Proper spinal alignment


Make sure the spine text on your book faces the right way. Every so often -- even from major publishing companies -- books are printed with inverted spines. CD and DVD packages are printed improperly more frequently than book covers are.



When your book is standing up with its front cover facing to the right, the spine text should read from top to bottom. When the book is lying down with its front cover facing upward and the spine towards you, the spine text should read normally, from left to right.



Some books have vertical type stacked up on their spines. It often looks ugly because of the variation in letter width. I usually don’t like it, but I can’t stop you from doing it.

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If you have a really thick book, of course, your spine text can be horizontal even when the book is vertical. If you have an incredibly thick book, maybe it should be two books.