How to Self-Publish Large-Print Books

How to Self-Publish Large-Print Books
[Disclaimer: I’m just starting out in this. I will update this as I learn more. It could be that I’m mistaken in some of the following guidelines. Feel free to do your own research and draw your own conclusions. If your personal experience with large-print books contradicts anything written here, I hope you’ll feel free leave your recommendations in the comments.]
 

Ever since Eibhlin MacIntosh posted an article about her experiences with publishing her books as large-print editions (in addition to paperback and digital editions), I’d been waiting for the opportunity to do the same.
So now I am experimenting with publishing large-print books.
I did some research and, as usual, there is contradictory information regarding the best way to format your large-print edition, so I’m giving it my best shot.
I’ll post some links at the end if you want to start your own research.
But anyway, here is how I’m doing it and what I’ve learned:
 
Who Reads Large-Print Books?

• People with varying levels of impaired vision (including cataracts) and read with whatever vision they have
• People with varying levels of impaired vision who use a magnifier (anywhere from a small hand-held magnifier to a computerized magnifier that adjusts text size and color contrast) or who use OCR (optical character recognition) software
• Elderly people
• People learning English
• People who like to read while working out on a treadmill or stationery bicycle or pushing a stroller, etc. (although this represents a small minority of large-print readers)

 
Why Publish Large-Print Editions?

• Large-print editions increase your sales

In the above link, Eibhlin MacIntosh mentions that 10% of her sales come from her large-print editions. Eibhlin publishes under anonymous pseudonyms, but as far as I can tell from reading between the lines, she is prolific in several genres and sells really well. So by publishing a large-print edition, you are gaining some sales that you’d never have otherwise.

• Self-publishers can offer large-print books for a cheaper price than regular publishers

Because large-print books are usually larger and longer, they are costlier to produce and sell. Furthermore, traditional publishers often sell large-print editions in hardback. Yet even in paperback, a large-print edition costs anywhere between $15-$35, depending. But self-publishers can sell their large-print edition in paperback and also play around with the formatting to decrease the page count, which allows you to lower the price of your book.

• It looks more professional and makes your book more marketable

When a potential reader sees that your books are available in large-print, the subconscious message is that you are a competent and serious publisher who cares about your readers enough to offer them their choice of format. And while making your book available in audio format or in another language also does this, formatting a large-print edition of your book is much cheaper, simpler, and faster than making it audio or translating it.
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Large-Print Edition Requirements
This is where the contradictory information comes in.
For example, some experts say to use a sans-serif font (sans-serif fonts don’t have the little “legs” that serif fonts do).
Examples of sans-serif: Arial, Open Sans, Verdana
Yet others say to use only serif fonts (like Times New Roman or Georgia or Garamond). Yet others say that studies are inconclusive regarding which type of font (serif vs. sans serif) is preferable for the vision-impaired. Furthermore, this group even created a typeface called Tiresias based on their research into needs of vision-impaired readers. (As you can see, the font is bolder than average and is sort of between serif and sans serif.) In addition, most say the font size should be 16 pt. (and no lower), but Eibhlin successfully sells her large-print editions using Georgia 18 pt.
But this is what my research turned up about large-print formatting:
Size

• Eibhlin recommends the size 8.5x11, but traditional publishers use 6x9 by utilizing special technology. (However, I don’t see how you can open up such a thick book—which large-print 6x9 would be—and have it open flat enough to use the OCR software or computerized magnifiers or a scanner).

But please note that nonetheless, traditional booksellers do sell their large-print editions at 6x9.

• Createspace does not have a cover template for 8.5x11. (However, you can create one easily for free at Bookow.)
• For my book of short stories published under a different name, I used Createspace’s 8x10 cover template and it looks fine (subjectively speaking, of course!).
• I definitely own some regular-size-print thick books printed at the 7x10 size. So this is also an option.
• On the other hand, the research shows that many large-print readers find it unwieldy to hold up close to their face a large 8.5x11 size book. Traditional publishers have special technology to use large print within a 6x9 book, but you and I don’t have that option.

When I tried Garamond 16 pt. with The Way to Becoming Yaelle (published as a 6x9 271-page book in Minion Pro 11 pt.), I ended up with a 437-page book. Georgia 18 pt. gave me 547-page book and 5-8 words per line.

1. Either size will cost more than the regular edition—longer books cost a lot more at 6x9 in 16 pt. and larger.

(The other option is to print one regular book as a series of large-print books, which also gets very expensive and inconvenient for the reader. But I’ve heard of people doing this. However, I personally wouldn’t.)
And my shorter book, Jews: Stuff You Always Wanted to Know But Didn’t Know Who to Ask, went from 120 pages to around 163 pages at 6x9 with Garamond 16 pt. and 177 pages with Georgia 18 pt. With Jews, I only needed to raise the price by a dollar or two, but with Yaelle, I needed to raise the price by several dollars.

• Using 8x10 or 8.5x11 keeps the price down because you only need to raise it by a dollar or two.

