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What font sizes and styles are ideal for use on the Amazon Kindle/e-book readers?

by jchoros
9 replies
I am currently using 12pt Arial font (excluding headings) for a short question and answer style book. I don't have any experience publishing kindle books but I'm headed in that direction...I realize there's probably no right or wrong answer but my thought is that maybe 14 is better...I also realize this is probably a nit-picky question but I heard somewhere the biggest complaint from Kindle customers is formatting and I want to do everything I can to get positive feedback.

Thanks
#amazon #font #ideal #kindle or ebook #readers #sizes #styles
  • Profile picture of the author CalinDan
    I use Veranda for most of my book. Looks kinda brute to say so...
    But it's easily readable...
    Also Georgia would be a good pick...

    For the size I got in the range of 12 to 14 max!

    Kind regards,
    Dan
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  • Profile picture of the author KenJ
    Pay very close attention to your formatting.

    Kindle readers, including yours truly, are very critical of poorly formatted books. If you have spent a month or so writing a book you should at least spend a day making sure it looks as good as possible.

    Stay with 12pt arial. It is irrelevant as the reader can select their font size.anyhow.
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  • Profile picture of the author cowboyrob
    Hi Jchoros,

    Looks like you've already got a couple helpful answers here. But here's something you'd probably benefit greatly from before you launch your first title:

    https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishi...A1KSPVAI36UUC1

    Formatting guidelines, straight from the horse's mouth. Enjoy!
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Everything I've read so far (and it seems to be working) is to use the standard fonts and formatting. That usually means Times New Roman in either 10 pt or 12 pt for standard text, etc.

    The Kindle device allows individuals to increase/decrease font size and change the display to suit them. Using standard fonts and formatting (paragraph, Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.) seems to mean fewer formatting problems downstream.

    On the flip side, many of the formatting complaints come from publishers trying to get too fancy, with lots of fonts, drop caps, headers and footers, text wrapping around graphics, etc.

    So it seems that the more plain-vanilla you keep the formatting, the fewer problems you run into.
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    • Profile picture of the author glowworm
      Banned
      Ariel or Veranda 12pt but, as already stated, it's adjustable by the reader anyway.
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  • Profile picture of the author Yu Hong
    I'm also writing my first Ebook as I'm new to IM, this thread helped a bunch!
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  • Profile picture of the author Beverley Boorer
    I've recently put up 7 fiction ebooks on amazon kindle and find that New Times Romans 12 point looks good and converts without problems. I did try a picture book too, but haven't worked out how to get the pictures to stay put with the text wrapped. I think pictures must be centre aligned and I didn't want that. I had to unpublish that one due to formatting probs. The others were novels and had no pictures apart from the front cover.
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  • Profile picture of the author Beverley Boorer
    PS only one of them is under my name. The others were published under a pen name
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  • Profile picture of the author dee4d
    12 pt is professional, don't go for 14. Arial, Verdana or Times New Roman - choose the one that best suits the client / you. Nice replies to this thread.
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