Quote:
Originally Posted by Shaggy
Is professional typesetting something that the average reader cares about?
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Shaggy, the answer is no -- until it is no longer available. Currently, the average reader is oblivious to professional typesetting except in "artsy" books. But I know from experience (I do typesetting among other editorial tasks) that whn the typesetting is really poor or virtually nonexistent, readers do complain.
Readers are much less likely to complain in the case of a novel, but they are much more (albeit subconsciously) aware of it -- or the lack of it -- in nonfiction books, particularly in the sciences and history genres.
Don't forget that part of typesetting is choice of font and font size as well as leading, all of which can make reading either painful or pleaseurable. I know that there are some people who love, for example Comic Sans as a font, but would you want to read a 1,000-page book all in 10-point Comic Sans with 10-point leading?