Quote:
Originally Posted by LDBoblo
One of the most important functions of a vertical margin is to add a visual buffer when eliminating widows and orphans. With no margins, either they are eliminated with a visually jarring gap at the bottom of the page, or they are ignored and the book becomes polluted with widows and orphans.
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I still don't see how a margin can help with that. A visual buffer? I've never seen a jarring gap at the bottom of a page, except when a chapter is much shorter than the page. And how would a fixed margin (fixed within a book) help with widows and orphans throughout the entire book?
I do understand the artistic value of a well sized vertical margin. A text with a wide margin can give an entire different feeling to the reader as the same text with a narrow margin (on the same booksize). But that's one thing you'll never be able to reproduce on ebook readers, if only because every reader has a bezel (at least now, they have). It will detract from the overall look. Which is why, on ereaders, I don't mind the lack of margin at all.
And because I don't mind the lack of margins on my ereader doesn't mean I could care less about quality. But if I buy a book to simply read, be immersed in the story, I don't care how it looks. Which is why I used to buy those book in mass market paperbacks and now in electronic form. If I really want a book, to show and enjoy the artistic parts of the product (which does include, but not exclusively, the story!), I'll buy a hardcover or trade paperbacks.