A first-time author who had a free consultation with me told me that she was well into her book-writing process before it ever occurred to her that she would eventually need someone to help her with preparing the interior of her book. She simply thought: I write my book in Word, and then it goes to print. As she was googling about book cover design, she found my website and realized that “book interior layout” is also a thing.
I understand her confusion, though, because everyone notices book covers, but many good book interiors are almost not noticed. Actually, that is exactly what makes them good: they provide such a smooth read that the reader is not distracted or confused by the layout and is able to concentrate fully on the message.
Another client expressed to me how hard it was for him to find someone to put together the inside of a book. First of all, he didn’t know what to call that person, so he didn’t know what to search online. It was a lot easier for him to find a book cover designer online than to find someone whom he trusted to set up the text and custom illustrations for the interior of his book. We discussed how some of the terms people use to describe book interior layout can be confusing, like “interior design” (search that and you’ll come up with interior design for homes) or “book design” (search that and you’ll probably mostly come up with cover designers).
Perhaps book interior designers have no particular term that they all use for their work because there are many routes to becoming a book designer. There is no one credential or association for people who design books. Some learned the trade as apprentices in a printing company or through an apprenticeship program in media. Some are self taught through online learning and reading books. Others went to university for some kind of graphic design program and somewhere along their career route realized that they loved book design and publishing.
Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash
I tried to think of all the terms I have heard to describe the person who designs or lays out book interiors. Some of these are out-of-date or very specific. But here is a semi-comprehensive list!
Book Designer
This is the term that I usually use when I tell someone in person what I do. It’s pretty easy to understand at least. If you search this term, you should find people who indeed, design books. But because some designers specialize solely in book interior design or book cover design, a “book designer” does not always create the inside of a book!
Book Interior(s) Designer / Book Layout Designer
This term refers specifically to someone who works on the interior look of books! Sometimes a book designer will have a section of his or her website for “interiors” and a section for “covers”. “Book layout designer” is perhaps not the first phrase that would come to a lay person’s mind to google, but is a good descriptor that narrows down to exactly what you are looking for.
Typesetter
The term “typesetter” is a technical term that comes from the pre-digital era, but is still used. Bookmakers used to literally “set” physical pieces of lead “type” in order to create words, sentences, paragraphs—and books! This term is still used today, and usually if you find someone who calls themself a “typesetter”, they are someone who knows their trade well and has a good understanding of the powerful details Adobe InDesign offers to make large typesetting projects manageable.
Editorial Designer
While an “editorial designer” may work more specifically with the design of magazines or periodicals, they may also work with other multi-page design projects, like book interior design.
Graphic Designer
Graphic Designer is a catch-all term for people who work with graphics. Many graphic designers may design books during their career, but if a graphic designer is more of a generalist, they may not know the finer details of typesetting and book layout. I recently read a book that I could see had been formatted by a “graphic designer” but not a true “book designer”. The way the spacing and indentation was handled made it clear that the designer had not created a lot of books in his or her lifetime.
Paginator
I only heard this term recently, but it’s a more technical term for someone who helps with layout (probably more production/technical than creative). This person might paginate chapter books but might also work in a newspaper or publication kind of environment, probably not setting up the original page design but maintaining the style throughout a long-form publication like a phone book (do those exist anymore?) or manual.
(Book) Formatter
The term “book formatting” is still a commonly used term. “Formatting” sounds less creative than “designing”, and formatting might often be a task assigned to a more junior designer at a publishing house or graphic design studio, to take the more senior designer’s sample design concept and make it work through the formatting of the whole book.
Desktop Publisher
This was a term that was being used when I first got my feet wet in design and publishing in 2005! I was an intern at a non-profit publisher and they offered me the opportunity to learn book design and graphic design on-the-job. But the term they were using at the time was “desktop publishing”—a term used to describe the small size and relative affordability of designing on a desktop computer instead of through the expensive commercial phototypesetting equipment that was used before book design was done as it is today, on desktop computers (source).
Photo by Sarah Dorweiler on Unsplash
What do you call the person who creates the Inside of a book? Well, a lot of things! But terms like “book” + “interior” / “designer” / “layout” / “typesetting” should get you headed in the right direction to find the ideal book interior designer for your manuscript. Check out my book interior layout service page and see if I might be a good fit!