May 31, 2021– I hope you’ve enjoyed our theme for May, Children’s Book Writing and that you learned a lot of valuable information. Today we wrap up and talk about one last thing that you need to know FONTS MATTER!
Did you know that there are 32,000 fonts available at this current moment? But what should you know about choosing the right font for your self-published book when there are so many options? (Please remember that whatever font you choose must be considered public domain as some are copyrighted). Do your research.
- Audience-Who are you writing for? The font should match who the reader is when combined with all of the guidelines below. Is your audience toddlers, mid-grade readers, early readers, or young adults? They all deserve their own fonts that compliment who the audience is. There’s no quicker way to put a reader off a book than by choosing the wrong font.
- Readability-Choosing fonts that are easy to read seems like an obvious choice, but you won’t believe how many submissions I’ve had that have been in tight cursive that is barely readable. When writing for kids, please remember that they are learning to read; we don’t want to create any barriers to that, so we must be aware of what looks complicated, unclear, and hard to decipher.
- Topic– When you see a spooky font such as Tango Macabre or Ghoulish Fright, you automatically associate the story with Halloween, ghouls and ghosts, and creepiness. The font should match the topic. You wouldn’t use Lunacy More for a bedtime book. The topic matters, and the font can make or break your book if it doesn’t help convey the message of your story!
- Visual Appeal– Think outside the box on this one! A great way to add interest and visual appeal is to change the colour, size, and font choice throughout your book. Be careful not to go overboard and take away the attention from the story. A perfect example of this is DJ the Terrible, written by Sam Nemeth available here: DJ (Djeaneautha) The Terrible! – Pandamonium Publishing House. We decided to change the font in certain paragraphs and bold some words for effect; it’s an easy way to keep the reader engaged in the middle-grade space without overwhelming them.
Well, that’s all from me on Writing Children’s Books, but you can check out our masterclass here: Children’s Book Writing Master Class – Pandamonium Publishing House.
Be sure to stay tuned tomorrow, June 1st, as we dive into a new topic! We’ll be chatting about Author Mindset and what separates actual authors from wannabe authors. Some exciting stuff is coming up; I hope you’ll join us.