Why Do Some Novels Use Smaller Font Sizes?

When selecting a font size for a book as a book designer, I can provide many examples from experience. Horror books are written in slightly more condensed fonts to create uneasiness, while comedy books are written in very playful font sizes. Technical books have fonts minimized so that large diagrams can fit on the page. Holy books such as the Bible and dictionaries have fonts reduced to miniscule size in order to fit as much content as possible. Long fantasy novels are even published with reduced font sizes in order to physically fit all of the content between the covers. Genre conventions play more of a role than one would initially assume when it comes to choosing a font size.

For people with dyslexia, reading can be severely affected by font size and style. Using 14-point sans-serifs like ‘Arial’ or ‘Calibri’ will provide a clear reading experience. Avoid using fonts that are too small and ensure there is adequate space between lines and paragraphs. Many dyslexic readers now use e-readers that offer options for reading and can be altered to suit individual needs. Some people find reading in reverse background i.e. light text on a dark background works better for them. Experimenting with different options is key and generally it’s best to keep things simple and clear and avoid using too many different fonts and keeping text too compact.

I've read all 49 of your comments and I'm just exhausted. You people certainly have feelings about letters. I'll pick the top-rated one (Bookerly, probably), resize it for reading comfort and go read a book. My analysis has turned into paralysis and the book I wanted to read an hour ago is calling my name. I appreciate the many details that you all have shared about type and I have much respect for the passion that each of you has for this topic. Now, however, I have a novel to read. Thank you for your time.

Who wants to make Pikachu cakes for a bakery? I guess that’s a bit too similar to Pokémon for comfort. Sure, you can find fonts that resemble the Pokémon fonts (like DotGothic16 for example) but most of these are not available for commercial use. Others try to mimic the feel of Pokémon font by making the characters bold and using lots of colors, like with Comic Sans (yes, I said that). The point is to try to make something that resembles Pokémon, not to duplicate it exactly. Nintendo is very strict with regards to Pokémon stuff and is not afraid to take action. In fact, they recently shut down a fan made game that was in the making for years. So, if you want to make something with regards to Pokémon, just try to be creative and don’t imitate. That little yellow mouse deserves more than that.

The fonts in Marvel comics are a mix between really working and really cool. They’ve moved from hand-drawn lettering to using computer software, but the aim is still to make words stand out. Headlines are typically big and bold, and use blocky fonts, whereas dialogue is clean and simple to read. Occasionally there’ll be custom fonts for specific characters. For example, Thor’s ancient speech bubbles are done in a font specifically to reflect his very old-fashioned words. It’s a small detail, but it goes to show just how much work goes into making a comic come to life.

My rule of thumb for the length of a fantasy novel is this: Novels under 300 pages don’t have enough room for a fully realized world; novels over 600 pages rarely have the pacing to support their length. (There are exceptions to both of these, of course. Some writers are able to create fully realized worlds in very short novels; others are able to make 800 page novels fly by.) In general, though, I find that novels of 400- to 500- pages are best. There’s enough room for a good plot with plenty of twists, for fully developed characters, and for a richly detailed world. Yet such novels are never self-indulgent. (That would be a novel of, say, 1000 pages or more.) Instead, they’re substantial but disciplined. That’s my typical.

Cover packaging tells all. Novella covers are more illustrative/mood oriented and try to convey a complete impression right off the bat. Novel covers display great detail in order to suggest the scope of the work at hand, but a novella cover aims to immediately sell the reader on the emotional/aesthetic impression of the work. Thus a simple solitary figure in a strange landscape versus a detailed battle scene with ten characters and more.

I just downloaded an entire collection of classic ghost stories (50+ tales) and the file is 1.2MB. That’s less space than a single meme image. In the digital age, we can expect average novel sizes to be around 3-5MB but there is still plenty of scope for minimalism. The horror stories here are terrifying and highly charged but are packed into a very small space.

The topic of paragraph length has me pulling books off my shelf just to look, honestly. I think a lot of readers and writers get hung up on a strict word count, which misses the point. A paragraph is a unit of thought, or a unit of action. If the thought is complex, like the internal monologue of a character in a dense literary novel, that paragraph might stretch for half a page. If it's a fast-paced action sequence in a thriller, you might get a single sentence paragraph: 'He fired.' The rhythm and the genre dictate so much. For pure readability, especially online or on digital screens, shorter is generally safer. Walls of text are intimidating. I've clicked away from so many web serials because the author didn't use paragraph breaks, it just becomes a blur. But 'short' doesn't mean uniform. Varying the length creates a musical quality to the prose. A series of short, sharp paragraphs builds tension and speed. Then a longer, more descriptive one can act as a breath, a moment of settling. I find myself skimming less when the text has that natural ebb and flow. The 'optimal' length is whatever keeps the reader moving forward without getting lost or bored. My personal rule of thumb, which I picked up from editing fanfiction years ago, is to break the paragraph whenever the focus shifts—a new speaker, a new action, a new idea, or even a significant pause. It's more about visual pacing than a strict rule. A paragraph should look inviting on the page, not like a chore to be decoded. If I'm reading on my phone and a single paragraph requires six scrolls, my enjoyment plummets, regardless of how beautiful the writing is inside it.

Winston’s job at the Ministry of Truth is symbolic. He is paid to change history to suit the views of the Party. This means that he is paid as a symbol-manipulator. As photos are the symbols of actual events he alters them to make them fit into the Party’s line. This means that all day long he is altering symbols to make the world of symbols conform to the line of the Party, regardless of reality. And outside of work he attaches great significance to a few symbols: the paperweight, the real photo. He destroys genuine symbols all day and then tries to hold on to them at night. Winston is a part of a great project to get the world of symbols to conform to the Party’s line. He is part of it as a persecutor and as a victim.