For a short book like Jews, 8x10 or 8.5x11would be like holding a magazine.

• However, an 80,000 word book at 8x10 or 8.5x11is unwieldy for those using their own vision and not a computer.

(Think of it like a 271-page magazine.)
But again, Eibhlin uses this size and feels it sells well.
So I guess this depends on the needs of your large-print readership.

• Do they want larger, thinner, and cheaper OR smaller, thicker, and costlier?

Createspace offers a variety of template-sizes for book covers and book interiors, so this is something with which you could experiment.
 
Font/Typeface
Eibhlin successfully uses Georgia 18 pt., while other booksellers use Times New Roman 16 pt., and still others use the specially designed font mentioned above Tiresias (click on LPfont for Large Print books).
I contacted the UK-based Large Print Bookshop, which bills itself as the leading large-print bookshop and Mr. Guy Garfit was kind enough to reply clearly and promptly to my questions.
He states the following:

• Large Print Bookshop uses Garamond 16 pt. in their 6x9 books.
• Tiresias makes your book 30% longer and Mr. Garfit has heard of publishers receiving complaints from customers who bought books set in Tiresias. He suggests that Tiresias might be a good typeface for short documents.

I already used Georgia 18 pt. in one book and will use Garamond 16 pt. for Jews. And I’ll probably update here to let you know how it worked out.

• If you use a lot of numbers in your book, pay attention to how your chosen typeface displays these numbers. For example, I find Georgia’s numerals to be quirky, while Times New Roman’s numerals are standard and plain—standard and plain being better for vision-impaired readers.

Margins

• Inside margins (also known as “mirror” margins need to be set at least 1 inch, preferably 1.5 inches. The outside margin should be set at 0.75 inch. (You can do this all pretty easily in Page Layout, Margins, Custom Margins.) The wide inside/mirror margin enables the reader to open the book out flat to enable scanning or other computer or magnifier usage.

Interior Formatting for Large-Print Editions
 This is where it gets fun. People with impaired vision can sometimes only see two words at a time, whether they are holding up a large-print page close to their face or using magnifier or OCR software. Any formatting that reduces clarity needs to go. Many self-publishers despise interior formatting, so this is a big relief. Basically, you only need to worry about page numbers and hyphens.

• Chapter headings stay up at the top

No more starting each chapter one-fourth of the way down. Remember, we want to save pages and anyway it is easier for vision-impaired readers when chapters start on top with no extra blank space.

• No blank pages

To keep the price as low as possible, large-print books eliminate blank pages. So all those blank pages you needed to insert so that your chapters will start on the right-hand odd-numbered page (and which you actually don’t need to do anyway, according to Jami Gold)? They need to go and you can feel free to start your chapters on even-numbered left-hand pages, too. This makes page-numbering so much easier, too.

• No headers

While some large-print readers prefer headers, many don’t because they’re confusing. So those running headers that tell you the title of the book and the author’s name? Or that indicate what story or section you are on if it’s a book of short stories or non-fiction? No more needing to deal with the headache of formatting running headers.
In other words, off with your headers!

• No more justified text alignment

Because justified text alignment (where your text is even on both sides) gets wonky and full of huge spaces between words when using an extra-large font size, large-print books often left-align their texts, creating what is known as a “ragged right,” which is when the right side of your text is not evenly aligned as it is in standard books.

• No hyphens

Words broken up by hyphens are confusing for a lot of large-print readers. So in Microsoft Word, you need to Select All, go to Paragraph, go to Line and Page Breaks, and select Don’t Hyphenate.

• No italics or underlining or ALL CAPS or drop caps

All that stuff makes it harder or more confusing to read. Change all words in italics or ALL CAPS or underline to bold. You want to keep formatting to a minimum. That sounds straight-forward enough, but in Jews, I use a lot of non-English words (Hebrew, Yiddish, Aramaic), which are usually italicized. So what is the accepted way of designating foreign-language words? As mentioned above, Mr. Garfit at Large Print Bookshop suggested that I either put the foreign-language words in bold or in a different font. However, I do have my chapter headings underlined, which my research shows is okay. (It’s only in the actual body text of the book that you want to avoid anything except bold.)

• Formatting your characters’ thoughts

I put thoughts into quotation marks, even though they’re usually italicized.
Regular Print Example: He looks like a drunken rhinoceros, she thought.
Large-Print Example #1: “He looks like a drunken rhinoceros,” she thought.
Large-Print Example #2 (completely unformatted): He looks like a drunken rhinoceros, she thought.
I’ve seen all three used in regular-size print books, although italics are certainly the most acceptable option for regular books.

• EVERYTHING is bigger

Don’t forget to increase the size of your copyright font, your dedication, and everything else.

• No Widows and Orphans

As much as you can, try not to have page-breaks in the middle of sentences.

