I’m working on the STAC mysteries and I’m thinking of self-publishing through lulu when they’re finished.

I get all my M/SS ready in Times New Roman, 12pt. I’ve just converted a chapter to PDF and the type comes through huge. So I tried it in TNR 10pt and it looks fine.

Considering we’re looking at anything from 50-80,000 words, does the team think 10pt would be good enough?

I used Times 12pt when I did my proof copy of my novel with Lulu, but I allowed Lulu to convert to PDF. The font looks just right to me. I tried 10pt and could hardly read it.

If you set your margins and your page size (6"x9"), so that you get your pages sitting in twos, it will show you how it will look. And also, I find that the pdf file always show the initial document larger than the original. The one I just tested with was set at 106%.

What size margins and gutter did you use, Marit? I routinely set margins at 1.5" for M/S work, but that's weay too large for book copies.

Sorry about the delay, David. I got waylaid after checking.

It states on Lulu that margins should be at least 0.5" all round, but as mine is set with the metric system, I used 1.5cm left and right margins, and an extra 0.5cm for the gutter. I used 2cm for top and bottom margins, but it would depend on whether you are adding headers. I didn't.

You can actually get a 6"x9" template on Lulu now, which I haven't seen before.

Did you use the 'Mirror pages' setting?

I did, but it slipped my mind when saying about formatting. I found that if it isn't used, the gutter is on the outside on the one page, which makes it look unprofessional. Good point, Mordachae!