The broken text of Poetry when forced into Margins of small books
January 24, 2008
It’s probably instinctual, the way I feel about formatting text. I love taking the raw words and applying my choice (or the author’s) of formatting to the paragraphs of text, the beginnings of each chapter – even the page numbers and running heads.
But I cringe nearly every time I’m called upon to format a book of poetry.
Inevitably, when writing poetry, most people open a fresh Word document and start typing. In the thralls of creative inspiration, they forget to consider the size of book in which they’ll eventually choose to publish their work. This usually means lines that stretch across the default page size in Microsoft Word will more than likely break when put into the margins for a 5×8 or 6×9 book, shoving a portion of a single line of poetry to the next line on the page, throwing off the original formatting of the poet’s work.
The visual destruction of their formatted poetry can be devastating for an author, often causing them to choose the largest of the book sizes available, 8.25×11, in the hope of alleviating the crunch on their words. But a large format book isn’t necessarily what the author wants, or what consumers will buy.
As a book designer, the best suggestion I can offer is for you, as the author, to consider the anticipated book size before publishing your poetry. Take the margins for a 5×8 or 6×9 book, apply them to a new or existing Word document, and create your poems, or reformat your existing text, to fit the book size.
Specifically for Wordclay authors, the margins best suited for a 5×8 book are:
2.25 inches for the “Top” and “Bottom” margins,
2.375 inches for the “Inside” and “Outside” margins,
2.00 inches for the “Header” and “Footer”,
and 0.125 inches for the “Gutter”
These measurements result in a print area of 3.625 inches by 6.5 inches.
The margins for a 6×9 book are:
1.75 inches for the “Top” and “Bottom” margins,
1.875 inches for the “Inside” and “Outside” margins,
1.50 inches for the “Header” and “Footer”,
and 0.125 inches for the “Gutter”
These measurements result in a print area of 4.5 inches by 7.5 inches.
Formatting your poetry within these established margins, you can be fairly certain that your lines of poetry will remain as they, without lines breaking when they shouldn’t, or tabs forcing the words all over the page, or stanzas being divided between two pages.
Or, you could write only Haikus. ;-)
Entry Filed under: Writing. .
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1.
Book Reviewer | January 25, 2008 at 1:01 pm
What a great tip, I doubt most poets think of this very important point. Especially now with the ways that poetry is not longer linear, but can be all over the page, forethought on the size of the book seems crucial. Thanks!
2.
Barry Davidson | February 6, 2008 at 7:26 am
If typeset in a program like InDesign, would it not be more advantageous for you to accept that formatting to pass along to whomever prints the books? Or is the press you’re using too small, and only uses Word and PDF files?
3.
jennhandy | February 6, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Hi Barry! The printer for Wordclay only accepts PDFs for the cover and galley (interior of the book), formatted for the particular book sizes they’re set up to print. I do, actually, use InDesign when setting up an author’s book - and love it way more than Word - but it’s still the PDF of the InDesign document that goes to the printer.
In this particular post, I just wanted to specifically address the authors that choose to publish their poetry through Wordclay because we do require the interior be submitted in Word, as this is the Wizard’s preferred word processing program and works best with our automation. If their poetry’s not set up for a certain book size, the automation tends to play havoc with their formatting.
Let me know if that answers your question, or if I need to clarify anything - and thanks for commenting!
4.
Barry Davidson | February 7, 2008 at 2:22 am
I was just asking. Word is okay for storing your documents (I write eveything on paper and legal pads first), but isn’t that eye pleasing or practical for printing purposes.
5.
Barry Davidson | February 22, 2008 at 10:20 pm
I’ve been experimenting with PageMaker lately. What are your thoughts on it?
6.
jennhandy | February 25, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Hi there, Barry! I’ve actually no experience using PageMaker so can’t really offer an opinion but I understand that it’s very similar, in most ways, to InDesign - or it used to be. It’s an Adobe product and has largely been replaced by InDesign so it might be analogous to using MS Works when you could be using MS Word. But if it works for you, then go for it! Thanks!