Many authors are going the self-publishing route these days (and for many, it makes good sense). Others are going so far as to create their own small presses. The result is an explosion of new books and a wealth of quality writing for readers to choose from.

As I’ve noted previously (perhaps the phrase “ad nauseam” comes to mind for some readers of this blog), the new gate-keeper that determines whether a reader buys and reads a self-published title is the quality of the layout and illustration on the book cover, and after that, the quality of the layout inside the book. In other words, no matter how good the writing may be, many readers will never take the time to check it out if the cover and layout screams “amateur.”

Here are four important layout “tricks” that often separate the pros from the wannabes:

1) Use of a single space after a period, exclamation point, colon, or question mark.
2) Use of an emdash (a dash the width of an “m”) or endash (dash the width of an “n”) in the proper places rather than a single or repeated hyphen.(Here’s a nice overview on these.)
3) Use of smart quotes and hyphens.
4) Proper capitalization of letters in titles.

Do these right and you’ll make your book look more attractive to a potential buyer. The reader may not realize why your books looks professional; but subconsciously, these little flourishes to the layout have a positive effect.

Of course you still need to be a good writer to succeed. The best cover and layout won’t save your bacon if you’re a poor story teller. That means rewriting, proofing, polishing, and editing are also keys for success. But a good cover illustration and quality layout on the cover and inside text will do a lot to give your book the professional appearance it deserves and gain you the positive attention you want.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that none of the “good layout” rules listed above are set in stone. For example, the single space after punctuation rule has changed over time, as noted in this fascinating article by Dave Bricker: “How Many Spaces After a Period? Ending the Debate.”

Styles change. The key is to use the styles most often seen in the work of professionals.