• Page numbers—Part I 

For large print, page numbers should be centered at the bottom. I chose a style that has a long horizontal line over the page number so that it’s easily differentiated from the text. Page numbers should be bigger, like around whatever font size you use for the text. Remember to choose a typeface that produces clear numbers. Because you don’t have any more blank pages to worry about, all you need to do is make sure your page numbering starts on the correct page, which you do by splitting your book into sections by clicking on the page before your first page (the first page of Chapter 1 or of the Introduction or Prologue) and go into Page Layout, click on Breaks, then choose Next Section. This will show up in your footer by telling you that everything before that is Section 1 and everything after that (all your chapters) is Section 2. Then go to your footer on the first page of your Chapter 1/Introduction/Prologue (which will say Section 2 in the footer), turn OFF Link to Previous by clicking on it (if it’s already checked), and then click on Page Number, then Format Page Numbers, and choose to Start At 1. Then go into Page Number and choose Bottom of Page, and then choose your page number style. That’s right; no more figuring out how to stop and continue your page numbering through a blank page.

• Page Numbers—Part II

Experts say that you should include the original page numbers of your regular edition along with your large-print page numbering because sometimes, the vision-impaired reader is in a class where everyone else is using the regular edition and when the instructor says, “Turn to page 22,” they need to know where that is in their large-print edition. Experts offer instruction on different options for how to do this. I did NOT do this because formatting makes me want to shriek and wail, and this sounded too complicated to even contemplate.
And what are the chances of any of my books being used in a classroom, anyway?
But just in case you need it, I included it here anyway.

• Graphics, Icons, Colors, and Tables—Oh My!

These things need to be adjusted in large-print editions.
See the Clear Print Guidelines for some instructions and good examples.
Note: However you format the large-print interior, you will need to go through it or hire someone to go through it to double-check that the hyphens and page-breaks, etc., work out according to large-print specifications. That is the pain-in-the-neck part of formatting for large-print.
 
Publishing with Createspace
Okay, this is where things get complicated again, but not impossibly so.
First of all, your large-print book is considered a whole new and different book in need of its own ISBN number. So you have to go through the Createspace process again, which isn’t so horrible, but there are other annoyances ahead.
Black text on white paper or cream paper?
Some large-print readers prefer black text on white paper while others find that contrast too strong and prefer black text on cream paper. At the larger sizes, Createspace does not allow you to use cream paper, so if you’re using the larger sizes, feel free to just use white.
Book Cover
I am sorry to say it, but you need to redo your cover for large print.
How much?
It depends on the size difference between your original book and the large-print edition.

• If you are publishing on Createspace and you decided to set your book at 8.5x11, you will have the unpleasant surprise of realizing that while Createspace offers you an interior template at 8.5x11, it does not offer you a cover template at that size. But instead of panicking, you can just mosey on over to Bookow where you can get the cover template of your choice for free.

But I decided to take my chances on 8x10, which Createspace does offer. Of course, you still need to adjust your original cover to fit the larger specifications.

• But let’s say your original is 6x9 and your large-print edition is also 6x9. In that case, you will need to adjust the spine thickness.

The “Large-Print Edition” Label
You can have something on the cover that labels it as a large-print edition. Many publishers use a white disc or medallion for this while others use a semi-transparent banner spanning the top or bottom of the book. You can do this in Word, Open Office, Photoshop, Canva, Fiverr, or through your original cover designer (if you have one).
While most professional publishers seem to use a white disc, it seems that some use no front-cover large-print label at all.
But whatever symbol you use should read Large-Print Edition.
 
I hope you found this  information helpful.
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Summary of Handy Resources for Large-Print Publishing
Large Print Bookshop
http://www.largeprintbookshop.co.uk/guide_faq.php
(This is a helpful guide put together by experienced professionals in the business of large print and where I encountered the courteous and helpful Mr. Garfit. You can also browse their selection and see how it’s done with regard to covers, pricing, weight, thickness, and length.)
 
Round Table Guidelines for Producing Clear Print
http://printdisability.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/round_table_-clear_print_guidelines-PDF.pdf
(This was especially thorough and helpful.)
 
Eibhlin’s Personal Experience with Large-Print Publishing
Go Large Print! | eibhlin, writing
I always love her.
 
Tiresias
Tiresias :: Fonts :: Free downloads
They also have several articles on their site about vision impairment and research.
 
Bookow
http://bookow.com/resources.php#cs-cover-template-generator
This is where you can get a book cover template any size you want. For a reasonable price, you can also have your book auto-formatted in the typeface and font size you need along with other nice bells and whistles. However, at the time I used it, the auto-formatting was more liberal with hyphens than a large-print book should be. But maybe that has been resolved by now. Anyway, its Australian owner, Steve, is extremely courteous and helpful if you run into any bugs. (And you can also hire his personal formatting services.)
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Have you self-published large-print books? How did you do it and how did it work out for you? Based on your experiences either as a reader or a self-publisher of large-print books, do you agree or disagree with the above guidelines?
Please feel free to leave your recommendations and experiences in the comments.

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