However, I don’t do Mac so have no idea of the relative capabilities of any related Apple software.
You could buy the best set of woodworking tools on the planet and still not be able to produce cabinetry that anyone would want in their home. Likewise, you can buy whatever software you want and still not produce professional-quality typeset books.
Besides the software, you need to buy and study some books. I highly recommend Pete Masterson’s Book Design and Production, James Fellici’s The Complete Manual of Typography and Robert Bringhurst’s The Elements of Typographic Style. Those three are staples in my own book design and typography library, although I have many others.
Good typography is as much art as science, but it is paramount to know the “rules” and accepted standards before making design decisions. You might also want to read my blog post on Book Design vs. Typesetting.
Charlie, what Walt said reduces the problem to it’s two most basic points: having design sense and skills with the proper tools. Certainly if you plan to be a publishing house yourself after your initial effort with your own novel, it could pay to invest time in money in InDesign (or QuarkXPress) or in getting up to speed with the learning curve of one of the flavors of TeX.
However, if this is likely to be your only foray into publishing, you might want to take measure all that–especially the value of your time, not just in learning the tools (the “science” part) but also the aesthetics of the printed page, the “art” part. The printed book, unlike he ebook so far, is potentially an object of art itself and not just a container of words. The books Walt mentions above are certainly a worthwhile foundation to learning about this art. I would also add Hendel’s On Book Design to the list.
Or you might consider that the entry to self-publishing may be quite low, but successfully publishing (and therefore selling) a book is another thing altogether. It’s actually a choice to go into business, if only on a one-shot basis, making proper investment in your effort a good idea.
Statistically most self-published books don’t draw flies. It may be because a lot of them weren’t able to find traditional publishers for the best of reasons. On the other hand, if you’ve really worked at writing well about something readers have an interest in, you might want give your book the great advantage of professional design and production. Which, not so coincidentally, is what I do.
Thanks for chiming in, Steve. The tools don’t make the craftsman…but they can sure make his job easier!
You’re welcome, Walt! Absolutely … as far as the tools making the job easier, but not making the job period. Except … Not having an ounce of drawing or painting ability–guess I started with words as a kid and never worked on the eye-hand coordination–I don’t think I’d've gotten into book design, typography, or any of it had there not been computers and all the “miracle” software we have.
Walt, I wasn’t being snippy. I said I disagreed and proceeded to give my reasons why. You’re reply was totally uncalled for and insulting. And one I will point out to others that you cannot accept disagreement graciously with other professionals.
What I referred to as “snippy” was your “completely disagree.” If not snippy, it is at least a defensive reply.
As I said in my response, if you’re happy with the results, that’s fine, but it does not change the fact that professional tools, particularly used by a professional designer, will produce consistently better results. That’s not insulting, it’s just a statement of fact. I’m sorry you consider that insulting.
In my opinion, professionals use professional tools to produce professional results. And yes, that’s MY opinion, which I stand by regardless of your opinion to the contrary.
If I was unable to accept disagreement, I would never have approved your original reply in the first place. Just remember, this is my blog and I reserve the right to have the last word. If you want the last word, you’ll have to put it on your own blog.
Hi Walt,
Just stopping by because Shaw Lamb (above) commented on her post here on my own FB post where I shared this article with my FB Friends.
I don’t know you personally Walt, but I sometimes recommend your posts to writers in my social media.
I don’t do my own typesetting. I don’t have time to become proficcient so I don’t know the pros and cons here. I do know that the several professionals I’ve hired have all told me if I’m writting in MS Word please don’t send them that version to work with for their typesetting. They ask I at least convert it to RTF first. To quote the famed man, “And that’s all I know about that!”
Thankx for a great post that sparked lots of learning. I learned things just from all the comments I never thought I learn about typesetting.
Aggie,
I don’t understand why a book designer would not accept an MS Word document. Through our Five Rainbows Services subsidiary we will accept manuscripts in just about any format (except PDF) that somebody wants to submit. It’s pretty easy to clean them up for input into InDesign.
Thanks for stopping by!
I don’t know why eiter, Walt. As I said, that’s all I know about that! ha. This end of publishing I leave to the pros! Have a wonderful day
Likewise.
I didn’t see any snippiness in Shawn’s response.
That said, no self-respecting typographer would ever choose to use Word to typeset a book. If you insist on it, that’s your business. If it looks good enough for you, that’s your business. Your results will not be as good as if someone who knows what they’re doing does it in InDesign.
If a non-professional can’t tell the difference, all that proves is that a non-professional can’t tell the difference.
Fair enough, Keith. I guess I view a “completely disagree” reply based on incomplete knowledge of the art/craft/science of book design to be “putting on airs” (one of the definitions of snippy). A more reasoned response would be to say, “I don’t want to invest in pro-quality tools so will do the best I can with what I have.” That’s a fair rationale, IMO. To suggest one can do just as well as a pro while using non-pro tools is not a reasoned response and seems “snippy” to me. But I suppose I will refrain from such characterizations in the future. Ah well, some folks have thin skins. I don’t and can a lot of incoming fire…as long as the marksman is prepared to accept the return volleys.
