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Basic Book Design – High school textbook from Wikibooks

Basic book design for high schoolBasic Book Design is a textbook suitable for high school students (and adults) all about basic book design. The book is provided by Wikibooks, in the creative commons under a GNU open document license.

As a project for English, art or computer studies, creating a book should be a compulsory activity in schools. This book will help students learn more about the ins and outs of book creation.

For computer studies, students may wish to pick an existing public domain book and reformat the text. Picture books are the best for this since they bring different elements of formatting into play, and different formatting programs may be experimented with.

For English or art class, creating your own text is fun, along with formatting it.

Basic Book Design discusses important topics such as font choices, margin rules, common grammar and text formatting rules, most of which has been condensed and referenced from what is considered the industries’ master reference book, The Chicago Manual of Style.

More About What is in Basic book design for high school

Basic Book Design isn’t another book about grammar rules, freeing your inner writer, or finding a publisher. It’s about making your books, documents, and newsletters look professional.

The book includes features such as:
• Which fonts will make readers devour your book—and which fonts will make them put your book aside.
• Common mistakes that make your newsletter look amateur.
• Designers’ tricks to save printing costs and make documents look better.
• The free software that works better than Adobe Pagemaker, Quark X-Press, or Microsoft Publisher.
• Workarounds to avoid bugs in Microsoft Word.
• When you need permissions from both the photographer and the person depicted in the photo—and when you need neither.
• The government agency that will give you completely free photos by famous photographers such as Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange.

Note: some software items, mostly those on Microsoft Word, are out of date, written in 2003, there have been significant updates since then (my recommendation, use Open Office 🙂

While some of the contents might be rather advanced for high school, it makes a great reference book and learning exercise, and many concepts can even be taught to younger audiences in upper elementary or middle grades.

Suggested projects for Basic Book Design

  1. Format a public domain book;
  2. Create your own short picture book using your own words, and either illustrate yourself, or public domain images;
  3. Create a non-fiction book with images;
  4. Send your book to FKB 🙂 – note, we don’t guarantee acceptance, but if it’s not suitable I’ll let you know why;
  5. Publish your book online (Createspace, kindle, lulu).

Suggested Reading

Find many more books like this one, suitable for high school study or reference in our Wikibooks section.

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Respecting Personal Space - A group of friends love spending time with each other, but they also each have different likes and hates, respecting each other’s personal space means they have more fun while not offending each other. An endearing story explaining an important lesson about respecting others. Another great story from Kaptain Uke, aka Mr. Belgrave. See more ...
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Review our Young Adults section for books in a similar age range.

Doggie's Last Day Doggie’s Last Day - A dog’s last day before his owners move home away from the area. Doggie spends his last day saying farewell to his friends and having a final look around the place he’s lived all his life, only to end up with a terrible surprise, and some exciting twists, but will it have a happy ending? ...
Kids_Education_Tips Simple & Smart: Kids’ Education Tips for Parents and Teachers - ‍The role of a parent or teacher in a child’s life is pivotal. It is crucial to strike the right balance between discipline and freedom, between academics and extracurricular activities, between conventional teaching methods and innovative learning strategies. This article aims to provide assignment help to parents and teachers, offering practical tips on creating engaging ...
Children's Christmas Story How Christmas Began - How did Christmas start? Perhaps a group of Elfs and fairies got together to share the spirit of giving and make magic happen? Find out in this cute illustrated free children’s book. Another great book from T Ferries.       Read Along with the video, here:  Spread the love
World Children’s Day – Words of Wisdom - Children of the world united virtually for World Children’s Day and each submitted a quote, the best ones they made into a book…. note: this is a fictional book Enjoy some words of wisdom and think about how important positive values are.         Read along with the video of World Children’s Day ...
Children Helping Childten – A Thanksgiving Tale - Some kind hearted children decide to make a difference on Thanksgivng and start a tradition of  “Children Helpint Children”. A perfect book to emphasise the spirit behind Thanksgiving. “With a giving spirit one can achieve great things.”         Read along with the video here: Read by Kiwi Opa    Spread the love
Should Primary School Educators Consider Further Education? - Primary school educators play a crucial and challenging role in today’s dynamic educational landscape. Not least because they act as the foundation of a child’s academic journey, building their knowledge, confidence and skills for future learning. However, with the rapid changes in the education sector, primary school teachers should also focus on their own professional ...
How Kids’ Books Can Benefit to Your Child - In a world buzzing with digital gadgets and endless distractions, free kids’ books stand as hidden gems, waiting to illuminate your child’s growth path. These humble volumes contain more than ink on paper or pixels on a screen; they are keys to a treasure chest with skills, wisdom, and adventures that can mold your child’s ...
Respecting Personal Space - A group of friends love spending time with each other, but they also each have different likes and hates, respecting each other’s personal space means they have more fun while not offending each other. An endearing story explaining an important lesson about respecting others. Another great story from Kaptain Uke, aka Mr. Belgrave. See more ...
Mobile Phones in Schools: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - The digital age has placed mobile phones ubiquitously throughout our society. With parents buying phones for children of all ages, these devices have even made their way into school classrooms. In order to maximise the opportunities presented by mobile phones in classrooms, and mitigate potential disruptions, it’s important for educators and parents alike to be ...
Think Like a Scientist – Age is no barrier, just common sense - Jack’s dad started to show some symptoms of a weird illness. He went to several doctors and they couldn’t find anything wrong. Jack’s Dad decided it was important to think like a scientist and did not give up looking. Finally, he found a specialist who diagnosed his condition, but not soon enough – Jack’s grandparents ...


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