Pick up a book you love. Read a page. Close it. Now try to describe the typography you just read. Most readers can't — and that's exactly the point.
What typesetting actually is
Typesetting is the craft of arranging text and visual elements on a page so that reading feels effortless. It is made up of hundreds of small decisions: font choice, line length, leading, tracking, widow and orphan control, hyphenation settings, page margins, chapter openers, running heads, folios.
None of these should announce itself. If the reader notices them, the typesetter has already failed.
The decisions that matter most
Font choice
Serif fonts for long-form reading, almost always. Sabon, Minion, Caslon, and Garamond are workhorses for a reason. The body text should disappear; save the personality for display.
Line length
45–75 characters per line, including spaces. Shorter than 45 and the eye whip-returns. Longer than 75 and the reader loses their place.
Leading (line spacing)
Roughly 120–145% of the font size for body text. Too tight and the page looks dense; too open and the rhythm breaks.
Widows and orphans
A single line at the top of a new page (widow) or a single word on the last line of a paragraph (orphan) pulls the reader out. Good typesetters hunt these.
Why it's worth paying for
You can ship a book that reads "fine" straight out of Word. A typeset book reads easily, which is not the same thing. Readers finish more chapters. Reviewers mention feeling absorbed. Booksellers flip a few pages and nod. None of these people will ever credit your typesetter — and that's the job done right.