In reply to your reply to my reply…
I think we’re basically in agreement–but I’ll point out that giving someone who doesn’t know typography a copy of InDesign won’t teach them typography, and without that, it won’t create a better book; it’ll just make it easier for them to create a lousy one. (And that’s assuming they’re already a good ways up the learning curve of the software itself.)
Anyone who makes a living with their tools (as I do, with InDesign) and takes pride in the results eventually comes to understand that the best tool doesn’t confer the knowledge of what to do with it.
True. Which is why I included the following in the original post above:
“An amateur using InDesign can often produce decent results. That same amateur using Microsoft Word, or most any other word processing software, will be lucky to produce minimally acceptable results. The right tool helps…but is not the ultimate solution. It also takes a lot of study — reading books on typography and book design, dissecting the best book designs, a considerable amount of trial and error, and maintaining an ongoing professional study program to keep abreast of the latest in book design and design software.”
Huge.. HUGE… problems with using Word or any other similar word processing application and many mentioned here. While most refer to book publishing as continuous pages of text; I work predominately with text & images.
These word processing applications DO NOT handle any image resolutions above 72dpi. For optimal results, we need the highest quality pixel ratio. (I’d also like to add the method in which Word renders type is bitmapped thus not as sharp/crisp like InDesign/Quark.)
Thanks, Joann.
We have produced several heavily illustrated books, using InDesign of course. In a prior life (working in defense aerospace) I managed a team producing huge volumes of pilot training courseware for the F-16, with lots of detailed illustrations with captions. We had to do it all in MS Word because the company didn’t want to invest in sufficient quantities of real layout/typesetting software. It was agonizing to make it all look good…not to mention ensuring everything stayed put when converted to PDF for the printer. I have also typeset novels using MS Word…but never want to do it again.
For what’s it worth–as a complete stranger and strictly a writer, a month later, did not think Shawn response was “snippy.” Not in the least. The responses,including “no self-respecting-etc etc— however, were not pleasant to read.
If I were Shawn–I would not come back to this website,but if Shawn does, hopefully that person will see they were not alone in thinking the moderator and author of this blog showed horrendous manners to a guest on his blog, and lack of professionalism–first by giving an insulting and defensive reply and second by encouraging more of the same from others.
Yes, you can have the last word,which is something some 2 year old would say, but it does not negate–that you come off as a immature bully. I am certain others who read your posts are in agreement –and that I am not the only who has such a low opinion. Good luck. Word of mouth travels.
Oh, now you’ve gone and ruined my whole day. But that in no way changes the fact that professional book designers do NOT use Word for typesetting.
Hey Walt,
I’m self-publishing a book in the next couple of months and am somewhat on a budget. I don’t own InDesign but intend to go to a designer who does. They work on an hourly rate so obviously I’d like to keep the time they work on it to a minimum. I was just wondering, if I did the majority of typsetting in Word and then gave the typeset Word file to the designer to touch up and save as an InDesign file, whether it would cut down their work time. Or would doing that be riddled with problems and ultimately cost more?
First, I don’t think most professional book designers work on a hourly basis. At Five Rainbows Services, we review the manuscript, discuss the book with the writer/publisher, and then provide a firm, fixed price contract for the work.
Trying to do any typesetting in Word to “help” a designer would be counterproductive, since the usual first step is to strip all but basic formatting from any Word source document. It is rarely worth trying to repair Word’s extraneous codes after import into InDesign. There is much more to book design and typesetting than most people realize.
One thing you can do to help is to use Word’s styles for things like chapter and section headings (Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.). That may or may not result in a lower cost for the book design and typesetting.
We usually offer potential clients two options: (1) we create two or three sample designs for client review before establishing the final design (our usual approach) or (2) the client lets us choose an appropriate design with only minimal client input (this is cheaper and can be a good choice for novelists on a stringent budget).
Here are some of my blog posts that might help you understand what goes into book design:
Be Kind to Your Book Designer
Book Design vs. Typesetting
Typography – Does It Matter?
What Font Should You Use for Your Book?
What Walt said … re: hourly rates. I certainly don’t. I give a set price for the whole project, so the client has a price certain for my end of their book. And on behalf of all book designers, layout artists, and typographers re: designing/formatting your text in Word– Please DON’T! It just makes the job more difficult, stripping out all the crap Word puts in. That makes for the kin of “dirty” textfiles I charge more for working with.
I agree with Walt and Stephen, I’ve never charged clients on an hourly rate. It’s a bad idea for both the designer and the client. With a project fee, everyone knows what the job will cost before it starts, and the price will not change as long as the specifications don’t change or the author doesn’t start making corrections after the book’s been laid out.
Stephen and Joel,
Thanks for stopping to add your comments.
In the interest of full disclosure, we compute how long we think a project will take (hours) and multiply that by our hourly rates, adjusting it up or down based on an estimate of our degree of confidence in that estimate (some books and clients tend to reduce that degree of confidence). The result is the project fee that we put in the contract, which includes sufficient specifications (“client is responsible for…” and “designer is responsible for…”) to make it clear what is included in the project fee, and what is not.